Looking forward to school

Starting school is a big milestone for you and your child. Here are some ideas to help your child to feel confident about starting school.

How you can help

• Talk with your child about school. It's normal to feel nervous at times of change but try to talk positively about fun and learning with other children to help your child to be excited rather than nervous. Talking about the things that are important to your child is useful - so encourage them to ask questions. Practice using new words such as uniform, school, playground, teacher, lunchbox and home time! Watch this video for ten tips to help your child to be ready for school (opens new window).
• Visiting your child's school before they start is useful but may not be possible at the moment. Most schools have a website where you'll be able to see what the building, teachers and uniform look like, even if you can't visit beforehand.
• There are skills that will help your child to settle in as happily as possible, resilience- learning to manage emotions, and self-regulation - dealing with difficult moments. Watch a video on ten fun activities that support personal, social and emotional development (opens new window).
• Learning to communicate is so important, and children need adults to help them to develop their language and communication skills. The best way to do this is by talking, playing, singing and reading with family members. This video has ten ideas to support communication and language skills. (opens new window)
• Children are not expected to be able to read or write before they start school, but it is very helpful if they can recognise their own first name written down. This video has ten ways to develop your child's literacy skills (opens new window).
• Numeracy is about counting, numbers, shape, size, weight, time and money. It is a skill that we use everyday when we pair socks, get out the right number of cups or talk about bedtime. This video has ten ideas for supporting your child to learn early numeracy skills (opens new window).
• Most of all, celebrate this milestone in your child's life!
   

Further resources

• Watch five short videos on getting ready for school - supporting parents to help their child get ready for school and learning
• Find out about preparing for change - things you can do to make change a little easier
• Get advice and guidance on services and support available in Norfolk when your child is a pre-schooler aged 3-4 years old
• Visit get your child ready for starting school to get some more practical ideas and tips on how you can help your child make the transition to school.
• Get guidance, planning and support when a child or young person with SEND changes schools and moves to the next stage of education
• Visit the Norfolk family information Pinterest page for more ideas