January 27th, 2020

School Readiness

School readiness is something we have worked hard on with our local schools and continue to do so.  There are plenty of things we can do to help make the transition from ECE to Primary School smooth for our tamariki.  Last year we had a great Transition to School Evening which was attended by the new entrant teachers from our three local schools.  They came together and put a list of attributes that all three schools felt were important to provide a smooth and positive transition to school.  These included a child being able to independently:

• Take turns
• Follow more than two simple instructions​​
• Get dressed on their own
• Listen when others are talking
• Blow their nose
• Able to manage the packaging in their lunchbox
• Have fine motor skills that enable a child to hold a pen or use scissors
• Be able to look after their own belongings (clothes, shoes, lunchboxes etc)
• Join in and have a go at new activities
• Recognise and write their name

While ABC's won't help a child learn most of these skills, they were certainly help a child learn their ABC's as independence and a great sense of belonging allow a child to explore and trial new things without anxiety or stress.​