Autumn 2011 - Mandy Mazliah

Raising children
Starting school
Starting school: Are
you ready for the great
adventure?
By Linda Bengtsson
Of all the milestones in your child’s
life, the biggest and perhaps scariest
could well be the day your child
starts school. I know I felt a great
mixture of pride, sadness and worry
at the sight of my little girl in her
school uniform a year ago. As a
teacher I thought I knew all about
school but now I was about to see it
from a parent’s perspective.
As I write this, my daughter Rebekah
has just finished her last day of her
year in reception and I marvel at
how she has grown and developed.
She has learnt a lot this year and
I think that her dad and I have
learnt at least as much. So with
that in mind I thought I’d offer some
advice on what it’s like from both
the perspective of a teacher and a
parent.
How do I prepare my child for
school?
It’s important to instil a positive
attitude to school. Talk about it often
in positive terms and visit the school
if you can. There are some skills that
will make life easier for both your
child and staff. Teach your child to
get changed on her own and to put
on her own coat and shoes. Girls
might need some extra practise with
tights. It’s also great if your child
can deal with toilet visits by himself
and wash his hands. Consider how
your child will have lunch. If packed
lunch, have a practise at opening
containers and bottles. If your child
is having school dinners it might
be a good idea to practise carrying
a tray with a meal on it. It’s trickier
than you might think.
School Uniform
How much school uniform do
we really need to buy? This is a
much-debated question, which
in my theory comes down to this:
How many times do you want to
do laundry each week? I’ve found
that polo shirts tend to get very
dirty quickly whereas trousers and
skirts last for longer. Grey pinafore
dresses probably get just as dirty
as the polo shirt but thanks to the
colour it doesn’t really show up.
If you don’t want to do lots of
laundry I’d recommend four white
polo shirts. Proper button up shirts
might look much nicer but could be
tricky for a child to put on and off by
themselves.
You can buy trousers, school
dresses and skirts just about
anywhere at a reasonable price so
I went for more clothes and less
laundry. On a Saturday I just do a
big load of school uniform and get
it all ready for the next week. The
NCT Nearly New Sale is a great
place to stock up on second hand
uniform. It’s also worth checking with
the school office if they sell second
hand uniform. Most schools also sell
jumpers and fleeces in the school
colours and with the school logo.
These are really nice to have, in
particular once autumn sets in.
If you have a girl with long hair make
sure that you buy lots and lots of hair
bands so that you can put her hair
up. The reason you buy lots is that
you really don’t want to be hunting
around for some five minutes before
you have to leave for school in the
morning.
Now on to shoes... As a teacher our
worst nightmare are those shoes
with little compartments for hiding
toys. Just imagine 20 five year olds
fiddling away with their shoes. If
you can, get simple, comfortable
shoes that your child can take
off and put on by himself. Unless
you particularly want to you don’t
have to buy the most expensive
brand as long as the shoes fit well.
Remember, these shoes will be
worn all day long, five days a week
and will be played in a lot. So they
do tend to get a lot of wear and tear
quickly. Finally, don’t forget to buy a
book bag, PE kit, water bottle and if
you need it, a lunch box.
So what do they actually do in
school?
Learning in Reception is not formal
and the main part of the day should
be child initiated. The teachers and
staff will plan and provide a variety
of activities and equipment and use
these to help your child develop her
skills. There will be some teacher
led activities as well, in particular
phonics. You can support your child
by reading together at home as often
as possible.
While your child learns through play
the staff will observe the children
closely. They use these observations
to assess your child’s abilities and
needs and can then plan activities to
help your child develop further.
There are likely to be PE lessons
where your child will need to get
changed into PE kit and then back
into school uniform. Your child
18 Newsletter Winter