Under 5s transition to nursery or school - Brighter Futures For Children

Early years and SEND transition to school or nursery

This page is to support professionals working with children of all abilities moving up to a nursery or primary school.

Starting school is a key time for both children and parents or carers. Many children see this as a positive occurrence. However, some children and families will struggle with the move to a new environment. This first experience of school can have a profound influence on children’s school career.

A quality transition process should support both children and families to feel confident and secure in their new environment and future learning.

With this in mind Reading Early Years team, in collaboration with local schools and settings have agreed and developed a transition process for children of all abilities. Part of this process includes the sharing of the child’s learning and development report as well as possible visits from schools to settings prior to starting.

We’ve created a toolkit of key documents to guide you, listed below.

Starting school: Home Learning Education programme

Every child develops at their own pace, and learning new skills takes time. To support children before they start school, we’ve created the Home Learning Education programme.

If you are working with a child who may benefit from extra support with their development before starting school, you can refer them to the Home Learning Education programme using our online form: Home Learning Education programme referral

We’ve put together a brief overview of the programme which you can download here: Early Years and Starting School Champions programme (PDF)

If you have any queries, please email startingschool@reading.gov.uk.

The flyer linked on the right includes helpful tips for parents/carers to support their child for school readiness, and can be downloaded and shared by early years settings, schools, and other early years providers.

Home Learning Education programme referral

You can also signpost parents/carers to the Journey to Reception page which contains lots of useful tips and advice on helping children prepare for starting school.