Preparing for primary school

Primary school children in school uniform standing around a table playing with different musical instruments. A young girl in the foreground is staring directly into the camera.

Starting school is a big step for both you and your child. Preparing your child for this change, can help them settle in and interact with other children. It is a good idea to start thinking about practicing independence skills with your child.

Remember, every child is different and learns skills at different rates and in different ways. Some will learn quickly whereas others will need more time and practice.

Explore the topics on this page:

Talk and read about school

Practice skills they will need to start school

Visit their new school

Help your child prepare

Talk and read about school

It's a good idea to regularly talk to your child about school. Try to bring up school in daily conversations. You can:

talk about what school will be like
show them pictures of the school they will be going to
talk about who they will be going to school with

Reading fun stories about school adventures can help them get used to the idea of going to school. There are many books which talk about going to school. You can buy books online or visit your local library.

graphic to show skills that child can work towards. Speech bubbles for following instructions, bananas for feeding themselves, a toilet for using the toilet, a shirt on a hanger for getting dressed and soap for washing their hands

Practice skills they will need to start school

Helping your child be as independent as possible in daily activities will help their transition into school.

Your child may already have these skills or they may be completely new to them. Wherever your child is at with these skills, try to make them part of their daily life.

Your child will be expected to follow simple verbal instructions when they start school. These may include 2 or 3 parts, such as "when your picture is finished, put it in the box and then sit on the carpet."

If you have any concerns before your child starts school, you can contact their school or early-years setting to discuss it further.

Read more about helping your child to follow simple instructions
Your child will be expected to feed themselves their food (both packed lunch and school dinners). This includes being able to use a knife and fork.

Where possible, it would be helpful for your child to be able to open all the items in their packed lunch by themselves. Things like yoghurt tubes and drink cartons might be difficult to open.

If you have any concerns before your child starts school, you can contact their school or early-years setting to discuss it further.

Read our information on helping your child develop their cutlery skills
Your child will be expected to know when they need to use the toilet and how to use the toilet.

Encourage your child to sit on the toilet themselves so they get used to it. Try to resist placing your child on the toilet and wiping their bottom. It is better for your child to learn how to do this themselves.

Encourage them to wipe their bottom, flush, dress themselves again and wash their hands when going to the toilet. These are all things which your child may need to do at school with minimal or no support.

If you have any concerns before your child starts school, you can contact their school or early-years setting to discuss it further.

Read more about toileting
Your child will be expected to change from their uniform to their PE kit and back again with minimal or no support. This will include putting on their shoes.

Encourage them to practice putting on and taking off their PE kit at home. It can also help to encourage them to put on and take off their pyjamas each day. Encourage them to practice putting on and removing their coat. Allow them to practice fastening and unfastening zips and buttons in a relaxed environment.

Encourage them to practice putting their shoes on and off at home. Velcro shoes are easier for your child to put on. Tie-up shoes can be more difficult and will take more practice.

If you have any concerns before your child starts school, you can contact their school or early-years setting to discuss it further.

Read more about getting dressed

Read more about supporting your child's dressing skills
Hand skills (also known as fine motor skills) are important for your child's day-to-day life. You can help them to build their hand strength and hand-eye coordination by building with building blocks and messy play. Read more about messy play.

Developing your child's hand skills helps them use tools like pencils and scissors. It's a good idea to teach your child some pencil skills before they start school. This includes, holding a pencil, making marks and colouring. Read more about getting ready to write.

Your child will also be required to use scissors at school. Using scissors is a complicated activity and can take time for your child to learn. Read more about scissor skills.

Introduce your child to numbers before they start school. You can encourage them to count objects to help them practice.

Visit their new school

Your child will have an opportunity to visit the school for a session before starting. Experiencing school life can help them settle in.

The school will also provide parent information sessions. Here you will be offered more information about the school day and expectations.

Speak to the teacher beforehand if your child needs any further support. This may be photos of the classroom to help your child prepare or additional school visits.

Help your child prepare

Some tasks may be overwhelming and hard for your child to manage. Break these bigger tasks down into smaller steps. As your child gets more confident, you can then gradually build on these steps.

The best way for child to learn is through play. So the more fun and exciting you make learning a new skill, the quicker your child will pick it up.

Tips to help your child learn new skills

Practice a skill when your child is relaxed, calm and happy.
Remove background distractions such as the TV.
Ensure they are focussed on you and the task. Get down to your child’s level and use their name to get their attention.
Give your child lots of praise and encouragement. This will help them to want to learn more.
Use a calm voice and give short simple steps that your child will understand.
Use gestures and demonstrations to help them understand what you are saying.
Use backward chaining to break up an activity into smaller steps. Teach the final step of the sequence first.

Backward chaining is where you break down a sequence or activity into smaller steps and teach the final step of the sequence first. It helps give your child a sense of achievement when learning the sequence or activity.

When they can successfully complete the final stage by themselves, you can add the step before. Continue this process until your child can complete the whole sequence. This can be used for lots of skills, such as getting dressed or using cutlery.

Read more about backward chaining.

Last reviewed: 22 April, 2025

Preparing for primary school

Explore the topics on this page:

Talk and read about school

Practice skills they will need to start school

Visit their new school

Help your child prepare

Tips to help your child learn new skills

Who can help

Need more information?

Was this page helpful?

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Preparing for primary school

Explore the topics on this page:

Talk and read about school

Practice skills they will need to start school

Following instructions

Feeding themselves

Using the toilet

Getting dressed

Washing their hands

School-based skills

Visit their new school

Help your child prepare

Tips to help your child learn new skills

Read more about backward chaining

Who can help

Need more information?

Was this page helpful?

You must log in to save content

You must log in to save content