As the end of the school year approaches, you might start to think about how your child will manage the many upcoming changes. They may be having a new teacher, new classmates, and a new classroom. They may be starting a new school entirely! This can be a lot to handle for all children and can perhaps be especially challenging for children who require additional support in school. Here are some top tips to help make your child’s upcoming school transition as smooth as possible.
- Find out where their new class or school is.
If your child is staying in the same school, find out where their new class will be and ask if they can have a look around. If possible, explore how to get there from the school gates and where different places such as the toilet are in relation to their new space.
If your child is attending a new school, look at pictures of the building online. School websites often have pictures of the inside of the school too. Then, plan how they will get there and practice travelling to the new school together!
- Find out who will be in their new environment.
Who will be their new teacher? Will there be any other members of staff they will see often? You can often use the school website to look at pictures of the teachers in their ‘Who’s Who’ section. This will help to make your child more familiar with the faces they will see in their new year at school.
- Make a fun schedule of when key things will happen.
Use lots of colours and pictures to create a timetable including key times of the day, such as:
- When do I need to leave for school?
- When does school start?
- When is lunch time/break time?
- When is home time?
- Create a collage of what they will need.
Again, make it colourful and fun! Make a collage including pictures of:
- What they will wear to school; making sure to include any new uniform like a tie or a blazer.
- What they will need in their school bags; including school supplies, lunch and PE kits.
- Put together an ‘All About Me’ page.
With your child, create a fun fact sheet that is all about them. They can keep this as a reminder of nice things to share with new people they meet, or they can give a copy to their new teacher. This fact file can include:
- A picture or drawing of them
- Who they are friends with
- Things they are good at and enjoy
- Things they prefer to have help with
- What sort of things help them – e.g having visuals to support understanding
- How they communicate – e.g do they use speech, AAC, signing or a combination?
- Be excited!
Of course, it is important to recognise your child’s worries and fears about the changes they are going to face. However, try to be outwardly confident and optimistic about this transition! When you’re looking at pictures of the new school, staff, or uniform; point out all the things you love about it. Encourage your child to think about the things they will like about it too.
Change can bring the opportunity for new experiences and new friends – so focus on the positive and allow yourself and your child to be excited!