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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

How your child develops in the Early Years Foundation Stage

Reception children with teacher
As your child starts their primary education, here's how they’ll develop during their Reception year.

Your child’s Reception year is a time of many changes. Although the curriculum revolves around play and child-led learning, there’s still a lot for them to get used to. Some children are facing time away from Mummy and Daddy for the first time; others are used to being at nursery but now have to adapt to the new structure and boundaries of school life. So how can you expect them to develop during their first school year?

What’s going on in there?

Your Reception child is:

  • making huge leaps in their language development.
  • very chatty with the family, but may be monosyllabic in unfamiliar situations.
  • interested in learning new words, particularly big words.
  • speaking with more clarity and grammatical accuracy.
  • keen to ask questions, particularly ‘why’ questions, to find out more about the world.
  • honing their fine motor skills and doing more recognisable writing and drawing.
  • living in the moment, finding it hard to wait for things to happen.
  • able to play imaginatively.
  • most interested in learning when the project is hands-on and creative.
  • eager to please and receive praise.
  • getting better at sharing, taking turns and playing cooperatively.
  • keen to participate in one-to-one activities with adults.
  • gaining independence in personal hygiene and care.

Potential pressure points

Starting school presents many challenges for your child. They have to get used to being away from you during the day, learn and follow a new set of rules at school, become more independent in dressing, eating and using the toilet, adapt to taking turns and sharing their teacher’s attention, and fend for themselves in the playground.

“They also have to learn lots of new social rules, making new friends and balancing those friendships with the ones they have come from pre-school or nursery with,” says chartered educational psychologist Julia Busch Hansen. “But the main issue is tiredness, which tends to get worse as the week goes on.”

Warning signs to watch out for

Children of this age who are tired and stressed may become either quiet and withdrawn, or noisy, boisterous and aggressive. Other signs that your child is finding his reception year hard-going include sleep problems such as insomnia or nightmares, bedwetting, clinginess or tearfulness, aggression at school or at home, and physical symptoms like headaches or tummy aches.

“Try to develop a good relationship with your child’s teacher,” advises chartered educational psychologist and educational adviser Susan Brooks. “This ensures that there is a connection between what happens at school and their home life, which is enormously important to a young child.”