As your child approaches the transition into primary school, it is important to consider the structure of school and how it might differ from nursery (or even pre-school).
What are the difference between nursery teachers and primary school teachers?
In our experience, nursery settings have incredibly skilled staff - we are incredibly grateful to all of them! Whilst these staff usually have childcare qualifications, it is not a requirement that these staff will have ‘Qualified Teacher Status’ (QTS in the jargon).
When your child starts school, it is a requirement that the Reception teacher will be a qualified teacher (they will have a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education - a PGCE or equivalent - and completed their mandatory teacher training period).
Nurseries have quite strict ratios of adults to children - for example, it is usually a ratio of 1:8 for 3-5 year olds.
At primary school, the ratio will be much higher - the Reception class is likely to have 20-30 children with one qualified teacher. Usually Reception classes have at least one Teaching Assistant to support the teacher, but even so, there will be more children to adults compared to what you, and your child, might have been used to.
What will my child be expected to by the time they start primary school?
Partly because of the ratio, primary schools will work on the assumption that your child can independently do a lot of things. Most children who have attended good nursery/pre-school settings will be able to do a lot of what is expected (in fact, many parents can be surprised how independent their children can be!).
For example, one of the things that primary schools will expect is for your child to be able to use the toilet independently. In practice, this means being able to take themselves, clean themselves and wash their hands all without help.
Another thing that often comes up in Reception classrooms is the expectation that children can dress themselves. This usually just means being able to put on shoes and a coat. Most headteachers I speak to recommend velcro shoe straps rather than laces - most children can’t tie laces at this age, so it can be a time consuming problem for staff!
What will my child study when they start primary school?
Initially, there will be a continuation in the type of learning which will take place. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum outlines the structure of learning from age 0-5 and will guide all childcare settings - from independent childminders to large nursery groups.
The EYFS framework, which focuses on seven areas of learning:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication and language
Physical development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts and design
This curriculum is built around ‘play-based learning’ - it is more ‘free flow’ with children usually choosing which ‘station’ to play at. The adults will usually document any time a child demonstrates one of the areas of the curriculum (ie. today your child shared a toy with a peer - ‘personal, social and emotional development focus’).
The Reception year in primary will continue with this curriculum (when the school year begins, most children will not be aged 5 - but all children will turn 5 at some point during the academic year).
However, depending on the approach the school takes, there will be a shift to more ‘formal, structured learning as the children begin the National Curriculum (Key Stage One). There are a number of approaches schools can take:
They can start the transition to a more formal, ‘school-like’ learning DURING Reception year.
They can keep the play-based approach for the entire Reception year, then start the more formal learning when your child starts Year One.
They can keep elements of the ‘play-based’ approach into Year One (less common).
So at some point, your child will begin working through the Key Stage One (KS1) curriculum and the focus shifts to more formal learning, including:
Core subjects (English, Maths, Science)
Foundation subjects (History, Geography, Art, etc.)
Structured assessments like the Phonics Screening in Year 1 and SATs in Year 2 (now optional) and Year 6 (not optional).
I will cover what some of this ‘looks like’ in other posts.
Depending on the school your child might also start getting homework. Again, I will cover this in other posts.
How long will my child be in school compared to nursery?
One of the main differences between nurseries and primary schools (although, not pre-schools) is the hours and ‘rigidity’. If, like us, you are used to nursery settings, this can be a big shift!
Lots of nurseries will operate between the hours of 8am to 6pm. They are usually quite flexible when it comes to drop-offs and pick-ups. Nurseries usually operate almost all-year-round with only short breaks for Christmas and New Year.
Primary school will be very different. They will usually run from around 8:30am to around 3pm. They will obviously close for all of the ‘school holidays’ - half-terms, Christmas, Easter and then a big chunk of the summer.
A few things to note which might have slipped under your radar - especially if your household has two working parents.
Primary schools usually have a phased start to Reception. So depending on the school, your child might not start full-time until mid/late September.
Although more and more primary schools will offer ‘wrap-around care’ - breakfast clubs and after school clubs (and this is the aim for all primary schools) - these usually won’t start straight away. The after school clubs are usually not operated by the school - they may contract these out to other organisations, so it is worth doing some research! There may also be limits to the numbers and you might have to join a waiting list - don’t assume your child will be able to access this provision automatically. You can read more about this here.
The final point is INSET days. Schools are allowed to designate up to five days as INSET (‘in-session training’ if you want to know the jargon!). These will usually be calendared in advance, so check the school website to avoid being surprised with a last minute child-care dilemma!
How much involvement will parents have with primary schools?
This obviously varies from setting to setting, but at a general level, nurseries will have more frequent, but less structured time with parents, whilst primaries will usually have less frequent meetings, but carried out in a more structured way.
The first thing to prepare yourself for is you will have less contact and information than you would like. This is down largely to the structures of the school system and the enormous pressures on teachers. In almost all cases I know, schools and teachers want to have more contact with parents - it is just that other pressures usually get in the way.
This is not to say that you can’t have excellent relationships with schools - but more on that in other posts!
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