Helping Your Child Prepare For School

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Whether your child is just about to start school or will be heading back into a new year group or new school in September it can seem like a daunting and stressful time. Children are often anxious about all of the changes ahead and us parents are often stressed trying to get everything organised in time.

As a mum of two school age children I can totally relate! But over the years I have come up with lots of ways to help everyone get prepared for school so that you can sit back, relax and enjoy the summer holidays without all the stress of worrying about September!

Here are some of my top tips -

Go to the meetings

Lots of schools will offer you the chance to look around the school before you decide on your choices. But there are also plenty of chances to visit the school once you have been given your place too and attending these sessions can really help your child settle in.  

You can find out about these sessions directly from the school and they are a great way for your child to not only get used to the school but the teachers, other pupils and to form friendships too. You could even take these sessions as a chance to practice your walk/drive to school to see how long it takes you to get there.

Get uniform organised early

It can be really tempting to want to leave uniform shopping until last minute in case of a growth spurt but honestly my advice would be to get it sorted at the start of the summer holidays! Leaving it until the last minute could mean you are left with limited choice in styles and sizes as well as lots of stress too.

I usually try to buy the new school shoes near the beginning of the summer holidays. It means the kids have the chance to wear them around the house now and again to break them in, which in turn means we don't then get blisters when they do head back to school! Plus if you let them wear them around the house you get a good idea if the shoes actually fit right before they run off to school in them and then claim they don't fit after one day!

I also try to pick up most of the uniform at the beginning of the holidays too. Both my children's jumpers need to be ordered from a specific shop but the rest of the uniform including polo shirts, trousers, skirts, pe shorts etc can be brought from elsewhere and I find the earlier I buy them the more choice I have. One year I left it until about a week before and was frantic trying to find the right styles and sizes! Plus it means I have plenty of time to ensure I have everything sorted well in time for September.

Let your kids get involved

Whilst your children may not be able to have much say in the actual uniform there are lots of ways you can get them involved and therefore excited about school. Let them choose their own items where possible, things such as pencil cases, backpacks, lunch boxes and water bottles. They can all be picked by the child and by picking the items themselves they will be excited to start school and use them.

Get ready for the paperwork!

Now that I have two children in school I am often inundated with paperwork, party invites, forms to fill in and so on, it can be so easy to lose something or miss an important letter!

So to help us get organised I brought two plastic trays and popped each child's name on one. I also brought a wipe board for our kitchen wall. Now the kids come home and they put any letters, invites or anything for me to see into their tray and I can go check it and sign it if needs be. We also use the wipe board for remembering important dates in newsletters, pinning party invites too and just general information to remember. 

It has helped so much as now I know where all the paperwork is and the wipe board is there for everyone to write on and everyone to read to we can all keep on track with what's going on! I also keep a stash of envelopes and a jar with spare change in nearby too. That way I am ready for any non uniform days or sending in cash for school discos etc!

Do you have any children starting school this year or heading back to school in September? Please do share your top tips below for making "back to school" as easy as possible for both parents and kids!

xXx


**This is a collaborative post with Very. I received payment for this post.**