Inspirations nurseries endeavour to not only prepare children to be ‘school ready’ but do all we can to support their well-being around this time. Firstly, we gather information as to which school the children are going to and chat to them about their new school. We then contact each school and invite the reception teacher to come visit their new children to see them playing in a familiar setting at either Horsforth and Adel.

Most children will attend sessions at their new schools, but they can often feel shy, therefore seeing them at nursery gives them a true idea of their personality and the children often feel more confident to talk to them.

Key persons then begin to write notes for their transition reports that will go to their new teachers and home to parents. These include information on any support needed, what the children are interested in and like to do, and their ‘characteristics of effective learning’, how they prefer to learn. We also include a parent section as this contribution is extremely important because they know their children better than anyone. All this information is then used to settle in, support and assess new children once they start school.

Inspirations wants our children to feel excited and positive about this change so we hold school groups where we will read stories about starting school and share our thoughts and expectations throughout. We have found that the children naturally begin to role play ‘schools’ and encourage this by providing uniforms, registers, books and resources to enhance play. Practitioners often observe this play, listening for any questions or anxieties we can sensitively address during our group times.

Finally, we have a graduation party for our leavers. A photographer is invited to take individual photos of the children in their caps and gowns being presented with their leaver certificates, parents can then keep these photos as a special reminder of this early years’ experience.

We are always sad to see our children leave us but are happy and confident we have done everything we can during the time they have been with us to prepare them for the future. We wave them goodbye with pride and best wishes.

From this week up until September we start to say our goodbyes to our school leavers, some who have made the most of a short time here, others who have been with us since they were babies. We wish all our school leavers luck with their next adventure and hope you come back to visit.