transition to school meeting

[kittyfu]

I have just been informed by the nursery that ds has a transition to school meeting in June, I know it is going to sound silly, but what is it, I get the obvious implied by the name, but I really have no idea what to expect there seem be a lot of people attending. Do I need to take anything with me, what do they want to know, do all children have these before starting school. Any advice much appreciated, I feel I am expected to just know what all these things are and I don?t.

I imagine it will be about planning ahead for the support your DS will need when starting to school, and to get the new school up to speed about him before he starts. I wouldn't take anything with other than pen and paper to take your own notes (you may want to keep an eye out for whether support promised actually materialises)!. I think these meetings would only be where kids have some form of SN/SEN.

It's basically a meeting where everyone who is involved with your child gets together to talk about what he help he will need when starting school.

You could probably take a copy of his latest IEP with you (if your ds has one) but more as a back-up as the other people there will probably already have a copy.

It can be useful to write down a list of things that you think would help your ds. Obviously a lot will depend on your ds' individual needs but the main areas to consider will be things like:

• Visiting the school before the start of the school year.

Most schools will probably arrange this for all children but you might feel that your ds needs extra visits.

• Help with toileting.

Think about whether he will need extra help with this, eg if he's still in nappies, or needs someone to prompt him or give him other help.

• Help within the classroom.

Think about whether he will need 1:1, or special equipment, his own work area, his own timetable etc.

• Playtime/Lunchtime

Think about whether he would need support at these times, either to cope with the playground or something like help with eating etc.

• How much time will he be spending at school to start with.

Think about whether he will be able to cope with full-time school when the other children do, or whether he will need to stay part-time for longer. So, for example, I had one ds who was okay to go full-time relatively quickly, and another ds who needed to build his hours up much more slowly.

Also write down any questions you would like to ask the school SENCO or the class teacher. The chances are that many will be answered during the discussions but there might be something that they've missed.

I think they basically have these meetings for any child with SN who is due to start school.

just wanted to say thankyou for your help