There’s something about the colder months. Temp dips, wet weather timetable sets in and we get super busy! It’s a great time to tick curriculum outcomes, children are more settled and cope better with the change in routine that incursions create.
We have seen our fair share of anxiousness when children are unsure about us coming in. What does it mean? Will they ask me to do something I don’t want to do? Will I be asked questions I don’t know the answers to? Will I be put with my friends or others I don’t like?
One of the best strategies we have come up many years ago was to provide a Social Story for all our preschool to year 2 incursions. This is supplied in the Booking Confirmation so that teachers can spend time preparing children for our arrival. It is such a smooth way to transition to the day and really does settle anxiety allowing children to be empowered with knowledge and the ability to make decisions for the duration we spend with them. It’s a huge win-win all round and a no brainer for any company going into preschools and schools working for short intense periods of time.
One of the nicest compliments we received about this is from a school teacher at year 1 level:
“I’ve just looked through the information about our upcoming incursion next term and wanted to send some feedback. The Social Story that was attached to the booking form is such a fabulous idea and will really benefit some of the students who are participating in the incursion. For the last 5 years part of my role is to oversee the incursions and excursions at our school and I have never seen another company do this. This is a real credit to your company that you are so mindful of the wide variety of students that participate in your sessions, and how you can make them feel safe and comfortable about taking part. We were blown away.”
