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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

What to prepare for a preschool start?

8 replies

SophiaMan · 29/08/2013 13:10

I am not sure if this is the right place for the topic, but DS (is 3.5 now) is going to a nursery attached to a primary school next week. I have no idea what I need to prepare for him apart from the packed lunch which is required? Is a lunch box necessary? I find most of the lunchboxes sold are quite big for children. Also does he need to carry a bag? I literally haven't done any preparation yet:( And I am new to the UK, so really have no idea what a child's nursery life will be. Any mum can provide some suggestions? really appreciate that very much

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pizzaqueen · 29/08/2013 13:44

what hours is he there? in Scotland it's 2.5 hours a day so they don't need lunch and snacks are provided.

he'll probably need some indoor/plimsole type shoes and a set of waterproofs and wellies. Pack a small bag with a change of clothes. He should be able to leave this on his peg/drawer, but every preschool will have different arrangements.

All the preschools round here have optional uniform too of a logo sweatshirt and polo shirt which you order from through the school.

Dress him in clothes you don't mind getting messy. Joggers are good for being easy to manage themselves up and down for the toilet. M&S do joggers from 3yrs £4 each.

Original poster

SophiaMan · 29/08/2013 14:28

Thanks a lot, pizzaqueen, your reply is very helpful. He will be there from 9 to 3:30pm, so a lunch will be needed. yeah, I will buy some joggers soon from M&S:). Really feel nervous this week:(. Every time when I told him I would send him to the nursery and then say goodbye to him, my DS would reply 'I would like to stay with mum', which was sweet, but made me worry more about his adaptability to the life in nursery

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pizzaqueen · 29/08/2013 14:53

he will be fine, it will be good for him. the first few days might be a bit strange for you both but the staff should help him to settle and soon enough he'll have lots of little friends and be enjoying himself.

nextphase · 29/08/2013 15:02

We have a lunchbag which has been dragged alog the floor as it is too big, so suggest not buying anything expensive. Also think of ensuring whatever is in can be opened farily easily - ie no tupperware you struggle to get into, sports top / flip top drinks rather than twist screwtop lid.

Can yuo find out re uniform? We had to have the right color troursers and a white poloshirt last year. But no other shoes required. They had spare uniform in case of acidents, so didn't need a change of clothes either.

The kids who did half days often had a book bag (school issue). We just got letters stuffed in his lunch bag.

So all he took was himslef, dressed in uniform, a coat or rain jacket depending on the weather and his lunch bag. Nothing was left at school.

Original poster

SophiaMan · 30/08/2013 10:48

pizzaqueen, Thanks. I hope so, he barely speaks any English at the moment, I hope he can catch up the language ASAP, Fingers crossed :)

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SophiaMan · 30/08/2013 10:50

Nextphase, thanks for your reply, which is long but basically explains everything I am worrying about:). I will try to be well prepared and see what will happen next week:)

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Adikia · 31/08/2013 16:53

Most important things I've found are:

-make sure he is wearing clothes he can manage to take himself to the loo in.

send in spare pants even if they have spare clothes there and spare trousers if you aren't sure if they have spare stuff there.
take a coat if its cold/hat if it's hot as most nurseries spend a lot of time outdoors.
make sure he knows what his lunch looks like and how to open it.
send him food he can feed himself and which he likes.
don't send in anything you are worried about getting covered in paint.
put names in all of his stuff and especially write his name somewhere really obvious on any toys he takes with him.

if you are walking there I would put wellies on and take dry shoes when its wet as DD always found a massive puddle on the way in then moaned about wet socks (depends what your son is like though, my daughter is a bit of a monster)

Original poster

SophiaMan · 03/09/2013 11:06

Thanks for all the msgs. I sent DS to the school this morning. I did worry a lot last night and couldn't fall asleep in the midnight. But he seemed liking the nursery and went straight to play with other kids. And when we said goodbye to him, he waved to us and said byebye. Hope he is OK now, fingers crossed.

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