Process Essay: Moving From Nursery To School

Moving from nursery to school

Visiting the new setting before the transition is one of the most important steps to ensure a child feels a sense of continuity and relaxation before, during and after the move. This aids with transitions in the future as well. Careful planning is essential when preparing a child to move settings. Planning is usually broad but dependent on a child’s needs if they are, for example, more anxious or confused. A positive approach should always be taken when discussing what is happening to allow a child to talk about their feelings towards the move and to ask any questions if they feel it necessary. This allows the practitioner to address any concerns the child may have early on the reduce their anxiety or worry. Communicating with the parents about the worries a child has is important as they can then be addressed both in the setting and at home to make sure they are eradicated before the transition begins. Theories of attachment

John Bowlby: stated that a child is influenced mostly by their primary carer, usually the mother. He said

A 12-18-month-old was observed in seven different situations, including a child being alone, alone with a stranger, with both a stranger and parent ect, and Ainsworth came up with three main attachment styles from this: anxious avoidant – plays when parent leaves, avoids parent on return, can be comforted by stranger. Securely attached – plays less when parent leaves, comforted on return, acts differently around stranger and parent. Anxious-resistant – plays less, resists strangers attempt to comfort, wants contact on parents return but then gets frustrated. Ainsworth thought that a child’s behaviour was determined by their early attachment e.g. parents could predict their babies needs and babies used parents as a safe ‘base’ to return to. She found that 70% of children formed this type of