School readiness in Havering
What is school readiness?
In Havering we believe that school readiness involves:
Children’s readiness for school
Schools’ readiness for children
Families and communities’ readiness for school.
There are four key areas that make an important difference to how children get on in school:
- language and communication
- personal, social and emotional development
- physical development
- characteristics of effective learning.
These areas form the foundation for learning, including literacy and numeracy.
The rapid rate of development from birth to five means that we must take into account the different needs of children at different ages when we are thinking about being ready for wider learning experiences including school.
Who supports school readiness?
- Parents at home when they read stories with their child, sing songs and talk about things that interest them and their child, and play with their child.
- Health professionals working with parents and children to ensure that everyone gets the best start in life.
- Children Centres, where many health professionals are now based, and where there are stay and play sessions and family support.
- Early years settings –including child minders, nurseries, play groups or schools.
The most important thing we do in early years is to ensure that children are learning through play. Research tells us that this is the most effective way of supporting children’s development. The process of development is sometimes portrayed as one in which children gradually manage things more independently, with lots of support and modelling from the adults who care for them.
Visit their new school
If possible, try to visit your little one’s new school and ask for a tour. It’ll help them feel at ease and get used to their new surroundings. Some schools even offer ‘settling in’ days which are a great opportunity for your child to get used to their new learning environment.
Practise self-care
Being independent is a useful skill when a child starts school, so encourage your little one to do things like getting dressed themselves, blowing their own nose and going to the toilet alone. Make sure you give them plenty of time to practise these important life skills and remember to praise all their efforts, no matter how small, as this will build their confidence.
If your child is not fully confident in going to the toilet alone or getting dressed, don’t worry! Take some time to practise self-care with your little one until they become more confident. There’s no rush and every child progresses at their own speed.
Practise the basic skills they’ll need for starting school
If you can, try to spend some time with your little one each day chatting about what you are doing and listening to them, commenting on colours or counting their stuffed toys. It can be as simple as talking about the colours of the flowers in the park or counting how many stuffed toys they have.
Mark making is another fun activity. It's a simple way to encourage your little one to draw; whether it's a dot or a squiggly line, you could doodle together or take a bucket of water and paintbrush outside to get creative, all this helps them with their writing skills.
By incorporating these skills into their daily activities, children will learn through play and begin to understand the world around them during their everyday life.
Talk to your child about starting school
Bring the topic of starting school into daily conversations. Perhaps you could ask your little one what they expect from school or what they hope it’ll be like.
You could tell them about your school days and show them pictures of you on your first day or with your school friends. Even if you didn’t enjoy school, it’s important to be positive about it around your child so they feel more relaxed about their new adventure.
New experiences can make us a bit nervous as well as excited, so if you or your little one has any worries about starting school do have a chat with their teacher.
Read books together about school
Swap out one of your bedtime books for one that talks about starting school. Whether your little one is excited or nervous to start school, reading fun stories about school adventures might help them get used to the idea. Visit your local library and ask the librarians if they have any suggestions for you, you might even bump into other families while you’re there!