Even if your child has been at nursery for years, starting primary school is always a huge step. For them and us. If you’re a working parent then it’s the excitement tinged with concern about logistics. And if you’re a stay at home mum, chances are you’re sad about losing your time with them at home.
There are ways to make the transition to primary school easier for the whole family. You can find useful posts below, split into useful sections: Starting school, Key stage 1 support and Key stage 2. Come back as your children progress through school because I’ll be updating this as and when to build a great resource page.
Supporting children through primary school doesn’t have to be hard
Starting primary school
Moving from preschool, choosing schools and arriving in foundation stage.
- Questions to ask on primary school visits
- 13 essential tasks to prepare children for school
- 20 posts about starting school advice
- Getting the best value from school uniform
- How to cope at the school gate as a working mum
- Why you shouldn’t always worry about children being behind
- Really useful tips for school you never know til later
Key stage 1 tips
From foundation stage at age 4 or 5, through to year 2 and age 6 or 7, children start with learning more about the social and settling stages as well as the basic grounding of phonics and starting to read.
- Get your children to talk about their day
- How to help improve handwriting
- Understanding school reading levels
- Encourage your children to read
- Number bonds and basic maths printables
- Build confidence to help imagination in writing
- Tips on getting children to do homework
- How to help children cope with sports day
- Quick no sew nativity costumes
Key Stage 2 tips
- Prep kids for school swimming lessons
- Books to inspire reluctant readers age 7-11
- Pen licences and (cursive) handwriting support
- Visual stress and Irlen Syndrome to help reading
- Packing list and tips for school residential trips
Key stage 3 / secondary school
- Questions to ask ahead of secondary school applications
- Secondary school virtual open days
- Differences from primary to secondary school
Resources
- The School Run – school length subscription with weekly learning worksheets in line with national curriculum. There’s also plenty of articles on
- Reading Eggs – helping children improve reading and maths through fun games
If you’ve got any advice, tips or questions about primary school, comment or send me a message.