- Being able to carry their own school bag and belongings. You may find it easier to do this for them, however, you need to encourage your child’s independence skills.
- Packing and unpacking their schoolbag at home will encourage care of belongings and those all-important independent skills.
- Being responsible for their own belongings is really important. You can foster this through encouraging them to gather their belongings and packing their own bag at the end of the school day and carrying their own bag home. Your child needs to check they have two socks, two shoes, their jacket etc
- Organise playdates prior to starting school with children who may go to the same school.
- In the week leading up to the start of school we would encourage you to set an alarm to wake your child so they get used to the routine of getting up an organised.
25 tips to get children ready to start school
- Ensure your child has a pre-school experience e.g kindergarten, Kohanga reo, playcentre, ECE etc
- Get themselves dressed (this is really important if your school does swimming and PE). At the beginning avoid clothing that may be difficult to put on and take off independently
- Put on their own shoes and be able to tie them. If not, purchase shoes that are easy to put on and off eg Velcro
- Your child should be able to go to the toilet independently including wiping themselves, washing and drying their hands
- Provide them with lunch and morning tea that they can manage themselves in terms of both opening and eating
- The day before the start of school, help your child to:
- Organise and lay out the clothes they will wear
- Pack their bag with stationary etc
- Decide what they want for lunch (if there is a choice)
- Set an alarm
- Shower / bath the night before
- The journey to school is important. If you take your child in a car or they will walk, we suggest doing this route a few times before the first day.
- Familiarise yourselves with the school grounds. Take them to play in the weekends or after school. If there is a school pool, enquire about purchasing a pool key. This will provide an opportunity for your child to get used to getting dressed in the changing rooms. This is also a great opportunity to meet other children who go to the school.
- When enrolling your child, you may want to enquire about the following things:
- How many transition visits are available. If the amount of visits are flexible, we suggest you opt for the maximum. Are the visits on a specific day
- Do the children start on their birthday or is a cohort entry where they begin at the start of the term
- Check on stationary and if you need to purchase prior to starting where do you access it from?
- Uniform, including PE and hat
- Can you and your child have a tour of the school
- If any of the school visits don’t include morning tea or lunch, we suggest asking if they can stay for morning tea to experience what it is like during this time