Our Get Ready for School programme makes sure that when the time comes for children to start nursery or primary school, both children and parents are ready.
Getting Ready For School
Getting Ready For School
At Home-Start, we know that children thrive in a loving, stimulating home learning environment, which helps to prepare them for starting pre-school, nursery or school, ready to learn and to reach their full potential.
Getting ready to start school can be a daunting time for parents and children, but Home-Start is here to help make the transition easier, helping to ensure that children develop the skills and behaviours they need in order to succeed at school.

What is school readiness?
Being ready for school means a child is curious about the world around them and has a desire to learn more. A child who is school-ready may have;
- Good social skills – able to play with other children and communicate their needs
- The ability to cope emotionally when separated from their parent or carer
- The ability to undertake some personal care independently
- A curiosity about the world around them, asking questions and wanting to learn

How can we help?
Our specially trained volunteers are available to meet with families once a week, either face-to-face or online/over the phone. Using original, carefully selected resources, activities and ideas individually tailored to your family, volunteers can provide advice and guidance on how parents can support the development of some of the ‘school-ready’ skills. This might include playing games together that focus on children’s reading, writing and numeracy skills.
By sharing fun activities, volunteers can help to support children to develop independence skills around dressing and eating as well as how to include learning in everyday activities, such as a trip to the park or having breakfast together.

Our volunteers can provide a listening ear for any worries or stresses you may have about preparing for your child’s transition to pre-school, nursery or school. They may also be able to point you in the direction of other services and places to get ideas that may help.
Below are some activity sheets with ideas about things you can do at home with your child(ren) to help them be school-ready:
Games
Songs and Rhymes
Outdoor Activities
Making Books
Environmental Print
Bedtime Routine

Support from Home-Start is free and confidential. Home-Start Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire have been supporting families for over 35 years with well-trained volunteers who all have enhanced criminal records checks.
Everyone needs some extra help sometimes and we are here to support you and your family to be prepared, excited and ready for the next stage.
If you believe your child(ren) would benefit from this programme, please contact us to discuss further.
