how did the school or yourselves support your child in transitioning into reception?

[sarablatif]

hi i am a student doing my final degree in early childhood studies. As part of my degree I have to do a dissertation project. my project is on transitions from preschool to reception and how staff help children and their families prepare for this.

if anyone can provide me with any information I will be very grateful. :)

Our school had introduction sessions the term before DS started.

We went in together for a bit, then he went in on his own for a few sessions, over a few weeks.

Then in the autumn term he did a week of two hours a day, then two weeks of half days.

From both our perspectives it was hard work, and it felt as though the slow warm up was aimed at non nursery children. When DS started school, he was used to doing a whole day at nursery, but then spent the first month not knowing if he was coming or going.

Ds3 went to the school nursery for two years where he had lunch in the school canteen each day with the infants. For the summer term of nursery, which is in the same block as P1, they had 45 minutes daily where they opened all the doors and the P1's and nursery mixed and could do an activity in any of the rooms. The nursery also attended the whole school assembly and any other special activities.

When we registered him we got a school prospectus and there was a parent meeting before they started. Very few parents attended.

When he started P1 they went for the full day from the first day which was great as that was what he was used to.

My DD2 attended a nursery attached to our primary.

The second half of the preceding summer term, one day a week she stayed for lunch and the nursery children went into the lunch hall first and stayed as others arrived and the noise built up.

They had a 'going up' morning.

Parents meeting for new starters.

In the September, reception started back a week later than the rest of the school, and in that week the reception teacher and TA did home visits to meet the child in their own surroundings.

Then everyone started full time straight away (though if we wanted we could take them out for afternoons if it was too much, but no one did). No faffing about, everyone knew where they were.
(Incidentally lots of moaning from Mums at other local schools regarding staggered starts).

Teacher available at start and end of day for parents to have quick chats.

Nursery and Reception had very similar behaviour rules.

All went incredibly smoothly.

My DS had 2 hour long sessions in July where I stayed with him and there was a max of 15 children. He then had 2 half days in September before going full time on the following Monday. There was also an hour long home visit with the teacher and a TA at the start of September.

It worked well for him and I was pleased he didn't have weeks of part days. He was used to doing 3 9 hour days a week at nursery so the school day was fine for him. The one big problem we did have was that he didn't actually start school till the end of the second week of the Autumn term and most of his friends at nursery started straight away. This meant he had 10 days at nursery with just him and 2 others he knew in with much younger children. This really unsettled him and he asked a lot about why hadn't he started school yet and when would it be his turn.

DD went to an independent nursery far away from her actual school.

She attended 2 out of the 3 play afternoons and DH took her to the Summer fair as well.

The school send her a letter with a little workbook she was asked to complete like writing down things she likes, draw a picture of her family, things she dislikes and her favourite toy. It was used by the teacher to talk about each child.

She had 3 weeks of half days, I think it was good, even for her being used to be in nursery for 8 hours 4 days a week. A nursery is nothing like a large school with less adults to children.

Ours went to a local community playgroup from age 3 until school. Half day only with optional lunch. 9:30 to 12:30.

This helped them with the idea of being left in the care of others in a group.

DS attends Nursery of the school which he will start in September. As my DD is in Year 3, he was already familiar with school, staff and children before starting Nursery.

It is a tiny village school with 3 composite classes, so he is in a mixed Nursery, Reception and Year 1 class. This means there is not likely to be the same need for transition as in other schools; he will be in the same class in September as he is now, with the same teaching staff and many of the same children.

He does mornings with lunch now, so he's actually there from 8:40am until 1pm and he is used to sitting in the hall and eating with the rest of the school children. That won't even be a surprise for him come September!

When he does start Reception in September, he will begin on the same hours he does now and will work up to full-time by the start of week 3; they do something like 7-8 days part-time, then straight to full-time hours.

The only thing that will be new for DS is that some days he will be on the school bus; we live in a rural location and many of the children are entitled to school transport. However, he will have his DSis there with him and I often do pick-ups and drop-offs in any case university timetable allowing.

With all the above in mind, I expect the transition to be very seamless... With the exception of the extreme tiredness that seems to hit most reception children at some point during the autumn term!

They had a new parents session in the June before starting, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, attend whichever was more convenient. All kinds of info given about school day, uniform, phonics etc.

In early September they did a home visit where the teacher played with my DD on the lounge floor, asked her about herself, favourite toys / books established if she could write her name, letters etc. Meanwhile the TA sat with us on the sofa and asked about practicalities like if she was OK going to the toilet, dietary requirements, allergies, any behavioural issues and answered our questions / dealt with our anxieties (teacher was of course listening to this as well and could answer anything as needed).

The week before she started there was an open drop-in play session for her class, you could come in either the morning or afternoon for an hour or two to see the classroom, playground, do some playing and some craft activities, meet teacher and TA again and other children, find your peg etc. Then she started full days from her official start date (with some flexibility for the parent to stay a for a bit at the start of the day for unsettled children - but they mostly seemed happy to just go straight in).

An hour session in the summer term to meet the teacher and that was it. Her current school we had a quick look round when we went to sign the forms (waiting list place after start of Autumn term).

She'd been in the nursery class of another primary for a year and did breakfast club/ASC, so it was a total breeze for her starting reception. She is a naturally confident, gregarious child and very adaptable so I wasn't worried.

Fortunately none of the schools round here (Zone 1 London) do staggered starts or part-time days - and they all think it's nuts and unfair on working parents. If they had then I would have exercised my daughter's right to a full-time education, she would have started on the first day of term and it would be up to the school to accommodate her.

At the time I was working on a contract and there was no way I could start taking days off and DH certainly can't with his job.

I wonder if it's more common in areas where there are a much higher percentage of SAHM or MC parents.

The preschool my kids attended start running "lunch club" after May half term, we signed them up to have packed lunch there 3 x a week to get used to eating with lots of small children.

We had a half day visit to school in early July, for kids to meet their teacher. Parents took them to the classroom, settled them, then went into the school hall for an intro talk - we were given school policies, met the chair of the PSA, Q&A with head etc.

Home visit offered to those who didn't attend the school nursery, so teacher and TA visited us during the first couple of days of term. Weds/Thurs/Fri of the first week, 10 kids per class per day went in for a half day so they met some of their new classmates and the staff got to know them a bit.

Second week of term, Mon-Weds in 9-12. Thurs-Fri in 9-1 (inc free lunch for all).

Third week of term, in full time.

I work in a pre-school and we've found that many children cope better when things are kept low key.

A visit with the parents then a visit with pre-school then leave the ball in their court, if they want to talk about it or ask questions then that's the way to go with them but for some children a big build up can cause anxiety.

I'm a reception teacher. Every Weds pm, parents/grandparents and younger siblings of this years class are invited in to the classroom to 'stay and play'. From this half term, next years intake and their parents are also welcome. It means that the children know me, the classroom and the routines very well before they start in Sept. I think its also beneficial for first time parents to see how it works. We also do meetings for parents in the summer term and home visits.

DS attended nursery not linked to primary school. They did school week activities - packed lunches, lunch, changing for a pe session etc

On the schools part the teacher visited him in nursery first, then he had a morning in class as part of the school 'moving up' day while parents had an information session. That was in July. In September, there was a home visit then he started 3 mornings the first week before going full time.

My DS was in a nursery not attached to any of the infant schools, but they did a lot of fantastic prep. They had a dressing up box with all the local school uniforms, so they could try them out; they did a whole project about what they'd enjoyed at nursery and what they were looking forward to doing at school; the last 6 months or so of nursery (big private nursery, so about 60 kids all going up to school at the same time) they started expecting them to behave more like at school - so sitting still for stories on the carpet, group time, show and tell etc. They got them to start with some basic writing, and a basic intro to phonics/reading - only if they showed an interest though. It was brilliant, as they sold it in as the most amazing step forward in life - mini graduation ceremony and all - so the kids were all really excited about starting school

The school(s) (DS got a last minute waiting list place at our first choice so did settling in twice!) did a mix of things - including a picnic, couple of hours meeting teachers, stay and play with parents, teacher/TA visiting the house. They then did a slow start with mornings for the first week. Some schools did longer than others - it was a bit of a balance between what was best for the kids (a few half days then straight in would've worked best for us) and also work for people like me who work out of the home (or whatever the current acceptable term is).

We had a look round with ds (hadn't seen it before getting a place), then two teachers came to visit at home - one played with ds to get to know him - think she was a nursery teacher - and the other talked to us about ds, would he like to be in the same class as other kids he knew, any concerns, etc. The letter did say if we didn't have a home visit then dcs wouldn't be allowed to start school, but after complaints they've reworded it.

They did full days from the start, about 3 kids a day per class starting. I think they began with ones who could speak English and were used to nursery. Very glad they didn't faff about with part-time to start.

We tried to keep it low-key for ds (partly because we hoped he'd get a place at a closer school until the week beforehand) and simply said school is like nursery only bigger and better - which it proved to be! Going into Year 1 and being expected to do some writing and some things when told has been much more of a shock.

my DD school do home visits where the teacher and TA come and have a chat and maybe read a story or ask about their toys etc, then they had an hours visit to the school. When they started properly in the September the first 2 days where just afternoon or morning sessions

My son's school doesn't have a nursery so there was no easy transition from the nursery to Reception for any of the children. I think his school took transition VERY seriously. Maybe too seriously but it seemed to work.

Reception teachers visited all the nurseries where children attended who were going to join the school. As it happens my son wasn't in nursery that day but I don't think it mattered too much. In the summer term there was a session for children and parents where the parents stayed. Then another session where the parents went to the hall for a talk while the children stayed in the classroom.

Toward the end of the summer holidays the teacher sent him a card saying they were looking forward to him starting school. Then the week before he started school the teacher and teaching assistant came to our house on a home visit to tell him about it and bring the class bear. They also had questions for me - whether he still napped, his interests, toilet trained, etc.

When he actually started school the settling in was epic and really inconvenient with work. The summer-born children started with afternoons only for two weeks while the other children stated in the mornings. In week 3 the older children started staying for full days (they'd done mornings plus lunch for 1 week already) and summer children started mornings but no lunch. Then in week 4 the summer children did mornings plus lunch. And eventually in week 5 they started full days. I disagreed with it beforehand but I do think the gentle transition helped him.

In terms of what WE did, we watched lots of CBeebies Time For School, we took him to the summer fete at the school, we talked about school and all the fun things he would do there. That kind of thing.

my child was in the school nursery. prior to that, we had a home visit and one morning "trial session" where he attended nursery for the full 3 hours.

Moving up from nursery to reception, they had one morning where instead of going to nursery he went into the next door reception classroom.

That was it.

Oh, for the first half term I was "allowed" (i.e. had no choice) to take him in, help him hang his coat up, take his book bag to the drawers and make sure it went in the right one, then sit him down on the carpet.

Then the rules changed overnight and now we hand over at the door. He coped (one of the youngest in the class), but some of the others still can't deal and sob a lot :(

It's better for me, as I don't have to leave his little brother outside in his pushchair while I take him in.