If your child cannot see or hear clearly, participation in class activities could be severely affected. We encourage open communication with your child's teacher about existing or on-going problems so that we can make arrangements to best meet the needs of your child.

Your gentle encouragement to speak clearly - expecially by your own modelling of correct speech - is a great way to develop correct patterns. However, if your child stammers, rarely speaks or is distressed at his or her inability to talk, professional assistance should be sought. If in doubt about your child's physical well-being, please consult a doctor.

On average children are 7-8 years old before they can master all the sounds of our language so don't expect too much. However poor speech makes it difficult for others to understand and leads to frustration and lower self-confidence.

It is important for children to be able to listen to teachers, do what is asked and make known their needs, for them to learn and be happy at school.

Confidence in speaking and listening to adults comes from practice; promote situations where your child cah interact with adult relatives, friends, neighbours, shopkeepers, etc.

Working and playing in groups requires taking turns, sharing and co-operating. Parents who play games with their children help them to learn these vital skills and also to cope with success and failure. This supports the natural learning process when children play together at home with friends, brothers or sisters.

Drawing, painting, cutting, colouring in, skipping, hopping, jumping, catching and hitting balls, are all important activities which help the child to control body movements. This means that writing, artistic skills and games can be a joyful experience rather than a frustrating one.

When parents encourage a child to tackle tasks of gradually increasing difficulty and praise success, they increase the child's self-confidence. The child with high self-esteem will be more prepared to try new challenges at school than the one who is lacking in self-confidence.

These basic skills will ensure a flying start to any child's school life. (Practice is the answer; and lots of praise for good tries!!!)

• Know their name, address and telephone number.

• Recognise their name.

• Be able to dress and undress, especially being able to put on and remove shoes (which foot?).

• Be able to eat lunch from a lunch box. To know which is 'play lunch' and 'big lunch'. To have good eating manners - one small bite at a time. Swallow before taking another bite.

• Be able to manage toileting independently before they commence their school life. Boys need to be shown how to use the urinal - a different arrangement to home! Please inform the teacher if medical difficulties require special arrangements.

• Be able to put things away in their proper place.

• Respect other people and their belongings. Encouraging your child to tidy up after their games, put their clothes away, etc. is a great way to develop this necessary habit. Because of the many activities in the classroom, co-operation is vital to ensure equipment is shared, set up correctly and put away after use.

• Speak politely to adults and other children.

The ability to see a task through to its end is an important part of school life when the completion of one task often leads to new learning situations.