Starting primary school - what are your top tips?

[Afiwo]

Hi guys,
My son starts reception this September and I wondered if anyone had an top tips/advice they could share. I’m thinking less the obvious stuff that is shared by the school or listed in the ‘starting school’ section of mumsnet and more the stuff you wish you had known, hadn’t thought of, or the little gems you’ve discovered since your child/ren started school. Send them my way!!
TIA!

bit of a random one, but it brightened my kids day to see what the 'car snack' was on the way home. some days it was things like apple and peanut butter, other days small packets of iced gems etc. if they got an award at school like star of the week they got to pick what the car snack was the next day x

Name label everything - especially shoes which they take off for various things (like dressing up or yoga or just because they want to in dd2s case) and they're the thing parents forget to label, usually one of about 3 styles from the same shop and cost a bloody fortune!

Put every announcement into your calendar the second it appears on any letter or newsletter - the sheer amount of events you have to remember coming up to periods like Christmas is bonkers.

If your school still runs on cash in envelopes and hasn't gone cashless - tape the sides of the envelope as the gap left from the sticky is prime escape size for coins.

Love all of these! Pantsy- what brand of labels would you recommend?

the mine4sure labels are good, i got iron on ones for the clothes and stick on ones for shoes. putting a picture on is a good idea because a child can easily see if its theirs or not without reading the name

If they have to wear ties... Buy lots... They disappear just before you are about to leave the house. No number is too many!

Pencils.. I know its daft but I never thought that all homework would need to be pencil... We had loads of pens and colouring pencils at home.. No normal pencils... It just hadn't occurred to me!

At pick up time, approach child gingerly with a flapjack on the end of a long pole. Make no sudden movements; do not look them in the eye.

Encourage him to put on his clothes on his own if he doesn’t already. Also to put his clothes into a pile. You’d be amazed how long it take kids to change into their PE kits and how often they end up putting someone else’s trousers back on because they’ve scattered theirs. Also shoes and socks. Socks are always a nightmare.
Remember that even if he has been in nursery full time school seems to make them really tired.
Another thing is to teach him to wash his hands properly. Sorry if this all sounds a bit nuts.

😂😂😂@reefedsail

These are great Apple, luckily my other half is a hygiene obsessive, both my kids wash their hands better than me and youngest is 2 😂

Find a parent with an older child at the school, and they will tell you all the stuff that is only obvious if you’re a teacher or already have a child at the school. Things like ‘for potentially muddy school trips kids can wear their own tracksuit trousers and welllies but must have school uniform on the top half and school shoes with them’ and ‘for sports day you need to buy a t-shirt in their house colour, normal PE kit won’t do’ and ‘collect jam jars all year for the jar tombola at the summer and Christmas fairs’.

sorry, me again! i'm prepping to send my youngest 2 to school and just remembering things that i did with my oldest.
it helps to establish a routine for the morning. eg: get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, read whilst mum gets ready (i find it best no tv in the morning as if the program isnt finished before you have to leave then tantrums occur) and for the evening eg: come home, get changed, do reading book, have dinner, play, tv, bed. it helps you and them in the morning if you know what to do/ whats happening and after a while they go through the routine without prompting x

I don't even know what a jar tombola is lol

They will be very tired even if they gauge been doing long days at nursery and will not want to tell you anything about their day. They may tell you they did "nothing" or "playing". You will not get much more out of them until they've had a rest and a snack.

The teacher cannot find jumpers, especially with no name in. Teach your child where to put their jumper and where their name is in it.

i would put a days uniform in one pile when putting away as opening different draws to find all bits beyound mine 🤔
enjoy it and take time to appreciate this step as it goes so quick and you don't won't to miss it fretting about the small stuff.

These are such great tips! Keep em coming!!

@Afiwo oh you will soon know what the jar tombola is. Haha!

I'm a teacher and as PP said, label everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.

Small bag for DC if allowed, none of these smiggle gigantic things, folder for books, if money is brought in for anything put it in an envelope (maybe get those little money ones)

A fridge timetable to write when PE kit or homework or anything needs to be in.

Funnily enough, I mentioned to hubby the other day we need a fridge calendar, I'm already feeling overwhelmed by all the 'stuff'

The jar tombola might send me over the edge 😉

It will feel overwhelming but do not worry, reception for the first few weeks is just getting into the swing of things.

Please do not worry if you forget anything those first few weeks, the teachers know how hard it is. (I'm a reception teacher and feel sorry for parents that first week!)

Will you be sending packed lunch or school lunch? Each to their own but I always think school lunch gets rid of one job. What about morning break/snack?

Label everything. I find iron in labels useless so sew in ones for clothes and stick on ones for water bottle/snack pot/shoes.
Snack and drink for car journey home, even though it's only 5 minutes.
Make sure you have a spare of everything! Dont want to be doing a mad rush to the uniform shop after school because the pe shorts or tie got lost!
Find where the school online calendar is and check it regularly. I only found ours near the end of reception year so got short notice of everything until then.

Oh, have paper, envelopes, sellotape, biros, cheque book (if you don’t have one, order one), £1 coins and stick in name labels in a drawer in the kitchen. They cover most last minute school-related stuff. For the rest (dressing up days and craft materials), Amazon Prime is your friend.

@Russell19 funny you ask this as I was going to ask why people choose packed lunches over school meals. I'm genuinely curious, I'm sure it's for a variety of reasons, fussy eaters, better oversight of what your child is consuming etc but I wondered if I was missing something. For now we're thinking school meals just because having to put together a packed lunch everyday may also tip me over the edge.

Our school didn't tell parents stuff like the school bag needs to hold an A4 folder, lots of little kids turned up with small backpacks that they can't fit the homework book folder in.

Buy lots of water bottles, my ds is always leaving his at school so we need lots of spares for the next day.

Winter coat,.if it has a detachable hood, label that separately too as it will get pulled off and lost at lunchtime.

If your child can open packets that you send for snack decant into a tub they can open, or open them an clip closed with a clothes peg 😂.

if they are allowed to bring their own bag, i would recommend one like this- its big enough to fit a snack, sheets and reading book in but it isnt huge enough to be bigger than the child

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3652073-Things-you-need-to-know-do-if-you-have-DC-starting-Reception-this-year

Take a photo on your phone of any party invitations your child receives because they will definitely get lost.
If you can teach you child to wipe there own bottom, roughly dress themselves and do up their own coat the teacher will love you!
Don’t buy shoes with laces.. just don’t!