We are moving in the UK from slovakia. I am worried.

[Thebravesisterstates]

We are moving in the Wales prefecture of UK from slovakia. I have a 5 year old girl and I am worried much about the education gap this will present for her.

Is my child likely to be integrated with no much trouble. School here starts from 6 years of age, there has been no formal education for her to this point?

Her English is no so good and very basic, she only knows her name on being written, no phonetic sounds yet. We have a different alphabet here.

Customs here are very different too. If my 5 year old was to take in cakes and donuts to school on her name day would this be seen as strange?
Or would the school could use this as a learning time for more understanding other cultures?
Is it only birthdays to be celebrated?

Could be as late as 3.30

welcome, op! I don’t live far from where you’re moving! Generally, the schools will try to be accommodating to cultural traditions- you should let them know about name day and I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. I’m sure she’ll catch up quickly with the other kids. They will probably want to focus on her reading ability first, but they might give her a chance to settle in and help with her English first. You’d be amazed how quickly young children adapt to language. Just be open and honest with the school about your daughter’s needs. As for the area, they’re quite a chatty bunch in Bridgend. Be open and friendly and likely you’ll get treated the same way.

Bridgend is a predominantly English speaking town so you won't here much Welsh unless you seek it out. There aren't many Welsh medium schools either, so your daughter will almost certainly be taught in English as the first language.

South Wales has some lovely areas. Bridgend is mainly English speaking so I think it's likely she'll be in an English medium school. She'll pick the language up quickly because she's young and the fact that you speak English will help.

Bring umbrellas and raincoats though…wales is lovely and green for a reason 😉

I agree that learning to speak English with welsh accent is a bonus - I wish I had a welsh accent 😊

I we do lots of mark making with finger paint and pens, she can do a drawing of a person and a sun.
She has an adamant refusal to try and draw the letters of her name but can recognize and trace roughly when I draw. she has a lot of frustration with scissors but does cut eventually. Does this sound like she is on track, I know she will be maybe behind others but can catch up from this?

@Thebravesisterstates Please
do not worry about your daughter being behind her peers; she is joining the school at an ideal age. She will pick up a lot very quickly and in a few months you will not be able to see much difference between her and the children who have been in pre-school or nursery.
Her teacher will also be able to support you with anything that could help her at home - practicing phonics and such like.
She will probably be buddied with another child and group of children.

My experience is from being an infant school teacher in England some years ago and we had a lot of Polish, Slovakian and Czech children start their school journey with us. The younger children fitted in and closed gaps in learning much quicker than their older brothers and sisters.

Hello, teacher from South Wales here. At age 5 she will be going into reception.
In Wales children learn through play based and experiential work until the end of year 2. She will be learning phonics as a beginner at the same pace as her class. They work in small groups on focussed tasks and a major priority is well being.
Schools are always interested in other cultures’ traditions just check first before sending cake in as some don’t allow it.

Hope you settle in fast!

My foster son had a new student at his primary school in Year 1. Child was polish and knew not 1 word of English. I saw him about 4 months after he started and he was playing with.otjer children and foster son said he can speak English now. We all talk to him and help him. He can understand. I saw him at Sports day at end of year and heard him chatting to his friends in good English. All in 1 year.

Make sure your child can use the toilet and wash her hands independently. Changing shoes, dressing and undressing for gym, recognizing her name in Latin characters, and putting on her coat are other skills that will serve her well.

You probably already know this, but your DD (dear daughter) will have to wear a uniform for school, that might be something she needs to be prepared for.

I know nothing about schools in Slovakia so sorry if this is obvious. British schools normally have the option of school dinners or taking in a packed lunch.

All KS 1 children get a free school meal, and in Wales I believe they are extending this to all primary school children.

Something to chat about, maybe have a look at the kind of thing available. Normally there is a 2 or 3 week rotation of food available, usually there is a meat and a vegetarian choice and probably salad and fruit.

If you Google www.bridgend.gov.uk

School meals - it will show the three week menu plan. You should also be able to apply for a school place from the website.

My child has been potty trained for a long while so should not be a problem, she can take herself over to and do hand washing. She can dress herself but troubles come with her socks, she finds this hard. We are work on this a lot.
Her name is same, but with no accented characters.
Thank you.

@sashh We do not have school uniforms here so will prepare her for that, maybe she finds this fun for excitement. The school menu is same system as here, and also here is free school lunch for primary first grade (worth €1.30).

She sounds like she will be fine, I'm not even sure she will be that far behind any other child who has missed out on nursery.
Can she use a knife and fork, she will need to if having school dinners?

Well your English is excellent OP, so I’m sure she’s picked up quite a bit from you. Don’t worry, children absorb languages incredibly quickly. I believe some part of the brain is highly receptive to new languages in childhood. As you get older, it kind of shuts down - which is why adults find it so hard to learn Italian at evening classes (by which I mean me!!).

She will try with a knife and fork but is not good, she will resort to use her hand to pick or get frustrated and have me occasionally feed her. But does attempt and is liking to try.

My fear is that she will feel too shy to ask for the potty because her language is wery behind. She is a shy girl here too. but I will let the teacher know to remind for the potty.

@JoonT I am fluent but my pronunciation is not great. I am not at a stage to teach a child phonics in English, I try to teach a few words to her but she is not so receptive. I am not want to push her too hard because i want the move to be a good thing for her not for it to cause stressfulness.

when you say the potty, maybe it's translation, but at school age children will need to be able to use a regular toilet by themselves.
and know to wash their hands, of course.
is she ok with this.
don't worry about levels of learning, each child is different. school will make her welcome so she enjoys going.
do you have an address in bridgend yet, so you can apply for a school place ?
for the sounds, could you put bbc radio on in the background, or spoken books.

From my experience from working in school, children adapt very quickly and integrate with very little problem.
I agree, check with the school about taking sweet treats in they probably have a healthy eating policy but individual teachers have their own ideas and yes, learning about other cultures would go down very well.

Worth being aware that she might be reception or year 1 depending on when she was five. If her date of birth is between 1 September 2017 to 31 august 2018 she would currently be in reception. If 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017 she would currently be in year 1.

if you want to try English phonics sounds then on YouTube look up Mr Thorne does Phonics as he has videos modelling all the sounds.

Sorry for my translation problems, to be clear she knows how to do toilet herself and wash her hands herself. Problem is there could be shyness to ask to use in school so may need someone to ask her and remind about going to the potty.

We have the house already and have some school for applying in our sight-lines, we hope to be in the UK for late December.
@AegeanBlue
Her Birthday was October, I think it should lead her to be in reception grade when we arrive?

if you are coming that soon, i think you should be applying for school place now.
hopefully she can start in january.
that is next term, so very soon.
good luck.
and remember to call it toilet, not potty or else she will sound like a toddler in nappies!
i'm sure teaching assistant will prompt her if you ask them to.
don't worry.

Many reception classrooms have their own toilet and they just wander in when they need.

Alphablocks is a good tv series for phonics. It’s on CBeebies channel. Or probably on YouTube too. The system used is Jolly Phonics.

Each school will have their own policy/habit on whether children take something in for their birthday. Some do, some don’t.

‘Topsy and Tim go to school’ is a good book - quite representative of our experience with three schools anyway. Might be nice to get.

Yes, she will be in Reception. Children this age are still very much getting used to school, so she won't be that far behind and will catch up really quickly. Also, there is a wide range of ability/attainment at this age, so you will find other children still struggle with cutlery, scissors etc (I know plenty of 7-8 year old who still struggle with these!)

I wouldn't try to teach her letter sounds if you're not confident, but you could watch some TV in English together (someone suggested Alphablocks earlier).

I work in a school where we get a lot of new children who don't speak English. Since the start of the year we've had more than 30 new children in the school and most of them didn't speak any English when they arrived. I have a girl who arrived in my class less than two months ago (she's seven) and she's already picking up so much English. Just this week she's been able to follow so many more (quite complicated) instructions such as that she didn't need to pray in assembly because it's not her religion, and when we were talking about everyone reading at home tonight, she went and got her reading book and changed it for a new one.

Children soak up language like little sponges at this age!

When we have new children who don't speak English I try and watch out for whether they're going to the toilet. I quite often ask other children to take them when they go themselves, so the new child can see where the toilets are and have the opportunity to use them without having to ask. If you're worried your daughter might be shy about asking to use the toilet (even if she knows the word) you could ask the school if she could have a little card (or give her one yourself - I had one child whose dad gave him two little post-it notes with "toilet" and "water" written on them, and little pictures) so she can give it/show it to the teacher when she needs the toilet until she's more confident with asking.

I saw my 6 year old lick a slide the other day for no reason. Your daughter will be fine