What are School Readiness Skills?
School Readiness 
School readiness is used to describe how ready children are socially, physically, and intellectually, to start school. It is about your child having the skills to get the most from school. Being school ready means that your child will be able to do things like get along with other children, follow instructions and communicate their needs.
What can I do to get my child school ready?
Here are somethings that you can do to help your child with their school readiness:
- Taking responsibility for their own belongings
- Hanging up their coat
- Practicing using lunchboxes
- Tidying up independently
- Getting dressed independently and managing buttons, zips and shoe laces/velcro
- Having play dates with other children in order to increase opportunities for the development of social skills such as sharing and turn taking
- Using the toilet independently
- Following basic instruction
- Listening attentively for short spells
School Readiness Summer Planner
Why not download our handy Summer Planner? It will help you to focus on the things you can do to improve your child’s school readiness skills. You can use it along with our incentive chart for preschool children. This will help you to encourage and reward your child for developing these new skills.
Remember it is normal for you to feel anxious about this transition. It is a big change for you and your child. However it is important that you don’t let your anxiety become your child’s anxiety.
For more information on school readiness skills here are a list of useful websites:
Department of Education and Skills
National Parents Council Primary
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment
For Local Support in relation to your child starting school The Genesis Programme offers parents a number of programmes that are listed on our calendar.
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