How to prepare your child for the first day of nursery school

The first day of nursery is a big step for a three-year-old, and often a bigger one for the parent at the gate. A little preparation in the weeks before makes the first morning much calmer.

Start the school routine early. Two or three weeks before school begins, move bedtime and wake-up time to what they will be on a school day. Have breakfast at the same time each morning. Young children cope with change far better when the day already feels familiar.

Talk about school in a simple, positive way. Tell your child what will happen: you will take them to school, they will play, sing and eat their snack with their teacher and new friends, and you will come back to pick them up. Picture books about starting school help, and so does walking or driving past the school together.

Practise small bits of independence. Opening a lunch box and a water bottle, washing hands, putting on shoes and saying when they need the toilet all make a child feel capable on day one.

Visit the school together if you can. Seeing the classroom, the play area and the teacher once beforehand turns a new place into a known one.

Keep the goodbye short and warm. Say goodbye, tell your child when you will be back, and leave. A long goodbye or slipping away without one usually makes the next morning harder. Some tears in the first days are normal and usually settle within a week or two.

Be on time at pick-up, especially in the first weeks, and ask about the day with simple questions: what did you play, what did you eat, who did you sit with.

Most importantly, stay calm and confident yourself. Children read their parents closely; if you trust the school, they will learn to as well.