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School readiness skills start early through everyday moments and meaningful interactions. 

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School readiness skills start early through everyday moments and meaningful interactions. 

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Communication - Talking, listening and sharing stories builds language and confidence. 

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Communication - Talking, listening and sharing stories builds language and confidence. 

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Sharing books together builds language, imagination, confidence and a lifelong love or reading and learning.

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Emotional wellbeing - Helping children understand feelings build's resilience and confidence. 

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Emotional wellbeing - Helping children understand feelings build's resilience and confidence. 

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Learning to recognise, name and manage emotions is a key part of school readiness. This helps children to feel confident, build friendships and to be ready to play and learn.

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Managing emotions and big feelings video

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Managing emotions and big feelings video

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Managing big feelings together - The Centre for Early Childhood’s Explainer series

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Ideas to cope with and manage sleep in young children, including if your child refuses to go to bed.

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TDAH - Routines and Making a bed for a toy

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Hello,

We hope you enjoy our little video introducing the home learning team.

We are a small team who lead on home learning - however there are many more of us trained to deliver PEEP across the city!

We look forward to seeing you at a group soon!

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Even before they're born, your baby's brain is busy making connections. Literally, the neurones or nerve cells are making new links with each other all the time. A newborn baby has about fifty million connections or synapses and by their first birthday, that's multiplied to a thousand million.

All the senses fine tune themselves as your baby grows and language skills are developing right from day one as well.

The brain develops by wiring together connections between whatever baby sees and hears. So the more you keep chatting to them about the world around them and repeating the names of things they can see, the more you're actually shaping the way their brains form.

This is not only true for babies but for toddlers and pre-schoolers too! Brain connections that keep getting used get stronger and stronger, but connections that aren't used die away. So keep talking to them to help build and grow the strongest brain connections you can.

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A study relating to the importance of Home Learning

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A study relating to the importance of Home Learning

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EY HLE: a key influence on children's educational outcomes from age 3 to 18 - EPPSE study

The Effective Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education study tracked 3000 children from the age of three through to 18.  The study found that when students were 16 years old, their early years (0-5) Home Learning Environment continued to be one of the most significant influences on their outcomes. "The quality of the early years home learning environment showed a clear association with later differences in average GCSE results. The differences for GCSE English and maths were approximately 10 grade points, and for total GCSE score the difference was 125 points for those who had experienced a high versus low quality early years HLE.

The researchers from the University of Oxford and Institute of Education monitored a number of activities that parents/carers do with their children (named 'Early Years Home Learning Environment') which make a positive difference: singing songs and nursery rhymes together, reading with their child, visiting the library, playing with letters and numbers, painting and drawing, taking children out and about, and providing opportunities for them to play with their friends at home.

What adults do with their young children (both at home and by sending them to pre-school) is more important than their social class, educational background or where they live.

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"I was talking to a Mum and she shared how much she got out of this group, she said that she had no idea that she needed to read or sing to her child to help them with their speech and overall development. She was really grateful 😊"

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All groups are free, so come along and see!

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All groups are free, so come along and see!

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Barnardo's Plymouth Social Media Pages -

Facebook - Barnardo's Plymouth | Facebook

Instagram - @barnardosplymouth

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Welcome to our Home Learning Information Page for Plymouth

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Welcome to our Home Learning Information Page for Plymouth

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Hi. I'm Kirsty. I am one of the team managers within the Barnardo's Family Hubs in Plymouth. I oversee the delivery of Home Learning and SEN support.

A fact about me:

My favourite thing to do is finding new walks with my children and Chihuahua called Teddy!

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Hi. My name is Kim. I am a senior project worker. I oversee the delivery of Home Learning and SEND support. I also train other professionals in the city to deliver PEEP learning together courses.

A fact about me:

At home we have a cat called Tigger, a dog called Molly, a leopard gecko called Coco, 2 tortoises called Rocky and Sheldon and a Californian corn snake called Scaley.

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Hi. My name is Charlotte. I am one of the Home Learning Co-ordinators in Plymouth.

A fact about me:

I love going to the beach. You can often find me cold water dipping in the middle of winter

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Hi. My name is Abbie. I too am part of the home learning team in the role of Home Learning Co-ordinator.

A fact about me:

I have a dog called Nelly, she is a Jug. We love going on beach walks and hikes through the woods

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How are we delivering Home Learning Support in Plymouth?

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How are we delivering Home Learning Support in Plymouth?

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Plymouth have invested in the PEEP programme to support families with Home Learning

Click on the link to find out some more information on PEEP

parents | www.peeple.org.uk

We can deliver PEEP within groups and on a 1:1 basis in your home

We are currently training other professionals such as nursery and school staff, health visitors and other family hub staff to! Watch this space! 👀

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Peep is for parents and carers with children from birth to five. We share ideas and activities that support your child's learning and development in everyday life - talking, singing, sharing books and playing together.

You and your child can make friends and have fun, while finding out how the things they do and learn now will help them make the most of school.

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What do PEEP learning together programmes cover?

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What do PEEP learning together programmes cover?

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PEEP use the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum as the basis for their programme - the same as what will be used if your child goes to nursery, pre-school or in Foundation at school.

PEEP has easy and simple play ideas to support your child in every one of these areas!

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5 things you will find at a PEEP group (poster)

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5 things you will find at a PEEP group (poster)

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Hi, My name is Katie and I am part of the home learning team. I am also the creche lead, ensuring the creche's we deliver to children whilst parents attend our courses are a safe and happy learning environment.

A fact about me:

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Hi. My name is PEEP the Parrot. I am the home learning mascot. 🦜

You may see me pop up in PEEP learning together groups across the city!

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Imagination Library Plymouth Launch Flyer

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Free books for your child every month until their 5th birthday! SIGN UP TODAY!

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Free books for your child every month until their 5th birthday! SIGN UP TODAY!

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The Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has come to Plymouth. If your child is aged 2-5 and you live in any of the areas mentioned in the poster above, it take 1 minute to sign up and your child will receive a FREE book in the post every month until their 5th birthday. Scan the QR code today!

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Imagination Library Plymouth Launch Flyer

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How play supports the home learning environment

Children play in many different ways depending on their interests and age/developmental stage. The different types of play often overlap, and children switch between them randomly and rapidly as they explore and try out new ideas, feelings and relationships through their play.

Research shows that the early years are crucial for brain development (though it's never too late to make a difference, so never give up!). Opportunities to explore and discover through play help with this process. Positive and supportive attachments between children and their parent/carer help them to feel confident in exploring and making choices.

When parents/carers observe their children playing, they discover what their children are interested in. Providing play opportunities that reflect these will encourage children to engage with activities and build their concentration. Being alongside children, so they can see that their parents/carers are interested, will also encourage children to stay focused. Children who are able to explore freely, can use their senses to discover how natural and everyday objects look, sound, feel, smell and taste, what the objects do, and how they can play with them. Babies will learn that there is no right or wrong way to play with things. They gradually learn that some things work and some don’t!

Coping with strong emotions resulting from success or challenges can be difficult, especially for young children. Play can be serious or fun, and it allows babies and children to find out about themselves and their world. Play should provide a safe opportunity to practise for life.

Peep Learning Together Programme sessions are play-based, with lots of ideas for activities that parents/carers and their children can do together which are fun as well as supporting learning and relationship-building.

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How songs and rhymes support the home learning environment

Singing and using rhymes are great ways for parents and carers to share and explore language with their babies and young children. Research shows that from birth babies are ready and able to communicate with and mimic other people. Singing together supports this. Becoming familiar with the sounds and rhymes in songs’ words and phrases is an important part of language development and (later) of learning to read.

When singing near their baby, parents usually have a softer, more emotional tone, sing more slowly, and leave pauses to see what the baby will do in response. Research shows that when parents/carers sing to them, the baby will often be attentive and engaged, listening with more alert concentration than to the spoken word. Singing and chanting songs and rhymes can draw people together as well as encouraging them to be expressive individuals. Letting children choose songs to sing helps to build positive self-esteem.

Music underpins all of the Peep Learning Together Programme strands. In Peep sessions we sing familiar and new songs. Parents and carers sometimes need support and reassurance to sing with their babies and children, especially in group situations. Many of us (including practitioners) feel embarrassed singing in public, especially if we think that we're not very tuneful. Understanding that babies and children (or others in the group!) don't mind how tuneful we are - just as we're not put off by other people's singing - but that it's great fun, can make a difference.

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How conversation supports the home learning environment

Babies try hard to communicate, and they need recognition of their efforts. Parents and carers are often best placed to show this, as they usually understand their baby’s ‘speech’ long before others are able to do so. Babies and young children also need opportunities to hear sounds clearly, and it can help not to have background noises (such as television) some of the time. Babies and young children need to hear lots of language to build up a bank of words and meanings before they start to talk.

Research tells us that children’s language development is really important to how well they do, at school and beyond.  For example, we know that children’s language development at age two predicts their performance on school entry, and that children's vocabulary at age five is a key predictor of reading ability, mental health and employment challenges as an adult. However, research also tells us that the communication environment at home (the quantity and quality of everyday conversation) is a better predictor of early language than a child’s social background (Law et al, 2009).

Children who learn more than one language will benefit from hearing their ‘mother tongue’ because this is bound up with cultural identity and sense of belonging. Once this is established children are able to pick up other languages more readily.

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How sharing books and stories supports the home learning environment

Sharing books and stories provides opportunities to:

be together

recognise and value how children engage with the story or pictures

look and talk together about what characters are doing and feeling

explore emotions and feelings, and encourage empathy

enhance imagination and creativity

extend children’s vocabulary and language, including story language (e.g. ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff…’ ‘And the wild things roared their terrible roars…’)

show how books work by turning pages, pointing to words, using pictures

develop a life-long love of books and reading

Books include all types of reading materials – catalogues, board books, picture books, electronic books etc. Books and stories are a key element of the Learning Together programme and are an integral part of every session.

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Please follow our 2026 Lets Get Chatting campaign for top tips for supporting your child's language development

Let's Get Chatting Plymouth 2026

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Peep social media pages - all @PeepleCentre -  Facebook ~  Instagram  ~  Twitter

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Website link

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Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child's language skills. Explore our simple activities and play ideas and find out about babies and toddlers' amazing early development.

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Children’s language development and parenting advice - BBC Tiny Happy People

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A chatty child is a happy child, so Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child’s communication skills through simple interaction and play.

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Website

Facebook

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Words for Life | National Literacy Trust | Words for Life

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Words for Life | National Literacy Trust

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Activities and support for parents, children and young people to improve language, literacy and communication skills from home.

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Bookstart for families | BookTrust

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Do you work with children aged 0-5?

Visit our Bookstart for practitioners section for tailored information, guidance and resources to help you deliver our flagship early years programme.
Explore Bookstart for practitioners

Our themed booklists are full of brilliant book ideas for little ones. Just print them out or jot them down and see what you can pick up at your local library.

Sign up for our newsletter

Stay up to date with BookTrust by signing up to one of our newsletters and receiving great articles, competitions and updates straight to your inbox.

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Visit our Bookstart for practitioners section for tailored information, guidance and resources to help you deliver our flagship early years programme. Explore Bookstart for practitioners Our themed booklists are full of brilliant book ideas for little ones. Just print them out or jot them down and see what you can pick up at your local library.

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Children & Young People | Livewell Southwest

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Feel free to drop into a group, call, or visit your local Family Hub to find out more information.

Contact details for all Family hubs are to the left in our current 'Timetable' ⬅️

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We run a range of Peep learning together groups as well as offering it on a 1:1 basis in your home

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We run a range of Peep learning together groups as well as offering it on a 1:1 basis in your home

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Some of the Peep groups we have run so far are:

School readiness - preparing you and your child for starting school

Talk boost/Communication (ELIM) - strong focus on speech and language. Usually but not always, following an ELIM language assessment from your health visitor.

Multicultural - for families where English is an additional language

Baby - for younger babies and their carers

Generic group - covering a little of each topic based on the children's needs who are attending

Male carers/Outdoor Peep

SEND Peep

All of our groups follow the Peep ethos. We also deliver a 'Peep corner' in every Chatterbox!

We are keen to deliver Peep within schools and nurseries!

Please read on below for our current Peep groups - these will be updated regularly

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There was three bears. Daddy bear, mummy bear and baby bear. Where did they go for a walk?

To the forest.

They went to the forest. Yeah.

What was the name of the little girl that went into the house?

Goldilocks.

Goldilocks, that's right. Who ate their porridge?

Goldilocks!

Goldilocks. Whose porridge did she eat?

All baby bear's.

All baby bear's!

If Goldilocks ate your porridge, what would you be?

Sad.

You'd be sad? You'd have no porridge to...Eat! Oh no! And what did Goldilocks say?

Mmmm...

Can you rub your tummy?

Mmmm...Mmmm...

How many chairs did she see?

One, two, three.

That's good, three. What did she do?

She broke the chairs.

Then what happened?

"Someone's been sitting on my chair..." "and someone's been sitting on my chair..." "and someone's been sitting on my chair and it broke!"

How did that make baby bear feel?

A little bit sad.

Yeah...

She was mad there.

Oh she's mad, is she?

Yeah, there. Why is she mad?

She opened one eye and then the other.

Yeah, they woke her up. Didn't they?

Yeah.

Yeah. She leapt out.

She leapt out. Can you remember what happened then?

She ran out of the house.

She did. Because she was scared.

Who do you think she was scared of the most?

Daddy bear!

Daddy bear? After that, Goldilocks never...ate porridge again! Well done!

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Retelling a story with preschoolers - Activity for 3 year olds

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Retelling a story is a really important skill for children to develop before they go to school. It involves your child identifying the important parts of a story, thinking about them and telling you what has happened. You can help them practise this skill from an early age with our easy and fun activity.

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Memory Game - Words for Life & Start for Life

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Everyday play with free, everyday things

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Everyday play with free, everyday things

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Have you ever found that your child is more interested in the box that a toy came in, than the toy itself?  It’s a common theme! When we think of toys for children to play with, we often think of shop-bought toys that ‘do’ something, but young children have an inborn curiosity which means that exploring everyday objects is just as exciting to them.

Play develops important life skills like talking and listening, and social skills including learning to share and take turns, as well as confidence. Playing with our children is a fantastic investment of our time as parents, as it also helps deepen bonds and feelings of security.

Children love exploratory play, experimenting with physical objects from the world around them, and when we harness this curiosity together, it might surprise you what fun you can have. Below is a list of some everyday objects and ideas for how they can be used in play - all these things are free or can often be found around the home. If you don’t have the suggested item just swap it for something you do have. The most important thing is having fun!

Play ideas for everyday objects:

Towel: den, trampoline for bouncing soft toys up and down, picnic blanket for a teddy bears picnic, duvet for sleepy dolly, cape for a superhero, peekaboo, tug of war.

Plastic milk carton: watering can (make holes in the lid), shaker, measuring jug for water play/ bath time, plant pot (cut the top half off), house for small world play (cut a door in the side)

Colander: drum, water play, story prop (makes a great space helmet!), post box for dry spaghetti developing small finger movements (fine motor skills).

Kitchen rolls or toilet rolls: telescope or binoculars (stick two together), car park for miniature cars, megaphone (sorry parents!), tunnel, bandage for teddy’s sore arm.

Egg carton: treasure chest, seedling planter, colour sorter, paint tray, building blocks.

Leaves: leaf rubbings, sensory play (crunching), colour sorting, small world hide and seek, paint stencil, outdoor pictures and nature art.

Laundry basket or big box: goal for paired up socks, vehicle (racing car, speed boat, carriage), ball pit, reading nook (add favourite books and blankets for extra cosiness).

nursery rhyme props:

Grand Old Duke of York: bang on a pan or empty box with a spoon (or hands) for the marching beat

Row, Row, Row Your Boat: sit opposite your child and use a scarf or a towel to pull each other back and forth

Zoom, Zoom Zoom, We're Going to the Moon: a colander on the head makes for a great intergalactic helmet!

London Bridge is Falling Down: build with cushions, egg boxes or empty margarine tubs…and enjoy knocking them down!

Whilst exploring these objects, your child will also be developing their early science and maths thinking and skills, even before they have the words to describe what they’re doing. It’s fascinating! It’s always worth keeping in mind, this year more than ever, that children don’t care how much toys cost, it’s your love and attention that mean the most to them.

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"It was a wonderful experience for both my daughter and myself."

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Top tips for building you child's independence 

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Top tips for building you child's independence 

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Alongside delivering Peep in Step by Step, Baby and Me, and Chatterbox groups, we have Peep programmes running through the summer term:

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Alongside delivering Peep in Step by Step, Baby and Me, and Chatterbox groups, we have Peep programmes running through the summer term:

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Come along and see us at our FREE play in the parks over the summer holiday. Lots of fun activities including face painting, bouncy castle so much more!

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Simple summer activities can make a big difference to children's confidence, independence and school readiness. 

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Simple summer activities can make a big difference to children's confidence, independence and school readiness. 

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School readiness is always a hot topic at this time of year,

But what does being 'school ready' actually mean? A few years ago Ofsted (who inspect schools and children's services in England) released a list of skills that would be helpful for children to have before starting school -  and parents may be surprised to learn that phonics, writing and maths are not on the list.

Here are some of the skills that are useful to practise with your child in everyday life:

I can sit still and listen

Schools don't expect children to sit still and listen for the whole day - that's hard even for grown ups - but developing listening skills is essential to communication, play, keeping safe and developing thinking and concentration skills. Model good listening with your child, chat with them and really listen to their responses. In order to become a good listener, children need to know what it feels like to be listened to.

I am aware of other children

Relationships with the people around us are so important and children learn a lot about appropriate behaviour and 'rules' which can help them get on with others. Children learn from everyone! Watch your child next time they play with others and talk to them about how they interact with their friends. Relationships are at the heart of leaning, whether it's in the playground or in the classroom.

I can talk in sentences and I can speak to an adult to ask for help

Talking helps children to develop their thinking and builds confidence - children get better at it when they have somebody who joins in, talks, listens and tries to understand. This confidence will seep into other areas: asking for help, communicating with friends and expanding language.

I am potty trained and can go to the toilet

Everyday activities encourage children to learn how to look after themselves. Routines such as using the toilet, wiping, flushing, pulling pants up and washing hands is a sequence which can be repeated again and again. This in turn grows independence, and will save you - and school staff - a lot of time in the bathroom. If there is a part of the sequence that a child is struggling with, such as remembering to flush, it's worth breaking the routine down and focusing efforts on helping them master that particular part.

I can recognise my own name

Names are a core part of our identity and using children's names in a positive way builds confidence and self esteem. Help children to recognise their own name by celebrating it!  Make name placemats for dinner or write it in bubble writing and get them to decorate it - the added bonus is that having fun together with your child's name shows them that they are important.

I can open and enjoy a book

Have you ever had to read your child's favourite book over and over again? This familiarity with language, characters and pictures breeds confidence and encourages children to become 'readers' themselves. Knowing what happens next, joining in with the re-telling (made up or from memory, rather than reading the text themselves) and being able to name familiar things in pictures gives children a real sense of achievement. It's an important building block in learning to read and will spur them on to open, and enjoy, new books as well as old favourites.

I can understand the word 'No' and the borders it sets for behaviour, and I understand the word 'stop' and that such a phrase might be used to prevent danger

Children sometimes struggle to put into words what they are feeling, so their feelings come out in their behaviour. Support and encouragement is important, as is staying safe. Talk to your child about how words such as 'stop' may be used to keep them out of danger - explore songs and stories which will communicate this in a positive way.

I can take off my own coat  and I can put on my own shoes

Life skills such as taking off a coat and putting on shoes are often the first big steps towards independence for young children. We do these everyday tasks without thinking but children need us to break it down into chunks for them to be able to grasp them. Time and patience are needed here, and maybe a little bit of fun too. Have you ever seen the coat flip? Look it up, it's genius!

Making these skills a part of daily life will help with the transition into school, and the familiarity of these tasks will underpin confidence at the start of the school journey.

If your child isn't at this stage yet, do not worry - teaching and support staff will be there to encourage and help all children.