Patients & visitors

Primary 1 Transition

Introduction

A child moving from nursery to primary 1 is such an exciting time. We thought we would share with you some activities that would help establish foundation skills from which further development in primary one can build on.

Many of the activities and skills that will be suggested may be things that you and your child are already doing and therefore it is hoped that the information that we provide is good for reassurance. For some it may be a useful guide of some fun and developmentally appropriate activities to try.

Functional skills such as dressing, using cutlery, going to the toilet, drawing/pre-writing are useful skills to practice as well as movement skills such as gross motor and fine motor activities.

There is certainly no pressure or expectation as teachers will be aware that some children will be more able than others when they go to school and will of course assist and encourage your child where necessary. It is however useful for teachers if children are given the opportunity and encouragement to practice some everyday skills prior to entering primary 1.

There is no need to think about reading and writing letters and numbers as this will be taught at the appropriate stage. The skills that are most important at a pre-school stage are those that provide the ‘building blocks’ or ‘foundations’ for academic learning, and those that encourage more independence with functional tasks.