Sending little one to School first time!

DaisyFlower

DS started a couple of years ago and I was really worried but it went really well.

I used a laundry pen now for labelling clothes, bought the iron on ones for reception and they all fell off after a couple of months so the pen was far better. I do buy sticky name labels for inside shoes, water bottles etc and they are fab. I also drew half a smily face in one shoe and half in another is not easy to spot the correct way they go on.

We are only encouraged to use book bags in reception as they store them in the trays in the classroom. A keyring or name tag is essential though as makes it so much easie to spot their own bag.

Dinner time they were given help getting trays to tables and clearing after for a while, they also get stickers for trying something new or eating most of their lunch.

PE was fine, its usually on a set day/s - I used to leave his buttons open on his polo on PE day as I knew he struggled with them but the teacher and TA will assist if needed but they do encourage them to try themselves as well.

Mark_Hewitt

louby-lou-lou wrote: »

All children must be able to write their own name. I am sure i couldn't at 4 but he can so that it fine. .

I remember when I was 4 everyones name was up on the wall and you had to point to your own name, and got a star each time you did.

My trouble wasn't finding my own name but that I didn't pay attention when asked what to do, so I just pointed at my friends name, as I'd assumed that was what I was supposed to be doing!

Once I realised what I needed to do I had no troubles

Funny the things you remember! That was 27 years ago! :eek:

Buttonmoons

OH's sister (is a P1 teacher, is that reception in England?) down in England, and she says they aren't allowed to do much for the children, she got told off for giving a little boy a hug because he had jammed his fingers in the door and was crying buckets. Seems boggling to me!

jellyhead

My eldest had a hug from a TA when he was little. I don't think they are 'supposed to' but she did it anyway. I know the dinner ladies change clothes too, but they need a signed letter from a parent.

We went for a school dinner with the children and the teachers are there with them for the first half hour, until christmas. There's one particular dinner lady for the year group, although they can ask anyone for help. Teachers will help them with their food choices to begin with.

I'm sending mine with sandwiches, in easy to open packets or tubs. My eldest was very clumsy, so I use to make a small cut in any packets, to start him off. School seems a lot more relaxed now than it was when my eldest started 9 years ago, less formal and less strict for the tiny ones.

They asked for wellies instead of PE kit and have said the children won't be getting changed out of their uniform until february at the earliest, so if we need to teach them how to dress themselves then concentrate on socks and shoes first, because they go barefoot in the hall. They should also learn how to zip up their own coat. Help is available, but a queue of 30 children wanting help would mean not much time actually playing.

I remembered my eldest wearing plimsolls for PE indoors, so whereas I knew he had to learn how to put on his shoes etc. it didn't cross my mind that he should learn how to do socks (and it's a big battle, he can't do it).

I can't teach him about things being inside out, he just doesn't seem to grasp it. He gets upset about his poor fine motor skills. I can't imagine him writing his name, he doesn't know many letters and can only write the first initial of his name (very badly). School haven't said they have to write though.

I bought iron on names - not the labels, just the transfer of the name itself, you can get it in black or white. For some reason he kept the same coat for almost 2 years and the name survived many washes.

Everyone at nursery had the same bag, so I put a keyring on the handle for him and will be doing the same for school if it's allowed. If not I'll draw a stick man or smiley face or something, or find a reflective sticker.

Abbafan1972

Don't forget to name their shoes and P.E pumps.

Newly_retired

Please don't blame the teacher if things go missing or your child comes home not properly dressed etc. Remember there are lots of children in the class, not just yours and teachers are paid to teach, not to do all the practical tasks like helping children to dress. Hopefully there will be a teaching assistant to help. My daughter has put it a lot of effort getting her little girl to dress herself, do up shoes, go to the toilet by herself etc ready for school in September. I'm amazed how grown up she has suddenly become. She stayed "two sleeps" with me recently and was impeccably behaved and so capable- so I'm very optimistic she'll cope with school.

Janepig

Spendless wrote: »

IME they help but do encourage them to do it themselves. I also had several times of inside out jumpers or jumpers underneath the pinafore and shoes on the wrong feet!
Does she have to wear a school tie? Mine don't until senior school, I can only think of one local Primary that does and it's not compulsory. I found leaving polo shirts unbuttoned underneath pinafore, velcro shoes that had a pattern on each side (so you knew not to put the designs next to each other) and a cardi instead of a jumper for dd al helped on PE days. I have seen a post about putting lycra cycling shorts underneath the skirt/pinny for PE days and might try that next year.

I've always done this for DD and will be doing it for DS when he starts school this year. So on PE days she has her t-shirt and shorts on under her trousers/skirt and sweatshirt (or pinafore/poloshirt) and she wears her trainers to school. So the least amount of faffing possible.

I wonder if it is true that teachers/TA's are really told to "keep their distance" when it comes to helping children out, because it doesn't appear to be so from my experience. And be fair, if you were a teacher or TA and you could see a child struggling, or with their shoes on the wrong feet, who wouldn't help? And if you saw a child trip over and hurt themselves and end up crying, who wouldn't automatically go over and give them a hug at the very least?

At DD's school they seem to be very affectionate with the children, particularly in the nursery. At the sports day there were cuddles for the children when they made it over the line, especially the slower ones! On one occasion when DD was in that class, I went to pick her up from school and while they were calling her out, the teacher told me that they'd "lost" her just before home time, and when they found her she had had a toilet "accident" and was washing her own knickers in the sink, bless her! When she appeared then to come home with me she had a big cuddle and a kiss from the teacher, which just seemed to be a sort of natural reaction iykwim.

DC, it's normal to worry about little ones when they start school, but your DD will be fine.

Jxx