Listen to Jenni Downes, principal at Erdington Hall Primary School, who offers lots of advice on the Brummie Mummies Podcast
Jenni Downes, principal at Erdington Hall Primary School, talks on the Brummie Mummies Podcast about how to help children be ‘school ready’
A recent report has shown that many children are not what it calls ‘school ready’ by the time they reach reception age.
The Kindred Squared survey revealed big gaps in communication and focus, with children not being able to listen, respond to instructions, sit still or play with classmates together with issues around toilet training, being able to dress and to eat independently.
The government has pledged to boost the proportion of children achieving a ‘good’ level of development from the current 67% to 75% by 2028.
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We chatted to Jenni Downes, principal at Erdington Hall Primary School, about her experiences of kids being school ready, and whether she thinks the government pledge is necessary and achievable and advice for parents on the Brummie Mummies Podcast:
“Starting school is a massive step and strong foundations in the first year make for later successes,” said Jenni, who has two children, aged 11 and 12.
“A child’s first teachers are their parents.
“You can’t say every child will be at a certain stage for every month of their life, it’s important to be aware that every child is different and their backgrounds and support and experiences are different.
“If their parents feel they have confidence that makes a difference.
“Some children are very confident in getting changed for PE and some aren’t able to do that. It’s about adapting activities to suit them, encouraging the ones who can to become role models.
“We have high expectations but it’s a long journey and we celebrate their successes.”
Whilst every parent wants their child to succeed, asking parents to get their child ‘school ready’ may be seen as added pressure on top of juggling work, siblings, elderly parents and additional activities going on in busy family lives.
“Parents should not feel any extra pressure,” said Jenni.
“Everyone has a different amount of time so make sure the time you spend with your child is quality time.
“It’s not about spending every moment practising reading, it’s about doing things little and often, involving your child in your daily activities – counting the number of items in the washing basket, listening to stories, singing songs, asking questions.
“It’s about helping them to build confidence, not about teaching them to read or write, it’s about encouraging them to be the best they can be.”
Could you pass a SATS test set for a 10 year old? Try our quiz here:
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How to get your child school ready
Jenni Downes suggests the following five tips:
- Get your child ready for routines. Get them used to getting up, dressed and ready to go out
- Get them reading, we’re not expecting them to be able to read books but they ‘read stories’ through picture books. This helps them develop a range of sounds and vocabulary so they can start to ‘narrate life’ in terms of ‘this is what is going on now and what is happening next’
- Get them to think about what’s around my world? Who are the people who can help me feel safe? Who do I talk to when I have a problem? Whilst reading, talking and writing are important, we find that enabling them to find ways to help them feel safe and happy really helps them to achieve
- Get them to look at the wider world. Many are into dinosaurs and space, sea creatures and animals. These are things they love and enjoy. Talk to them about school to give them a sense of belonging so it feels familiar. This is really important. Walk to school, have a look around, talk about what’s going to happen
- Get them to high five and be ready for friendship. Once they have a sense of themselves, they can think of what they’ve got to offer other people. How can I learn to help myself and others? Being able to make friends is a big part of being school ready. The friends they make at school and those photos you take on the first few days will become part of their memories so it’s important to make sure they feel that kinship.