Page 93 - PSPS: A Training guide

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Try to strike a happy balance between talking about school but not too much. You
know your child better than anyone so take their lead – if they want to talk about
school, that’s great. If they don’t, revisit the conversation at another time

Share positive memories about your own time in school. Children love hearing that
their parents were actually children too!

Practice opening zippers and buttons on clothes, and opening and closing lunch
boxes and water bottles

Practice the journey to school a few times over the summer and incorporate games
along the way (Let’s figure out how many minutes it takes if we walk this way? How
many trees can we count from the house to the school gate?)
Walk by or pop in to say hello to their preschool after they have finished there. This
will help your child to see that it didn’t just disappear and that it is someplace other
children now go to before they will start school too5

Talk about their new teacher in a friendly and positive way, so that
your child knows that you know and trust them. This really helps them
to establish a relationship with their teacher
Remember that you are the most important link between your child’s preschool
and their new primary school. Talk to the preschool team and your child’s Key Worker
about what they think is important for the school to know. When you share information
with the new school and teacher, you are helping them to understand your child.

Primary school

Create a photo book of your school, with pictures of the principal and infant
teachers, the yard, classrooms, coat racks, toilets etc. This can be shared with local
preschools for their libraries so that children can see their new environment long
before they are enrolled there

Send postcards to children arriving to junior infants a week or two before they start,
telling them how excited you are to meet them

Try to make sure that the layout of the classroom is play-based (i.e. designated
quiet or sensory corner, toybox etc.) and that learning equipment is softened where
possible (i.e. a welcome sign on the whiteboard)
If the child brings their ‘passport’ or ‘About Me’ document to school ensure that the
teacher takes time to read it and mention it to the child so they know the teacher is
aware of them as an individual

Use play as a learning tool. That way you are speaking the child’s natural language