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 :)

It’s already been said but the labelling
of everything! My daughter is going into year 1 in September and honestly I’ve probably lost about 10 cardigans throughout the school year because they weren’t labelled.

also - have low expectations of finding out what they’ve done. Most days when I asked my daughter what she did or who she played with she replied with ‘nothing’ and ‘I played with no one’. Neither were correct as I saw on the school app what she had been up to everyday 🤣

I’m a reception teacher. I would probably just keep everything else low key as they’ll no doubt be very tired. Stay positive and wave them in, it’s a beautiful, proud moment. It’s amazing how much they soak up in that first year ❤️.

A tip I was given was to ask questions like what made you laugh today? Or tell me a new fact you learned today? rather than what did you do today, and you get more detail out of them.

@Hairymcclarytoes

Ask them what they did five minutes before bed time and you will get the minute by minute account of the school day 🤣.

Honestly, just enjoy it too. I’ll be waving my daughter off to secondary school in two weeks and as always I’m very emotional about it 😢. Time flies.

TA here - with a child going into y1
Name everything
Have a spare water bottle
Have more gloves for winter than you ever think you'll need.
If they are having school lunch the portions are small and the majority is not eaten so don't rely on them eating well at school and getting away with a smaller dinner. Mine refuse 4 out of the 5 days so we are on pack lunches as I know how much they've eaten.
The fruit given is pot luck. Sometimes its great sometimes its questionable.
If your child has to get changed for pe make that the day they wear socks and not tights.
Again if you have to leave a PE kit at school do not buy the school pe bag. Mine had a Pink unicorn one last year. 30 kids with the same bag means they find it trickier to locate
Have a spare pair of plimsolls. Even our yr5's manage to "misplace" them.
If they get homework and you find it hard to get them engaged/or lack of time -prioritise reading.
Get them a coat they can fasten themselves. TK Maxx has waterproof fleece lined that fasten with buttons.

So true, it all comes out at bed time!

@MaryPoppinPills

Yep. Doesn’t matter what school I’ve taught in. Reception kids barely eat anything for lunch.

i do not always manage these tips (and therefore find mornings stressful!) but:

• pack everything up the night before and have it ready in an easy accessible place
• don’t eat breakfast in school uniform if you want them looking nice.
• put reading books/reading record away the night before so you know where it is
• start getting the little one ready 15 mins earlier than you thought- they will be the problem.
• set out hairbands and a brush so you know exactly where it is and you have stuff ready.

My youngest is starting school this year and it is much less nerve racking the second time- don’t be afraid to ask other school mums questions. You won’t be the only one a bit confused or missing something. At our school there was a ton of unwritten communication that the more experienced parents just sort of knew.

One of the things I learnt was to ask the right questions of an evening. ‘Did you have a nice day?’ Is unlikely to get much but ‘was anyone funny? or did you play any good games?’ tended to get better responses. My eldest was never really tired out by reception so that isn’t a given but they can be a bit more emotional because they’re dealing with lots of change.

Yes I would get your husband to come with so he knows which door she goes in and comes out of. Even if he’s not going to do drop off you never know when he might need to. Plus, it’s a big day!

Get your DC to help you label their clothes so they have some idea of where to look to find their name.

Label shoes, god knows how but one kid came out with one shoe on last year & never found the lost one.

If they take a book bag hang a key ring or something on it so it's easily identifiable to DC in a pile of 30 book bags that all look the same.

Buy multi packs of gloves all the same colour, DS has 8 gloves all different colours from last winter.

Don't drag out goodbyes as they go in, it makes it harder on both of you.

Lots as per the above.

Definitely bath/shower and uniform including socks/tights set out the night before.

Shoes, coat, bag, snacks ready by the door the night before.

In the morning... get up, go to the toilet, get dressed, make bed straight away, go downstairs. No going back upstairs. Apron on over uniform for breakfast. Set breakfast things out the night before if needed... prevents decision fatigue (yours and theirs) and kitchen traffic.

TOP tip... have a basket downstairs with the following in it... hairbrush, hair bobbles, flannel, inhaler/meds, toothpaste, toothbrush, sunblock. Keep in your downstairs loo or somewhere easily accessible and near a sink. Everything you need is in there.

Second trip to the toilet.

TV/tablet/book (preferably just a book) only when ready and only when a grown up says so.

Practice mustering everyone by the front door just before you go out, make sure that all people, hats, coats, shoes, bags are in place before you open the door, check that no one has their pyjamas on under their uniform or their favourite bedtime toy that they can't sleep without in their pocket.

The aim is to keep them all close and on task at all times. You do what they do as they do it.

Not sure if this is a tip or not but:

We aren't early risers so found adjusting to the mornings particularly hard (school started earlier than nursery AND was a longer walk) so one thing that I often did was scoop DC2 out of her cot, still asleep/barely awake, straight into the buggy (lined with a blanket) or sling just as she was, in her PJs, no milk, no breakfast, nothing. She didn't mind because she wasn't really awake and by the time she fully came round we were home again and I could concentrate fully on her. Worked for us for the first year or so.

Oh and I totally didn’t expect to cry when Ds started school as he’d been in nursery full time from a year old. Sobbed my heart out and was mortified as I didn’t know any of the mums and hadn’t expected it. Take tissues!

Try and start good habits from day one such as

Not shove snacks in their face the minute they leave the classroom or you will have to do this forever.

So we get our child dressed and ready before any TV or breakfast as we used to do breakfast then dressed and it became a nightmare

You could put a t-shirt on over school clothes to prevent food stains

buy printed labels. I used stikins

expect uniform to he filthy with paint, dirt and food snd soak it all when they get home

Join the parents class WhatsApp if you want to have 600 messages a day about what item of clothing each kid has lost and whether or not it’s a pe day or forest school etc etc 😂

if she can’t wipe 100% yet I’d focus on that x

As a lunchtime supervisor for Reception, can I suggest, if they have packed lunches, that you send them with things they can open themselves to start with. The first time they meet us is at lunchtime and they can be a bit shy about asking for help in the beginning.

Try and teach them to do up their coats too, doing up 20 odd zips can take a long time! As you'll be walking I dare say your dc will always have weather appropriate gear, but please be aware that we try to get them outside in anything but the heaviest rain, I've been known to play in the snow with them too.

Mind you, by the time they go up to Yr1 they aren't shy at all 🙂

DD1 goes into reception in September and has already done a year of school nursery. Label everything! The end of last year brought us a missing PE hoodie and a missing cardigan. Similarly, DD magpied a pair of sunglasses and someone else's cardigan! (Owners traced and returned!)

Water bottle - pop their name in sharpie on the bottom and keep topping it up after every few washes (we had the same bottle as another child and it was the end of the world when one drank the others juice)

Say goodbye to clean clothes! I've made some great friends with some of the other mums and we've all said the same - we're convinced our children roll around in, and eat, mud, as they come out absolutely filthy! Vanish is your friend here, but socks never seem to clean up properly

Remember they are only little, and it's totally OK for you to have a few tears too

I have a question - everyone says they get really tired, but does that apply to the ones who've been in full time nursery too? Obviously the big change will make them tired at first, but I'm wondering whether to just pick up myself for the first week rather than childminder until 5.30. Will mean he's watching TV while I'm working though, so not ideal.

@SnapdragonToadflax possibly a bit less tired but might be nice to pick him up a couple of days just so you get a feel of the school see the teacher and if he is tired then watching TV would be fine

Honestly thank you so much everyone! So many good points. Labels labels labels ☑️

for those starting in September what date is it? Ours is the 4th. Not long now! How are they doing your starter days? We have two days of 8.30-1 and then full time.

Snack for pick up. Don't plan anything after school.

My biggest advice from my lived experience is that if something feels wrong then don't be afraid to go in and talk to the teacher multiple times. You might feel like a nuisance but you can't sit back and trust people to do the right thing by your child. Sometimes you need a loud voice and sharp elbows.

Oh, and we used to lay the uniform out on the sofa and get dressed in the lounge straight after breakfast. Stops anyone disappearing into their bedroom and getting distracted by shiny objects.

Ah crap brain dump- if you bleach white polo shirts that have sun cream on the sun cream will turn bright pink so don't do that if you have white polo shirts 🤣

@Idtotallybangdreamoftheendlessnotgonnalie love that advice. Think that’s so important!!! I am her voice and I’m not afraid to politely ask about things. I had an amazing relationship with the nursery teachers and I hope to build that with the reception staff, without being over bearing obviously haha

I would take your husband and make it an occasion but I would also make sure you are all relaxed in the morning.

Get your stuff ready the night before, uniform ready so there's no rushing. Shoes by the door everything ready.

Bundle younger one in the pram if she's not ready but make sure everything is relaxed, enjoyable and engaging. That way your child is going into school feeling relaxed and loved.

Remember to take thr 1st photo in the school uniform and know you've done all you can and shed a proud tear on the way home x