Fancy A Change, Any Ideas?

[Rufus]

Hi peeps

Currently our induction process is this;

Induction meeting for the parents at the end of the previous term (we have a 3 term intake).

Then the first time the children visit us is at the beginning of the new term. They spend half a day with parent then another half day without parent and then they start full time.

This works well but I always feel drained and feel that it just takes so long to get the whole class in together, 4 days of bitting and bobbing and then the fifth day we can start, when everyone is in.

Has anyone tried anything else that works?

I was also thinking of introducing visits for story times at the end of the term so that the new chidlren can visit for a regular story time and the exisitng chidlren can model good behaviour - in theory!

[Guest heleng]

We also have a three term intake but I share a class space with the school nursery so all the children know me already before they start full time.

 

We have a parent's meeting at the end of the term just before they start full time. We also have an induction day where the children come in at normal school time and stay all day with their parents joining them for lunch- this is also in the term before they start full time and fits in with the rest of the school spending the day with their new teachers too. Those are the 'formal' bits we do. Also the term before they come to me they 'visit' for one morning a week i.e. they register with nursery and go home with nursery but come and sit with Reception and join in with the Reception timetable and those who are ready come to me twice a week to do phonics. We share show and tell and split nursery and reception into mixed groups and I have nursery chn in my adult focused gps if they are activities they would cope with and benefit from.

When they start full time we have a staggered start and all that means is half start one day at normal school time and half start the next day at normal school time, so it only takes us one day to get up to speed.

 

In fact since we have been sharing a space and working as a unit rather than two classes in the same space we have had a lot less transition issues- we have more issues with the parents rather than the children!!

[Guest]

I only have 1 intake, so for me it's a bit easier! In the summer term the pre-school children come up to visit 4-6 times with their pre-school. They come for 2 story sessions and 1 morning when the rest of the school all move up to their new classes.

We also have a parents evening in June.

This term we do home visits during the 1st week of term. Then the children are in part-time for 2 weeks (1 morning and lunch and another week afternoons) half the children in the morning and half in the afternoon. Then they are all in full time.