Reception to Year 1 Transition

Moving from Reception to Year 1
 
For most parents, the prospect of settling their child into their new Year 1 class is a lot less daunting than getting ready for their first day at school, but the transition from Reception to Year 1 can be a big deal for many children. The end of the Reception year marks the end of the Foundation Stage Curriculum and the start of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1. This is a significant milestone in a child's development and this 'jump' can be difficult for some children.
 
At St Chad's, we ensure that the transition from Reception to Year 1 is gradual. At the end of the Reception year, children will spend a week in their new Year 1 classroom with their new teacher, so the environment isn’t a complete unknown at the start of the autumn term (we run this transition model throughout the whole of our school across July). We run a parent workshop to support families on what to expect from Year 1.
 
There are a number of things that parents/carers can do at home to support a smooth transition to Year 1. The summer holiday before the start of term is long and we encourage parents to familiarise their child with some of the things that they will be doing at school, for example:
  • Writing activities such as sending a postcard from holiday or writing an account of a day out.
  • Working on telling the time (o'clock and half past)
  • Beginning to encourage your child to count in twos, fives and 10s, and talking to them about concepts like ‘more than’ and ‘less than’.
  • Practising handwriting and pencil control.
  • Encouraging them to keep up with reading to you on a regular basis, for example by going to the library once a week and choosing new books.