Which pics will I need... 'The Tale of Starting School'

It’s that time of the year when children start to have their settling-in sessions at school and their first taster of what awaits them in September.

If you haven’t begun to take and print your pictures for your copy of ‘The Tale of Starting School,’ then now is a great time to get started.

To make it even easier to complete your 'The Tale of Starting School', we have put together a list of the pictures you’ll need to fill it in. We have divided it up to show you which pictures you can take at home and which ones you’ll need to take at school.

If you miss out on taking any of the pictures, remember that you might be able find images on your school’s website. Or perhaps if you know someone in the same class you can try sharing pictures with them.

Our other tip would be to ask your class teacher if they might be able to take the pictures for you and email them to you. We know of one amazing school that has made their own sheet of pictures to share with parents specifically to fill in our books!

Click Here to Download a copy of the list to print.

Pictures to Take at School:

• 1 x School Building
• 1 x Classroom Door
• 1 x Picture of their Teacher
• 1 x Picture of the Teaching Assistant
• 2 x pictures of other important members of staff e.g. Headteacher, Individual Needs Assistant...
• 8 x classroom pictures; We have provided ideas of the different areas you might find but they are merely suggestions
• 1 x Cloakroom or peg area; You can take a general picture of the pegs already labelled with other children's names on them or you might like to wait until September when your child will have their own one. You could always use photograph corner stickers and swap the picture from one to the other when they start
• 1 x Dining Room/Lunch area
• 2 x Playground
• 1 x Toilets

Pictures to Take at Home:

• 1 x Your Child
• 1 x School Logo
• 2 x School Uniform; They can be wearing it or just a picture. There is no right way. Remember that your child can colour in the clothes on the washing line on this page to match their uniform too.
• 1 x Bookbag/School Bag
• 3 x People who will take and collect your child to and from school
• 4 x Extra-Curricular activities i.e. Breakfast Club/After School Club/Sports. You can include ones at school or separate to school. Many children won’t do clubs in their first term so you can come back to this page when they start one.
• 4 x Pictures of friends they already know who are also starting at their new school
• 3 x Obligatory standing outside your front door ‘First Day of School Pictures’!

Try and keep in mind that the idea is that, ‘The Tale of Starting School,’ is designed to be a personalised Tale so that it helps each individual child. Therefore there is no right or wrong way to complete it- use it to help your child prepare for their unique experience.

*To respect other’s privacy, please ensure that you have permission from the school to take photographs. Please also ensure that you have permission for any other children to be in a photograph too.