Starting reception in September what to expect

[New2schoolrun]

Hi! My child is starting reception in September I just wondered if anyone had any advice on how to make the morning rush of getting ready go smoothly? Anything you’ve learnt along the way? Also what I can expect of the first week of reception for my child? And myself really. It’s the first time I’ve ever done this and I’m nervous but want to be best prepared. I have two girls aged 4&2 so will need to get one ready for school and one ready for the school run and to then come home. We will be walking and the youngest in the pram I expect.
thank you in advance for reading this and getting back to me :)

I’m in the same position, 2 & 4 year olds. My oldest starts school in September, youngest starts nursery. No prior experience with school but so far I’ve made checklists to put on the fridge to ensure nothing is forgotten in the mornings and school uniform, nursery clothing + bags will be prepared the night before

I spent over an hour last night labelling all my sons school uniform items, shoes, school bag and water bottle. I’m very aware of how close his first day is and quite honestly I’m scared.

I'm going to struggle with start times with mine, school and nursery are opposite ends of our village, we have no car so walk everywhere, DD gets dropped off first at nursery then will have to get DS to school. I’m going to do a test walk next week with them to see how long it takes.

What are you asking about thats unreasonable? I think you are unreasonable to post this as an AIBU (cos its a perfectly reasonable question) and fgs dont say "just for traffic"

@Totallyterrific are you the mumsnet police? Why do you actually care?
and honestly, it was just for traffic.

@Spookyseasonmum its so nerve wrecking isn’t it! I definitely need to label this week. Do yours have to get themselves changed at school for pe? What day is the first day? Ours is the 4th

I would love to answer but I'm not sure how different England is to Scotland, my daughter started school a week ago in Scotland
First week was lots of tears (hers not mine lol) so that was quite hard to watch
No PE just now, but I'd imagine they won't be doing much physical so here they just wear their uniform
It'll all be okay OP

Plan to be out the house 10 minutes earlier than you need to be to allow for delays getting out without the added worry of being late.

I hope I'm not jumping on your thread here but I also have my child starting Reception in September, I feel ok in regards to being organised etc as he attended nursery there 4 days a week anyway but I feel really sad that he's going into full time school, is it just me or am I being really soft? I just feel like I'm going to miss him so much 😔.

Expect them to be tired to start with.

Since lockdown a lot of schools now have a PE day where they go and come home in their PE kit, which makes things so much easier. It also saves time changing, but it depends on your school.

Be prepared for the amount of texts you get from school, it drives me barmy. Especially having more than one DC at school now.

Save any shoeboxes you have.

Don’t feel like you have to hold whole class parties, I never did.

Have as many changes of uniform as you can I always had 5, label everything I just used a sharpie, if you are walking leave early in the morning as it can take ages, try not to stress almost all children settle really well and reception is mostly play,

@Workquestion11 thank you for your lovely response ❤️ bless her!
how are you feeling about her going?

@Sirzy very good advice!
@KnownByAssociation no you’re more than welcome! Be nice to have someone else to go along this process with!
@PalaceOfThePanda very good advice! I’m not worried about the Pe, she will go to school in her pe kit on pe days so that’s helpful. Also been helpful with uniforms, 4 jumpers etc.

I bought labels from stickerscape on Etsy and I used them for nursery and not a single label came off I have purchased them again I really recommend them. Not too expensive.

They are often ravenous when you pick up as well as grumpy so bring a light snack- especially if you have a walk.
It is a bit hectic in the mornings, but you'll find a routine quickly. Get as much ready the night before.

Plenty of uniform, expect them to be tired. Some children are so intent on behaving that they can be a bit overwhelmed and then tricksy at home. Label everything.
Are they fully toilet trained? Do they know how to use their water bottle and open their lunch box if they are taking one. Can they take their shoes off easily?
I found it hard going from Ds being in paid pre school where I had lots of feedback to v limited.
We had a Facebook group which was handy. I work full time so didn’t always see all of the mums. That suited me tbh 🤣
Be encouraging and you’ll be fine, exciting time!

Have everything organised the night before.
No variables. Even the choice of breakfast (if you usually do a "cereal or toast", "which cereal?", "juice or milk?" etc.
Definitely a snack on the walk home.

Yep fully toilet trained just not 100% at wiping after a poo still working on that one. Need to do some practice with the lunch box good idea! Shoes are good. Good idea with the snack, it’s a really short walk but will def take one. I’m not worried about the other mums we’re all in the same boat I’m more than happy to talk to those that want to and to just smile at those who don’t I know that not everyone wants small talk or have time! Live and let live and all that jazz!

Expect pick up to take a long time for the first few days. The staff are trying to remember names/faces, the children will move at a glacial pace getting to the door, realise they’ve forgotten something and need to go back, and every parent will want to talk to the teacher.

Include a spare set of uniform - even if she has been dry at nursery, there is a lot going on in Reception and she may get distracted/forget where they are.

Is she having packed lunches? If so, I would really encourage her not to (assuming no SEND etc) - one less thing for you, and she may surprise you with what she eats. If she is having school meals, ask the office for a copy of the menu so you have a vague hope of working out what she had for lunch. You could also talk it through with her before she goes in each morning. Most schools have them on their websites now.

Use a calendar (physical or digital) that you can keep updated with inset days, dress up days etc. Something both you and your OH (if you have one) can see.

Have more water bottles and boxes for snacks than you think you need

Have a pot of change on the side for the inevitable last minute PTA donation or own clothes day

Save the parents from your WhatsApp group as "their name kids name" (eg Dave Sarah's Dad) so you can keep track of who belongs to who.

Give youngest breakfast in the pram... toast/something like that. Focus on getting eldest breakfasted before school.

It doesn't matter if younger one is still in PJs... put them in PJs with bottoms that look like leggings/trousers and then put a jumper/coat on.

If you have a buggy-board and 4yo still fits on it, put in on the buggy just in case.

Do getting dressed first. Roll 4yo out of bed and into their uniform. T shirt over the top for breakfast if they're a messy eater.

If there's any homework/ reading, do it as soon as you come in from school.

Label absolutely EVERYTHING, shirts, PE kit, spare clothes, socks, coat, water bottle, bag. EVERYTHING!
The snack provided by the government is of such poor quality I ask parents to send in a named piece of fruit. Make sure that they can open/ unwrap everything in their lunch box. I really don’t have time to open 30 pots of fruit. If you pack anything that needs cutlery, pack the NAMED cutlery.
Show your child all their belongings so they know what belongs to them. If you put their coat, sun hat, wellies in their bag, TELL them!
Let them know whose picking them up. Be on time to pick them up.
Tell them how the drop off is going to go and stick to it . E.g I will will give you a kiss and a squeeze and you will go to your teacher, I will wave at you and go to work. I will be back at home time. I really can’t (and won’t) peel children off their parents.
And lastly, NAME EVERYTHING!!!

Check they’ve brought everything out at the end of the day (coat, book bag, water bottle etc) before you leave!

She's much more settled now thank you, I also have 2 older kids to get ready for school plus a toddler, school is a 15 minute walk away so it's like a military operation most days lol.
It's a huge adjustment for them so take it as easy as you can, lots of parents dawdling too!
There's still a few children that cry when being dropped off and my child doesn't cope well with loud noises like that, so be prepared for that.
Nobody here does whole class parties, so agree with pp on that. At most we've seen 8 children at a party.
Agree about labelling everything. I used permanent marker

New2schoolrun
Yup Im the mn police. And yabu
I view mn by looking at the Active Convo list so I can never fathom why people dont post in a more relavant topic. Because I still would have seen your thread title but would have ignored it because I dont have school aged kids.
Had you posted in Primary education........Far more likely to get relavant replies.
And zero people like me having a moan. If AIBU is constantly full of threads like yours there is no point in it as a topic.

@Totallyterrific i bet you are the life and soul of a party I really really do.

please kindly take up your issue elsewhere because I don’t care and neither does anybody else, clearly. Please leave, If this thread bothers you so much please do yourself and me a favour and don’t continue to contribute to it.

Let them know the teachers and teaching assistants are there for them and are generally lovely people who love kids and want to help them, so reassue them it's OK to ask of they need anything. If they need help to open a lunch box, not a problem, just ask someone, same with coats etc...

She’s been at the school nursery has met the new teachers lots and has spent a lot of time in reception and loved it. Never had an issue with her going into nursery, she rarely said bye to me to be honest! Thank you all for your lovely helpful replies it’s really interesting to see how everyone views it. What do you think to my husband coming for the first drop off? I half would like him to come and other half think as it won’t be our normal routine for him to not bother really?