We've put together some information and listed key skills that will help your child make the best start they can in Nursery.

Click here for a downloadable version. 

Eating 

• I can use a knife and fork 

• I can eat my dinner independently  

• I am confident at opening wrappers and packaging

Self-Care 

• I know when to wash my hands 

• I can wipe my nose 

• I can ask for help if I need it

Getting undressed and dressed on my own

• I can button and unbutton my shirt 

• I can put on my own shoes and socks

• I can put my coat on and attempt to do up my zip

Independence

• I can separate from my mummy, daddy or my main carer 

• I am happy to tidy my belongings and look after my things 

• I am gaining confidence about starting school 

Self-regulation 

• I am able to talk about myself, my needs & feelings, with an awareness of how to manage my emotions

• I can express preferences and decisions and show willingness to try new things

Routines 

• I have practised putting on my uniform and getting ready for school

• I have a good bedtime routine so I'm not feeling tired for school 

• I'm learning to eat at routine times through the day e.g. breakfast, dinner, tea

Toileting 

• I can go to the toilet on my own

• I can wipe myself properly and flush the toilet 

• I can wash and dry my hands without any help 

Maths skills 

•  I enjoy practising counting objects 

•  I like saying number rhymes and playing counting games 

•  I can recognise some numbers when they are written down

Interest in the world 

• I enjoy learning about the world around me 

• I am interested in exploring new activities or environments 

• I like asking questions

Sharing and turn taking 

• I can share toys and take turns 

• I like playing games with others 

• I like talking to other children and making new friends

Communication and Language 

• I can communicate with others in full sentences 

• I can ask questions about what is happening around me

• I can use a range of words linked with my experiences 

Listening and Understanding

• I am able to sit still and listen for a short while 

• I can follow a two-step instruction 

• I understand the need to follow rules

Reading skills

• I like to read stories and look at picture books 

• I am practising recognising my name when it's written down

• I am beginning to join in with phrases from my favourite stories

Writing skills 

• I enjoy making marks and drawing

• I am practising holding a pencil with a tripod hold 

• I may be starting to make letter like shapes e.g. explore letters in my name

 

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Top Tips for Parents and Carers

 

1. Engage with the school’s transition process: Visit the school before your child starts. There will always be opportunities for parents and children to visit prior to their start date. Even though your child may not remember where everything is, at least the journey to school  and teachers will be more familiar on their first day.

1. Be prepared: Be prepared the night before school; get uniform ready and help your child to pack their school bag as this will support their understanding of routines and the changes related to this. 

2. Support independence: Support your child to get dressed independently. It may be quicker and easier for you to get your child dressed, but it really supports your children’s confidence and independence if they can manage this themselves. With access to the outdoors being part of your child’s learning in EYFS, they will be taking their coat on and off multiple times throughout the day!

3. Show interest and provide encouragement: Show a genuine interest in everything your child does, both in school and at home. Encourage them to talk to you about how they are feeling. Give them lots of praise, but there is no need to over praise - it is often better to show interest and encouragement. This will help them to feel confident and secure.

4. Have fun: Starting school is an anxious time for all children. Having fun and playing with your child helps to alleviate some of the anxiety, and play helps children to manage new situations and develop social skills.

5. Talk to the teacher: Make a point of talking to your child’s teacher if you are worried about anything at all. It’s best to voice concerns early on even if you think that it’s just a small thing. Regularly attend parents’ evenings and school meetings - it shows your child and the school that you are interested in how everything is going.

6. Co-regulation and supporting emotions: Some children need support to manage their emotions. As a parent you can support this by tuning into your child’s emotions and helping them to manage their impulses, anger or distress. If young children don’t feel emotionally safe or are not helped to self-regulate they can struggle to learn.  

7. Talk to the teacher: Make a point of talking to your child’s teacher if you are worried about anything at all. The more information the teacher has the better they can support your child to learn. It’s best to voice concerns early on even if you think that it’s just a small thing. Regularly attend parents’ evenings and school meetings - it shows your child and the school that you are interested in how everything is going.

 

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Helpful Links for Parents 

What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage
This guide is for parents/carers of children from birth to five years old. It will help you find out more about your child’s learning and development in the EYFS.

Starting school toolkit | PACEY
This toolkit is for parents, childcare professionals, and teachers to work together to help improve the transition process for children starting/returning to school. 

BBC Tiny Happy People
Lots of great video clips of activities and information, filmed with families.

Family Hubs Network
Family Hubs ensure families with children aged 0-19 can access integrated early help to overcome difficulties and build stronger relationships.

Starting primary school: supporting your child - Health Under 5s

Preparing children to start primary school | Compass
Advice on preparing your child to transition from nursery to primary school, including what skills to aim for and top tips for getting there.

The Effects of Social Media on Parents and Parenting - Safes
This highlights some of the  negative effects of overusing social media and the impact it can have on both parents and children. 

NHS- Best Start in Life
Welcome to Better Health – Start for Life. The place for trusted NHS advice and guidance to help you have a healthy and happy baby during pregnancy, birth and parenthood

Literacy

This term, Reception will be reading ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas.

The colour monster is feeling very mixed up. He’s yellow, blue, red, black and green all at once. In the book his friend will help him to find out about his different feelings. 

The children will be listening to the story and making puppets to re-tell the story.

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Maths

In Maths we will learn to recognise numbers to 5. We will practise saying numbers in order and learn to count five objects. You can help your child at home by practising counting everything you see! You can look for numbers in the environment such as on buses or doors. 

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Phonics

In phonics we will be learning the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. We follow the Little Wandle phonics program which starts by introducing these six phonemes:

S   A   T   P   I   N

You can watch how to pronounce the phonemes on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZtjFIvA_fs

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Topic

We will be drawing, painting and making pictures of The Colour Monster. We will be using different materials and talking about textures. We’ll be dancing to all kinds of music and using instruments to make happy and sad music. We will also be learning some new songs and nursery rhymes.

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P.E

P.E will be every Wednesday. Please dress your child in a PE kit on this day.

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PSHE

We will be talking about feelings such as happy, sad, angry and scared.

English

Reception will be reading ‘Room on the Broom’ by Julia Donaldson.

The witch has a cat and a very tall hat. But what happens when too many animals get on her broomstick and the broom snaps in half?

The children will be listening to the story, acting the story and using ‘Talk for Writing’ to re-tell and write the story.

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Maths

We will continue to introduce numbers 1-5. The children will learn to recognise numerals and count sets of objects. They will find out about the composition of numbers up to five. They will also be solving number problems such as adding and taking away.

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Phonics

In Reception we follow the Little Wandle phonics program. We teach the children the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. When the children know the sounds they are able to blend them together to read CVC words such as:

cat

dog 

sock

You can help your child at home by reading with them everyday. Please fill in the home reading record in the book bag so your child can win stickers and prizes.

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Class Dojo

Class DoJo is our online journal for your child. You can look on your phone to see photos of the activities your child has been doing at school. You can also see the class stories to find out how to help your child at home.

Please speak to us if you need help to subscribe to your account. Thank You!

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Topic

We’ll be talking about different festivals such as Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night, Divali and Christmas. We will be finding out that some people celebrate these festivals but other people don’t. We’ll find out that it’s fine to celebrate different things.

We hope the children will enjoy telling us about their special celebrations.

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PSHE

Our class puppets will teach us about feelings such as worried or angry. We will learn how to calm down if we feel angry.

Literacy

During the next three weeks Reception will be reading stories about dragons. We will read ‘There is no dragon in this story’ by Lou Carter and Deborah Allwright. The dragon wants to be in the story but he bumps into other fairytale characters who tell him that they don’t need a dragon in their story!

We will also read ‘Zog’ by Julia Donaldson. Zog isn’t good at anything, so how will he rescue the princess?

Our English overview

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Maths

In Maths we will learn to recognise numbers to 10. We will practise saying numbers in order and learn to count ten objects. You can help your child at home by practising counting ten things. You can look for numbers on buses, doors or signs and help your child to name them.

Our Maths Overview

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Personal, Social & Emotional Development

In PSED we will be learning about all kinds of families. 

We will also talk about things we are good at.

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PE

We will be using the apparatus and movement play resources to help the children develop.

PE will be every Wednesday. Please dress your child in a PE kit on this day.

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Phonics Phase 3

In phonics we will be moving onto Phase 3 of Letters and Sounds. 

 j v x y z ai ee igh oa oo

More information can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/letters-and-sounds

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Topics

We will be finding out about being healthy. We will do lots of exercise to make our hearts healthy. We will have a healthy picnic and taste some healthy fruit and vegetables. We will learn how to brush our teeth and all the children will be bringing a toothbrush home. We will also learn about other ways to stay safe.