At Busy Bees we understand that starting school is an emotional time for both you and your child. That’s why we ensure our pre-school units are supportive, enriched environments that will help develop and prepare your child for their first day at school.

Your child will already have managed changes in their lives on a daily basis and when small changes are supported by a responsive, knowledgeable member of our team, your child will gradually discover that their world around them is a safe and secure place to be.

Children respond to changes in different ways; the importance of maintaining coherence and continuity will enhance your child’s confidence ready for a smooth transition onto school and will ensure they continue to develop and learn effectively.

Busy Bees pre-school units are a great place to help prepare your child for school by developing their skills so that they are independent and confident within their first years.

Sensitive, careful planning and preparation through play will take place during the few months before your child starts school. This planning will include lots of activities that will help build your child’s self-esteem.  Some of the life skills that your child will be working towards over the next few weeks will be…

• being able to recognise their own name
• be able to dress themselves (and undress) for PE
• Put on their own coats and shoes (help maybe needed with zips, buttons and shoe laces)
• Go to the toilet and wash their hands themselves
• Be able to self-choose activities by themselves (free-flow)
• Take turns and share
• Join in large group assemblies
• Be confident in responding to the register being called
• Be able to carry lunch plate to and from the lunch trolley
• Participate in taking a reading book to and from nursery
• Manners - say please and thank you and understand the feelings of others, i.e. sad, happy, quiet etc…

(these skills are only a guide and it is NOT expected that all children will be able to do some or all of these unaided prior to starting school).

During your child’s transition period of moving on to school, your child’s Key Person will be gaining as much information as possible to ensure through play your child can be introduced to new experiences.  The Key Person who has supported your child through their exciting and emotional learning journey will continue to maintain a close relationship with you and your child to ensure the transition to school is viewed as a process rather than an event.

To celebrate this milestone in your child's life, all of our nurseries hold Graduation Parties where your child will be awarded with a certificate and a photo of them 'graduating' from nursery!

Your child’s First Day at School

Your child’s first day at school, will quite possibly be more emotional for you than your child. The key is to make sure you are ready for your child to go to school - on the big day, stay positive, keep smiling and be reassuring. This will set a positive tone for your child and make them understand that going to school is something they can and should look forward to.

Talk to your child about how they feel about their first day at school -
are they anxious, excited, do they have any questions to ask you? Talk about what will happen on their first day at school, talk about your own experiences or their siblings’ experiences to reassure them it will be an exciting time.