How we help children transition to school
We know the move from nursery to school is an important milestone for you and your little one. That’s why at Your Co-op Little Pioneers we take lots of steps to make sure you both feel supported and ready when the big day comes.
At nursery, we make sure that your child has all of the skills to get on well at school and we prepare them for their new school environment too. And for parents and carers, we provide all the advice and reassurance that you need to help your child make the transition as smoothly as possible. This way, you can both face the big day with confidence.
Skills for school
The skills your little one needs before starting school include more than just learning letters and numbers (although these are very important too). They also need the social skills and independence to confidently tackle what the school environment will bring.
As part of our School Readiness programme, your child’s Key Person will work with them to build these skills. This includes:
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Developing communication so they can express their thoughts and make their feelings known to others, as well as asking and answering questions.
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Working to ensure they have reasonable control over their behaviour and emotions, and can cope when minor things go wrong.
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Making sure they feel comfortable asking for the toilet, washing their hands and dressing and undressing on their own.
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Encouraging them to make friends, respect others’ toys and games and share their own.
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Allowing them to solve simple problems on their own, and supporting them to try new or challenging tasks.
We also encourage other valuable life skills, such as:
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Learning to ride a bike with Ready, Steady, Pedal
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Developing music memory and active learning skills with Boogie Mites, our music and movement programme.
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Improving confidence, language and emotional development with Generation Play, a care home visit programme run by many of our nurseries.
And of course, our nursery practitioners use the most current teaching strategies and the Early Learning Goals to make sure our children have the base skills necessary to tackle the trickier things like reading, writing and maths once they get to school. For example, all our nurseries run a phonics programme called Read, Write Inc. to teach children how to blend sounds.
Your child’s Key Person will always give a completed version of your child’s Early Years Foundation Stage Outcome Update and Transitions to Another Setting Achievement Update to the school. This will mean that your child’s teacher will be best able to support their learning from day one.
Preparing for the big day
It’s our aim to make your little one feel comfortable with the idea and environment of school. So we run a variety of activities to help them prepare.
A role play area is really important, this is just like a school classroom with real school uniforms and book bags. Children can play in this space and get used to the ‘school’ environment.
Changes to the nursery day also help children adjust. As school gets nearer we start to follow a similar timetable, complete with PE sessions and self-serve or packed lunch meals.
We practise common school actions such as lining up, taking the register, packing/unpacking a bag and taking shoes on and off. Plus we start to do more leaning and craft activities at tables, so the children get used to sitting and concentrating.
At story-time we read books about starting school and make sure that everyone’s questions are answered. Talking more often about school helps children get used to the idea. Your child’s Key Person will encourage them think about school with questions like: What school are they going to? Is anyone else going? What will the routine be like? What will be expected of them? What will they learn about? What are their teachers called?
School visits
Our fantastic links with local schools means that we can arrange visits for the children, and we invite school representatives and pupils to come into nursery too. We continue encouraging the children to get ready by putting up photographs of the different schools and their teachers. This means that children can get used to the school’s new spaces in their own time and that there will be friendly faces on their first day.
Saying goodbye
It’s really important to celebrate your child’s next step and mark it as a happy occasion, not one to worry about. Our nurseries hold graduation parties, remembering the little ones’ achievements and taking graduation pictures. Parents are encouraged to come along!
Additional support
There are lots of different things that you can do at home to help your little one to get ready for school. Take a look at our top tips for more information.
And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.