Helping Your Child Transition from Nursery to “Big School”*

*This is a collaborative post*

 

When the time comes for your child to move up to big school, the chances are your family are probably feeling a little overwhelmed. We must all learn to adjust to change; it’s a vital life skill. Change is unavoidable and knowing how to cope with it is an essential part of growing up. The fact that your child has attended nursery is great because they will already be familiar with the structure and rules associated with attending an educational establishment. However, moving to Reception is still daunting, particularly because everything feels so much bigger. It’s absolutely normal for there to be a variation of emotions, from excitement to nerves, and it’s crucial that parents help support the transition for their little ones. Here’s some advice from a nursery school in St Margaret’s. 

Be sure to answer your child’s questions as honestly as you can. This will help settle their nerves and clear up any concerns they may have. Take your child for a visit to their new school so that they can become familiar with their new surroundings, even if it’s just the outside of the building. You could also look at the school’s website and browse the photos. 

Talk to your child about what they can expect by pointing things out and using uplifting language to help turn their anxiety into excitement. For instance, if you spot the playground, you can say “Look, there’s the playground where you will be able to play with your new friends during breaktime”. If you notice a sports field, you can say “Look, that looks like a football pitch, maybe you can join a team and play after school”. It’s absolutely crucial that you use optimistic terminology so that your child can feed off of your positive attitude. 

Another way to help your child prepare is to practise the morning routine so that their new schedule doesn’t come as a shock to the system. Get up early and eat breakfast. You can even go as far as getting your child to practise putting on their new school uniform. Perhaps make it into a fun game so that your child doesn’t feel like getting up for school is a chore before they’ve even started. 

 

*Photo source Pexels

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