RECEPTION! If you've been there, bought the T-shirt. Please post your single toppest tip please!

[Sycamoretreeisvile]

DD is PFB and will be starting our local state primary in September at the grand old age of 4 and 3 weeks

Please can you be kind enough post your single top tip to help me and DD negotiate this exciting and also vaguely scary time.

Anything from uniform (mind is boggling - how many fleeces, polo shirts, skirts does she need?)to whether or not to bother with school lunches (can I be bothered to make a packed lunch everyday? )

TIA

My tips:

Get EVERYTHING ready the night before
No TV in the morning
No organised activities after school at least to start with

Oh, and - assume the other parents will be friendly - they normally are!

M&S iron on name tags, order by text

£5 for 50, worth it for the lack of agro

Be prepared to be milked for a constant stream of small change throughout the year; they are always fundraising/requiring donations for a visit.

Sewn-in labels are usually worth the effort.
Label shoes.

Re uniform: Many schools ask for named wellies to be kept in school. Will probably also need a light-weight waterproof.

They don't need pencil cases. Or a watch.

Have a week of carpet picnics with lunchbox and drinks bottle, if they are having packed lunches.

Get your kids to dress and put their shoes on BEFORE breakfast. Leave sweatshit till last or use a judicious teatowel. Remember that toothpaste migrates downwards too...

The earlier you institute this regime, the calmer 'getting out of the house on time' will be.

Trust me: I know.

sweatshit?!

forget labels, invest in a laundry pen and have done with it.

the second and third days may well be the worst in terms of terrible sobbing (theirs, and yours all day while they are at school) of heartwrenching doom. promise yourself you'll give it 2 weeks before deciding to homeschool.

always have a snack after school.

enjoy it. it goes v fast.

oh shoe labels good...

ds loves shorts. will end up in them til it snows now i think

My DD's starting sept too, and I love this thread, thankyou

Do we need those summer dresses yet though? ...I wasn't expecting to put DD in one until after next Easter

Get some plastic tongs and a washing machine with a boil wash: you will find skidmarks the size and smell of which you thought you had left behind with nappies.

sept can be very warm (has been in recent years). get short sleeve shirts and or dress just in case.

This is fantastic advice - thanks everyone. I also have a dd starting reception (with the added complication of relocation so she will not know anyone!) - these tips are really helpful!

NITS

Oh brilliant thread, DD also starts in September....I'll be having a good read through these (and getting DH to do the same)

Head told us when DD1 started: we will only believe half of what they tell us about home if you only believe half of what they tell you about school. Fantastic advice with hindsight, stops you getting upset about every little thing they come home in a tizzy about.

at NITS

Oh god yes. Shave their hair if they're boys and start conditioner combing once a week IMMEDIATELY!

I know, I'd like to put her in a dress for warm sept
but I'd thought the dress was only for summer term
...I'm going to check now, as it would be nicer than polo shirt with pinafore if it's a heatwave.
(I'm glad I read this thread)

Yes to shorts and school dresses for Sept as it is often quite warm. Either only buy a couple of buy them in a big size otherwise they won't fit again for the summer term.

Definitely label shoes, expecially black shoes from Clarks, as the rest of the class will all have the same ones..

In our school they don't need plymsols till the summer term - indoor PE before then.

As for the amount of school uniform you need... it depends on your child. DD can wear the same sweatshirt all week. DS on the ohter hand is filthy everyday, so has many sweatshirts... sigh

Thank you ladies. I am feeling positive all of a sudden. I may have to write some of these things down and remind myself of them in September.

and please refer to the other thread on uniform: do not buy shoes the weekend before term starts. you will anyway,\and learn the hard way

Don't be upset if 'hello Mummy' is replaced immediately with 'have you got anything to eat' when they come out of school

Battery operated nit combs ... are useless.
Use conditioner instead.

For the first term, dd came home with her school book and a exercise book with the names of this weeks book in it. ONE WHOLE TERM later ... I realised I was supposed to write in the exercise book that she had read to me every day. (I was listening to her every night, by the way.) I can not believe I was so stupid.

PE kit bags - I made dd a draw string one out of a load of remenants. It ment that she could recognise her PE kit bag.