Preparing for 'Back to School'
Monday 28 August 2023
At the start of each new school year, parents and children have a lot to think about so here are some 'Back to School' tips which you might find helpful for Primary and Secondary Education.
Much of the advice below can be adapted to meet the needs of students of any age.
Primary Children
Organisation and timetabling
- Encourage pupils to be responsible for putting out clothes, shoes, book bag, PE kit the evening before
- Use a checklist (white or black board / sticky notes / a diary or journal) where children keep notes about things they need to remember – encourage children to change and adapt notes themselves so they feel that they have some control of what they have to do
- Make sure everything they use is named or easily identifiable
- Encourage children to help organise their own routines so that they learn that certain activities need to be done at certain times
Role of the School
- Any concerns or information about a child’s learning difficulties should be shared with the school and class teacher, particularly if this is a new teacher or school. You should allow children and teachers a few days .to settle into new routines before contacting the school to arrange a meeting to discuss their concerns – this should happen within the first 2 or 3 weeks of term but if school requests more time to get to know the child, then parents should request to schedule a meeting after 4 to 6 weeks.
- Diagnostic assessments should be shared with school, but this is not obligatory. All recommendations from a diagnostic assessment can rarely be implemented so parental expectations should be reasonable and they should discuss these with school.
- It is important to keep a record of correspondence with school
Secondary Students
Organisation and timetabling
- Encourage your child to have a particular space where they store and keep all equipment and books so everything can be found easily and if possible, have a clear desk/ working area with all the equipment they are likely to need to hand
- Have a lesson and a homework timetable on display in the house / bedroom and encourage children to establish routines which work for them, and the household. Some may like to use a visual timetable.
- Encourage and help your child to develop their own strategy for organising reminders and planning homework etc e.g. colour codes for each subjects or day, use of moveable post-its
- Introduce the use of Assistive Technology for completing work and use reminder/ calendar/ wake-up alarm apps
Role of the school
- Class Tutors are usually the first point of contact followed by Heads of Year, SENCO and subject teachers
- Relevant information and concerns should be shared directly with subject teachers as support needed may be subject specific.
- Students should be encouraged to talk directly to teachers about their challenges, even making suggestions about things which they think would be helpful
- Talk to the school about both academic and pastoral support which may be available eg homework sessions after school, mentoring or guidance counsellors, and encourage students to use these facilities
Access Arrangements
Schools need to apply for Access Arrangements for GCSE and A Levels and should be able to provide evidence that the request reflects the pupil’s “normal” way of working. Parents should discuss this with school so that the pupils can become familiar with these working arrangements. For more details visit here
SENCO
A Special Educational Needs Coordinator is a teacher responsible for special educational needs in school, both academic and emotional. Every school must have a SENCO. They are responsible for monitoring the education of students with learning difficulties however, the SENCo does not necessarily have SEN qualifications.
The SENCo may be a class teacher but some larger schools usually have an SEN department and the SENCO will monitor and organise this.