Starting P1 in Scotland - what should they know?

[BeenChangedForGood]

Have DS who will be starting Primary 1 this August. I’m going to arrange a chat with his early years key worker about him specifically but I was wondering if anyone with some knowledge of the school system may be able to help me with roughly what level a child should be at before starting P1 in terms of basic Literacy, Numeracy & Practical Skills?

I don't think there's an official list? I think they're all really different aren't they.

If it helps, one of mine is starting in August too. Currently they can't read at all (except his name), can count to twenty, can add small numbers, use scissors well, dress themselves, use toilet independently. This seems normal for the rest of the nursery class. Some of them can write their names better than mine! And I expect some can read too, even though we're told it's better not to teach them if you don't know the school's method.
It seems to me they are keener that your child has independence skills than a academic skills.

At my DC school P1 is very much the same as nursery, it’s mainly learning through play. As is the first term of P2. It’s the final term of P2 when it turns into proper school and the play area starts to disappear.

When DS started there were a few who couldn’t write their own name yet but they did ask that children learn to recognise their name. There were some kids that couldn’t count to 10.

They did ask parents to teach their child to wipe their own bum because nobody else is going to do it! They also asked parents to teach their children to dress themselves, do up their own coat and put their own shoes on as the teacher doesn’t have time to do that 30 times after every PE lesson. Learning to carry a tray with a drink on it is also helpful if they are having a school dinner. Also learning to eat with cutlery.

I'm not aware of any requirements here that differ from starting school anywhere else - where are you comparing to? School summer holidays are earlier in the year, and children in reception class are normally a little bit older than in England - it's standard to be 4 1/2 or above; the curriculum is a little looser than in England too. But I wasn't asked about my kids' developmental level; it's a class of 4 - 5 year olds with all the variation that entails!

You are way overthinking this. Calm down. It’s P1. It’s play based learning, and just getting them started on their school journey.

Nurseries in Scotland also follow the curriculum for excellence so If nursery have never raised any concerns about how your child is doing then you’ve nothing to
worry about.

Practically - how to go to the toilet and wash their hands, open their lunch box, do a coat up etc. How to get changed for PE - and how to "stop at their underwear" - DC's former reception teacher listed this as a thing, she said it took weeks for the class to realise the instruction to get changed or take their clothes off meant to leave their underwear on and it only took one child to take their pants off and there would be 30 naked bums next time she looked up. She said they usually got the hang of it by Easter but then swimming started and someone always ended up keeping their pants on and putting swimming costume over the top. She retired shortly afterwards giving this speech, I think it was all too much How to identify their name on labels so they can find their bag/jumper/water bottle.

My youngest is in s6 now but I remember stressing about all this in p1. With the benefit of a lot of hindsight reading/writing/maths are a lot less
important than things like knowing to put on a coat/remembering their water bottles/lunchboxes etc.

The big changes are wiping their own bum, and carrying and eating their own lunch.

On your part, the change is checking their bags. They will forget/lose everything they own once they don't have a key staff member to help them, everyday if you're lucky...

Also, remember they get free school lunch until P5, and you have to book it in advance if you are taking them lunches.

That depends on the school. She’ll get all the information from the school her kid is going to.

My kids went to primary in south Lanarkshire and you never booked lunch in advance. The kids ordered what they wanted during registration on the day. There was no online booking system. Even when they moved into P6 and we had to pay, the only option was to add money to their account and if they ordered lunch during registration then we were charged. No order in advance system. My kids left primary last year so this is recent.

@SmaugTheMagnificent Thanks so much. This is helpful ☺️

@Pineapplewaves Thank you!! This is helpful ☺️ He can toilet, get dressed/do shoes independently, and eat with cutlery. Carrying a trap with a cup is a great suggestion - I hadn’t thought of that ☺️ thank you!

@StripedVase Wasn’t comparing to anywhere to be honest 🤣 Just aware that different parts of the UK have different schooling so just specifying incase it made a difference ☺️

Going to the toilet independently, opening packets in their lunch, recognising own name, doing up coats/putting on hats etc I've worked in nurseries ( Scotland ) for 20 years and fill out paperwork every summer to go on the the child's school. They ask how the child's social skills are, independence level, maturity level, general health and wellbeing etc things like writing, adding are not requirements

@SargeMarge I really don’t think I’m overthinking it 😅 I’m perfectly calm.

He’s my first child. The next youngest child in my family is 28 😅 All my friends children are younger than mine. I have absolutely zero experience of primary school other than my own schooling which was a while ago 😅

I have no clue if the literacy starting point is recognising their own name or if they should have basic knowledge of all letters or be able to write various things.
Same with numbers - know them to 10, 20, 100? 😅
And practical skills - surely the more the better but what things are actually helpful - eg, carrying a tray with a cup that another poster suggested 👍🏻 definitely useful and not something I would have thought of!

got you. The transition was very smooth for us, and carefully handled at the school - although be ready for him to be very tired! if he's been at nursery, it won't be too different, as others have said. Many schools start them off with just half days to get accustomed - that depends what council area you're in.

@SheshesheShineOn 🤣🤣 poor teachers really deal with it all don’t they? He definitely knows these things ☺️ He gets himself changed for a gymnastics class he does so hopefully the pants will stay on 🤣

I honestly wouldn't stress on his specific capacities, they will be used to all sorts of kids. But I'm sure you could talk to the school and even go in and visit a p1 class to ease your mind?

@Whiskyfromsmallglasses Thank you. This is really helpful ☺️

@StripedVase Thanks ☺️ He goes to nursery 3 days per week currently and it’s attached to the school that he will be going to. We have a meeting with the school in a couple of months so hopefully they’ll give us all the transition details then. As far as I know it’s a half day on the first day then straight in to full days.

Im not sure what to expect in terms of tiredness actually!! He does full days 8-5.30 in nursery and will be much shorter at school but he doesn’t usually do a 5 day week so that may take a while to get used to!

Some will be able to do all of that, and more, and some will be able to do none of that - in most classes there’ll be a huge spread of ability.
Practical things are important as others have said - toileting, organising themselves a bit, taking off jumper, zipping jacket or at least attempting etc
Health and wellbeing - being able to ask for help, approaching a familiar grown up if there’s a problem
The key thing is an ability to listen and an interest in learning/curiosity.
Literacy wise - recognising own name if possible, looking for familiar signs in their environment (McDs is often a first one)and mark making on paper (drawing/‘writing’ although doesn’t need to be recognisable letters). More important is an awareness of books/action songs/rhymes and some experience of being read to regularly.
Numeracy wise -counting on and back to 10 (countdown to blast off - jumping is always fun, counting the stairs to bed etc) starting to recognise some numbers especially silly in the wider environment, matching colour/shape/patterns (socks work well for this), continuing a simple pattern.
But come August if your child can do none of that then don’t panic - P1 is often play based on a similar vein to nursery initially and a key tenet is to meet our children where they are not ask them to tick off some arbitrary list.
If you want to do some prep - read together regularly, sing together, spend time outdoors and off screens, encourage them to have a go at being Independent in lots of small ways, help them to be confident being away from you and knowing you’ll be back for them…the rest will come I promise.

Somehow mine just found it exhausting, at the start - I once got a call they'd both fallen asleep on their desks...! I think they thought I'd had them up all night online gambling or something but they were just a bit overwhelmed 😆

@Musicalmistress Thank you so much. This is very helpful ☺️ He can definitely do the things you’ve mentioned so I feel comfortable that he’ll get on fine ☺️ I’ll meet with his keyworker in a few weeks to check there’s nothing they feel he needs more help with 👍🏻

@BeenChangedForGood
A couple of other things came to mind:
turn taking! Play simple board games or any opportunity for the ‘your turn, my turn’, dominoes is fab as it also encourages counting and eventually subitising (knowing it’s 5 from the dot pattern without needing to count).
if they’re at nursery they’ll already probably have lots of opportunities for these things.
the o oh other thing I’d say is that if they are eligible for a bonus nursery year (not yet 5 on the first day of term for P1) then I’d seriously consider it - it’s often obvious to see those who’ve had that additional time to develop their emotional maturity, not just at P1 but at the transition to secondary school and beyond. My DD went to university at 17 (an additional year at nursery wasn’t an option when she was little unless there were significant concerns) but I see such a difference in the young woman who headed back to start second year - so much more ready for it! 😁

Academically they need to know very little. My youngest was 4 and couldn’t write anything to be honest. Eldest was 5 and could write her name for months when she started. I saw a big difference in their abilities but I also had to remember eldest was 8 months older than youngest when she started. It makes a huge difference.

I spoke to nursery about youngest, they weren’t concerned at all just me worrying for nothing. It was all about what she cld do for herself and being toilet trained etc. She’s p2 now I’m glad she started when she did rather than keeping her back for an extra year.

In p1 most the time she was telling me she had been playing for the first few weeks. A lot of the learning is play based. Some schools they don’t have desks (ours does) but that blew my mind! The class spent weeks doing a different number every week. What did you learn today, we were learning the number 5. Days later same answer. I’m like wtf 😆 this is slow progress!

A lot of it must have been so boring for my eldest but my youngest probably benefited from the very basics they took forever to do. I don’t even think she was doing sums until after Christmas. I felt Aug-Christmas but very much settling in for them.

@Musicalmistress Thanks ☺️ Nursery always actually comment on his turn taking - it’s something he’s always been good at and will always make sure everyone has a fair turn at things etc. He’s an only child with no kids in the family so I was expecting to have to work harder on taking turns 😅
He has just turned 5 and is currently doing a bonus nursery year. We felt another year of building social skills would be really good for him ☺️