Posts Tagged ‘primary school’

10 ways to prepare your child for primary school

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

The first day at primary school is a landmark in every child’s life. Here are some ways you can help your child make the transition from home/ nursery school to primary school:

1. If any of your friends have children starting at the same school, see if you can arrange a few ‘playdates’ before school starts – that way, your child will already have friends.

2. Encourage your child’s independence by teaching them to dress themselves and look after their own possessions.

3. Lead by example: be enthusiastic and positive when you talk to your child about school.

4. If your child has older siblings or cousins, encourage them to tell your child positive things about starting school.

5. Teach your child about school etiquette, such as sharing, taking turns, and raising their hand to ask a question.

6. Get to know the school, and its staff, as well as you can. Attend parent-teacher meetings, inductions, social events and anything else that helps you build relationships with the people who will be taking charge of your child’s early education.

7. Find storybooks about starting school and read them to your child.

8. Make sure you inform the school if your child has any allergies, special needs or medical issues.

9. Take your child with you when you go shopping for their uniform. Let them try it on and explain to them that this is what big boys and girls wear when they go to school.

10. Don’t voice any concerns about the school in front of your child. Talk to a partner or friend about anything that’s bothering you in private.

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Debate of the week: Education needs an early start

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

According to new research, children growing up in the poorest fifth of families in the UK are already nearly a year behind children from other families in vocabulary tests by the time they are five.

The research was published by the Sutton Trust, which aims to promote social mobility through education. In it, 12,500 British five year olds were surveyed with reading and vocabulary tests. The results found that good parenting and a supportive home environment were the most important influencers, with children who benefited from both scoring more highly in their tests.

Just under half of children from the poorest fifth of families were read to daily at age 3, compared with 8 in 10 of children from the most affluent families.

Often, children find it difficult to catch up after such a poor start and their parents cannot afford private tutors.Whilst at First Tutors, we have sought to make private tutoring as affordable as possible (some of our tutors charge as little as £9 per hour) we acknowledge that it can be difficult, particularly in a recession.

That’s why we support the principles behind the government’s initiative to provide one-to-one tutoring for those struggling the most in class. As most families who have tried tutoring know, one-to-one tuition is a very effective way to learn and the government’s funding of this scheme endorses that perspective.

But what if tutoring isn’t an option? Try reading together as a simple way to get their education off to a great start. If you have small children, try reading to them every day – even if it’s just for ten minutes. If you don’t have children of your own, why not volunteer to help teach reading at your local primary school?

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Free school meals for all?

Monday, September 21st, 2009

A £40m trial is underway in County Durham and the East London borough of Newham that enables pupils to have free lunches. Children’s behaviour, health and academic standards will be closely monitored to see how they are affected, and if it is successful then other parts of the country may soon benefit from the scheme.

The trial coincides with new nutrient-based standards for lunches that secondary schools have to follow. The same standards are already operational in primary schools across England, and they specify the amount of energy, fat, saturated fat, non-milk extrinsic sugars, salt, carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, foliate, calcium, iron and zinc each meal should contain.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls commented “I encourage all families who are entitled to a free school meal to claim this valuable support.  For those who are not eligible, school meals are still a great deal and give parents good value for money.  We know from recent research by the School Food Trust that parents with two children could save over £1,000 in a school year if they chose school meals – as well as the reassurance that their children are eating good quality, healthy food.”

If the scheme is as successful as the government hopes, it is estimated that it would cost up to £1bn to make all school meals free to pupils.

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