At Banstead Prep, we understand how important it is for children to feel prepared for new steps through their educational journey. We want our nursery children to be confident and independent ahead of moving to Reception, so we have lots of strategies in place to help them get ready for that exciting first day of school.
During the summer term before Reception, we begin spending some time in the Reception classrooms so that the children can familiarise themselves with the layout and resources, learn where the toilets are that they will use and see where to hang their coats. In this environment, we help them gain independence with choosing tasks and introduce them to reading books. Children are invited each week to take home a book without words that they can ‘read’ with parents, helping them develop a love of stories and building imagination as they talk about what they think is happening.
Back in nursery, we start weekly phonics sessions involving lots of games to help children learn letters and sounds, including the letters in their own names so that they can recognise this when starting school. We encourage them to write their names too! We have a weekly maths focus to build on their understanding of numbers and shapes and continue to develop their communication skills through activities that involving sharing and problem solving with others.
There are opportunities to meet new classmates too – each year we run a ‘Spring Crafts’ session in Reception and host ‘Teddy Bear Fun & Games’ where children who are joining BPS are invited to spend time with our current nursery children who will be staying for Reception. Parents are welcome at this event, to get to know each other over some refreshments in anticipation for the exciting times ahead as their children learn and play together at school.
