Ready, Steady, Reception: Preparing your child to start school

When you start thinking about your child approaching Reception age, it’s natural to feel a mix of excitement and apprehension. Starting school is a significant milestone and ensuring a smooth transition requires some preparation. However, with the right approach, you can set your child up for success and make their journey into Reception a positive and enriching experience.

At Kew College Prep, we encourage families to focus on life skills rather than academics to prepare children for Reception and there are some activities that we focus on with our Nursery children and that you can also do at home to encourage your child’s readiness for Reception.

1. Foster Independence

A key skill in Reception is independence. Encourage them to do simple tasks on their own, such as dressing themselves, tidying up their toys, and using the toilet independently. This builds their confidence and equips them with the necessary skills to navigate the school day with ease. There are some wonderful resources that can be found online and used at home to turn these tasks into a fun activity, such as a dressing board where children can practice with buttons, zips, laces and poppers.

In Reception, children will also be encouraged to take responsibility for keeping their classroom tidy. Therefore, it’s a great idea to get children used to helping at home. We like to make tidy up time fun by putting on a tidy up song, which also acts as a signal that it’s time to tidy up. You can also pre-warn your child that it is going to be tidy up time soon so that they can finish what they’re doing and be ready for tidy up time to begin.

2. Talk through your child’s new routine

Children thrive on routine, so establishing a consistent daily schedule can help ease the transition into Reception. This predictability provides a sense of stability and security, helping to alleviate any anxiety your child may have about starting school. At Kew College Prep Nursery and Reception, we use a visual timetable to let children know which activities and specialist lessons they will have that day. These can also be used at home in preparation for school. It simply involves using clear pictures to signpost the activities that a child will do, for example, first we wake up, then we eat breakfast, then we brush teeth, get dressed and walk to school.

3. Promote Social Skills

Socialising and making friends are fundamental aspects of the Reception experience and something that we encourage and model in Nursery. You can help your child develop their social skills by arranging playdates, encouraging sharing and cooperation, and teaching them how to communicate their needs. Children love role play and this is something that’s easy to encourage at home, for example using your child’s soft toys to create a vet role play. Add a bowl of ‘pet food’ (this can be pompoms or pasta shapes) and a toy thermometer and watch them enjoy some imaginative play! As their first day of school approaches, you can role-play some common social scenarios to prepare them for interactions with their peers and teachers

4. Nurture a Love of reading

It is extremely beneficial to expose your child to a variety of books. This will set your child up for the regular story sessions and phonics lessons in Reception. Trips to the library with your child are a perfect way for them to find new stories to enjoy and research tells us that children who go to libraries often are more likely to say they enjoy reading. At Kew College Prep our Reception children have weekly library sessions with our dedicated librarian, which are always very popular! Our Nursery children also love their sessions in the library where they can explore stories that they haven’t heard before. Ahead of their first day of school, we’d suggest reading stories about school life with your child. At Kew College Prep, we love Starting School by Janet and Allen Ahlberg but there are lots of books on this topic so enjoy exploring!

5. Encourage Emotional Expression

Starting school can create a range of emotions for children. Some may be very excited whereas others may be more apprehensive, (or sometimes both) so it’s important to validate and support their feelings. Encourage your child to express their emotions openly and provide them with reassurance and comfort when needed. At Kew College Prep we read The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas, which helps children to identify and understand their feelings and initiates conversations about how to manage emotions.

Whilst these suggestions are designed to help your child feel ready to start school, they are also activities that you can enjoy together and will give your child reassurance that school life will be exciting and enjoyable! Talk positively to your child about starting school so that when the day comes, they feel excited about the adventure that lies ahead!