Getting ready for school

Starting school for the first time is an important milestone in your child’s life and how you support them can make a real difference to how well they settle into school. We have developed a leaflet which explains some useful things that you can help your child to practise to get ready for school. There are also some links to other websites on this page which give more information, hints and suggestions.

View the 'is your child ready for school' leaflet for practical tips on things that can help to prepare a child to be ready to start school.

If you have any queries or concerns about your pre-school child, please contact your Health Visitor or speak to your child’s preschool, nursery or other settings.

Other useful information

• Bookstart is a national scheme for pre-school children. It aims to help families discover the fun and excitement of sharing books together.
• Shaping Us Campaign - The Princess of Wales has launched a new awareness raising campaign to increase public understanding of the importance of the first five years of a child’s life. The campaign shared five videos showing the impact of development and what people can do to support children in their early years
• Chat, Play, Read: Department for Education campaign - video starring journalist, Natasha Kaplinsky and media psychologist Emma Kenny. A useful tool which guides parents on how they can Chat, Play and Read with their child. The film shows that interacting with their children can be a fun and happy time for both parent and child:

• Small Talk - featuring videos, advice and information to help parents make chatting, playing and reading activities part of their daily routine with children
• Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning (GHLL) work with schools and colleges to support children and young people to make positive choices to improve their physical, emotional and mental well-being.
• Hungry Little Minds - simple, fun activities for kids aged 0-5
• Words for Life is the National Literacy Trust’s website for parents
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service or SENDIASS provides free impartial, confidential and accurate information, advice and support about education, health and social care for children, young people and their parents on matters relating to special educational needs and disability.
• PACEY - a toolkit which offers support before school, during the first few days and throughout the school year
• Home-Start - a range of resources for Pre-School children including- simple games you can try together at home
• BookTrust - 100 best children’s books
• Change 4 life - fun ideas to keep your kids stay healthy
• Action on ACESs - information and resources about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs are traumatic events that affect children while growing up, such as suffering child maltreatment or living in a household affected by domestic violence, substance misuse or mental illness. A short video about one person’s story of how ACEs affected his life:

• Tiny Happy People - the BBC initiative has lots of activities, information, tips and advice on ways to develop your child’s communication skills.