The list of suggested skills and activities to prepare children for the classroom includes:

• using cutlery
• being fully toilet trained (except for the occasional accident)
• drawing, painting and colouring
• talking about feelings
• brushing teeth twice a day

Find guidance and the full list of steps to help your child get off to a flying start at school here: 

• Starting Reception

Find information and useful links on the following pages:

• healthy eating
• feeding, weaning, and healthy eating

There are also some great videos and tips around swapping to healthier snacks and making healthy food choices:

• healthier lunchboxes
• healthy mealtime recipes

Contact your Local Family Hub to find out what healthy eating support is available for your family.

There are some things you can do to help your child feel more confident about starting school and reduce your own anxieties as a parent.

This video gives some tips around helping with separation anxiety and how to help yourself and your child feel better about being separated from each other:

There are online courses for parents and carers as well as workshops, groups and programmes run by Family Hubs to help understand and support children's emotional well-being and to help put parents in their ‘child’s shoes’.

For more information visit:

• Children's mental health - Every Mind Matters - NHS
• Children's and young people's mental wellbeing

You might also find some useful information on our pages here: 

• Mental health and emotional wellbeing

For your child to make the most of their school day, they need to be having a good night's sleep. Children who are 4 to 6 years old need 10 ½ to 11 ½ hours of sleep a night. Below are some tips for setting a good bedtime routine:

This video gives some tips on setting a good sleep routine:

Help with setting routines

There are groups for parents in Worcestershire that will give you some practical tips and strategies for setting routines for your family. 

Find out more here:

• Sleep in babies and children
• NHS relaxation and sleep tips for children
• The Sleep Charity

Book a sleep session with your local Family Hub here:

Book a workshop, group or course

Help with speech and language

To give you an idea about what your child should be doing between the ages of 2 and 4 years old, see:

• Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service information, advice and training

If you are concerned about your child's speech and language you should:

• talk to your child's nursery or early years setting
• talk to your health visitor
• get in touch with Worcestershire's Speech and Language Therapy service
• find out about courses in libraries that are focused on topics including literacy, parenting, routines, transition to school etc, see: Family Learning courses

Stories and nursery rhyme groups

There are lots of groups around Worcestershire you can go to with your child to read stories, sing songs and listen to nursery rhymes, find groups here:

• Worcestershire's Library Services

Library services offer groups and schemes around the county to give free book packs to children aged 0 to 4 years. These include:

• bounce and rhyme sessions in every library (21 libraries) to support speech and language development and reading for pleasure
• story times and holiday activities focused around literacy
• wide range of books for children to support starting school
• wide range of books to support parenting e.g. potty training, sleep patterns etc
• summer reading challenge during the summer holidays for 4 to 12-year-olds and under fives

Free books (Bookstart)

BookTrust gives free books to every child in England and Wales at two key stages before school. The programme also gives free packs for children with additional needs, tips and guidance on reading together, resources and activities and much more.

As the world's first national book-gifting programme, Bookstart aims to encourage a love of books, stories and rhymes in children from as young an age as possible.

In Worcestershire, your pre-schooler will receive their special gift envelope when they are 4 years old, from their early years setting or library.

• BookTrust website

Your child will be offered to complete a health questionnaire at different points throughout their school journey. The answers from these questionnaires will help the school health nursing team to determine if your child requires any additional help or support. 

The first health questionnaire will be offered in Reception, which you will complete on your child’s behalf. 

The next questionnaire your child will be asked to complete will be in year 6 and year 9. Again, the answers from these will help the school health team to ensure the right level of help and support is available. 

For more information, see:

• SchoolScreener | Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust