Find out as much as you can about your child’s school so that you can answer any questions that they might have and discuss it with them before September. You can find the contact details for all the schools in BCP on the BCP Council website here.
They may want to know the simple things like the colour of the uniform. Have a look at our advice on school uniform here for guidance on how much to buy and where to get it from. They may want to know what exciting food they will eat at lunchtime and where they will play outside. Knowing their teacher’s name and maybe some of the children that they will be starting school with could help to allay some worries. They might want to know about their school run journey.
Look for Facebook groups for children starting this September at your child’s new school that may pop up over the next couple of months where you can make contact with other parents and perhaps arrange some meet-ups. You can use our Mumbler social media channels to help find your new tribe!
Talk about school in a positive way. Reassure them that there are plenty of people to help them to settle in and explain that the daily routine may be a little different to what they are used to so think about running through what to expect with them.
Explain that they will have to have their lunch at school and that there will be other breaks outside, as well as time in the classroom.
Practise the school run with them; try the walk to school so that they know how long it will take and it becomes a familiar route to them.
Encourage independence. Can they go to the toilet on their own? Are they able to put on their own shoes? Can they fasten their coat and wash their hands? This will be the best preparation you can give your child to make them feel a little more organised and confident as they start school (and help the teachers massively when it’s time for PE!).
Before your child is able to write and effectively use a pencil, building up their fine motor skills and strength in their hand is key. Ideas to develop their fine motor skills include:
Using tweezers to pick up small objects hidden in playdough & kinetic sand
Chunky chalks and paintbrushes with water to mark make outside
Doing jigsaws and puzzles
Finger painting
Baking
Crafts – using a range of different materials to cut and stick
Building with LEGO/Duplo/construction toys
When your child begins school they will learn to read through ‘Phonics’. Phonics is the process of breaking each word up into its individual sounds before blending those sounds back together to make the word. Activities to help develop your child’s early phonics can include:
Playing I Spy (this will help children to hear and recognise initial sounds in words). You can also mix it up and sound talk what you can spy. For example, I spy with my little eye…a b-o-x….what is it? This will help to develop oral blending of sounds in words.
Go on ‘listening walks’. This will tune your child into hearing and discriminating the different sounds around them.
Play listening and rhyming games on Phonics Play. There are free activities to try, focus on phase 1 to start with.
Read books together and visit your local library. Ask questions like ‘What do you think will happen next?’ ‘What was your favourite part of the story?’ This will help to greater understand of the story and encourage a love of reading.
Music & Sound – these are at the heart of phase 1. When listening to a nursery rhyme or song, encourage your child to respond with a sound or instrument when they hear a particular word. Use quiet and loud sounds to recreate an action – e.g. a tap dripping (tap two fingers together) or thunder and lightning (stamp loudly on the ground, use instruments to recreate the sounds).
Start early counting skills. There are lots of counting opportunities that are a perfect start for developing your child’s mathematic skills. Count things like toys and teddies. Try to count backwards too.
Other ideas to help with early maths could include spotting patterns in nature when you go for walks and hunting for shapes around the house.
Children enter school at different stages of development. Some might be able to write their name while others aren’t quite able to grasp a pencil and use it just yet. Some might be able to recognise numbers, others won’t. It really doesn’t matter. All teachers want is for your child to be happy coming to school and feel safe and confident in their new environment!
One of the biggest things to sort out when your child is starting primary school in BCP is the school uniform!
Your school will have specific guidance about the uniform that is acceptable for students, so make sure you know what options you have. You will receive a uniform check list of what exactly needs to be purchased before the school term starts in September which is often sent out in the new starters pack, or may be available on the school website to download.
Most primary schools allow the bulk of the uniform to be purchased without the logos (i.e. plain uniforms from supermarkets etc). This is much cheaper than buying the official uniform with logos from the school, but once again check what’s acceptable before you buy! Some people buy just one ”official” top with a logo on it from the school to wear for school photos and trips.
Trousers
Skirts
Culottes
Shorts
Dresses: Pinafores, Gingham dresses or Playsuits
Polo shirt
Shirt
Jumper
Cardigan
School socks
Tights
School shoes
Coat
PE kit – normally a t-shirt, shorts, socks and trainers or pumps. Some schools also require jogging bottoms and a jumper
Some schools may require wellies and waterproof jacket & trousers
School bag
This ultimately comes down to how often you want to be doing the washing and how good your child is at bringing home what they took to school (see labelling section below!)
Where to buy from?
Of course you can mix and match from different shops just make sure that you order or pop into the store to buy the uniform early into the summer holidays because towards the end of the holidays most supermarkets have very limited stock available! Don’t forget to book your school shoes appointment if you head to stores like Clarks they offer slots to get measured and even have some Quiet Time Slots to book if your child gets easily overwhelmed with lots of people in the shop!
If you do not want to purchase a branded jumper/cardigan or other school logo branded clothes from the specific to the school Uniform Shop why not check out if your child’s new school has a PTA (Parents and Teacher Association) sometimes also called PTFA or Friends of ‘Name of School’ on FB or try Facebook Marketplace.
Second-hand uniform: It’s worth asking at the school if they stock this, or the PTA may do a sale.
This is a MUST DO task! Avoid regular trips to lost property to rummage through the clothes mountain! Plus it’s much easier when the teaching staff can see the label and pop it back on the child’s peg or in their bag for them.
There are plenty of options:
labels (stick-on, iron-on or sew on)
stamps
writing on with pens
Mumbler Tip: We are have been using Stamptastic for over 9 years now and I only recently replaced the ink pad with a new one they last a very long time.
You can literally stamp EVERYTHING (yes even the inside of the socks) and it doesn’t come out in the wash ever!
Also for anything non clothes related like drinking bottles, lunchboxes and lunch bags etc. the BCP Mumbler household are also fans of the TinyMe sticker sheets! They always run a offer in July/August where you only pay the £3 postage and get the sheet for free! Check out their Facebook Page to see when your child’s first letter of the Alphabet will be on offer but don’t worry if you miss the day they always have a day at the end of the offer where you can purchase any name! We love them because you get a lot of different sized labels on 1 sheet and they do not scratch or come off in the dishwasher at all!
BBC Bitesize is the perfect FREE resource center when it comes to everything to do with starting primary school their informative short little clips go from Bud’s Number Garden Game to nutritious lunchbox ideas and even downloadable resources to help you and your child transition easier! Check out all the BBC Bitesize ‘Starting Primary School’ Videos here!
And last but not least another Mumbler Tip if you want to take the very popular ‘First Day at School’ Picture by your front door so its less stressful on the day where emotions will be high anyway you could always do it the day before get your child all dressed up in their new uniform and take the picture without the stress of running late nobody will ever know!
PS: We would love to see the pictures in our BCP & Dorset Mumbler Facebook Community Chat group of your little ones first day at school!
