School Readiness

There are many definitions of school readiness which can lead to some differences of opinion and confusion. According to some, school readiness includes a child’s ability to hold a pencil and being able to recognise their name. These skills are important as children grow, but school readiness also includes the many skills that develop over time from a child’s birth through school entry. At Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries, we believe the journey to ‘school readiness’ begins at birth.

Children have the potential to become school ready when parents, early years providers, professionals and schools work together to support children’s knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in school and life.

Ofsted’s ‘Are You Ready?’ report highlighted that the settings that most successfully encouraged ‘school readiness’ were those that involved parents in the process.

At Monkey Puzzle, we work closely with parents to ensure they are familiar with the school transition process, understands their child’s development, and has the information they need to work with their child at home to prepare for starting school.

To be effective in preparing children ready for school, we work with parents and other professionals to ensure progress is made towards these several key skills.

• Is the child able to cope emotionally with being separated from their parents and carers?
• Can the child follow simple given instructions?
• Is the child able to dress and undress independently?
• Are they able to vocalise their needs such as toileting, thirst, hunger, illness etc. ?
• Can the child sit still and concentrate for a short period of time?
• Can the child play and share with other children safely and positively?
• Is the child curious and happy to explore new activities or environments?

These skills may be a work in progress for some children and this shouldn’t leave parents concerned that a child isn’t ready for school. The important thing is the key person and parents being aware of these gaps and they put a plan in place to ensure a child is developing these skills.

There are many activities and experiences we offer to our children to help them prepare for school. Some of these includes

• We have a rich understanding of each individual child including their families, background and home learning which helps us to form trustful and meaningful relationships with parents and involve them in their children’s learning.
• Our curriculum offers purposeful activities to support children’s individual interests and next steps.
• We offer opportunities to support children’s communication, language, and social skills through group time activities-circle time, show and tell, singing songs, playing turn-taking games and reading stories.
• There are plenty of opportunities offered for children to exercise independenceand resilience rather than ‘doing things’ for children.
• Ourstaff are well trained in school readiness and fully aware of the support that each individual child requires.
• We work closely with the schools and provide them with children’s individual progress record to support them with full understanding of child’s strength and their areas of development at transition.

For us, “school readiness” means that the children are prepared to make a smooth transition to the next and exciting phase of their education – that they stay happy, confident, and ready to take on new challenges in their journey, when they move on from us.