What is School Readiness Programme (P1 Preparatory Classes)?
The School Readiness Programme is a personalised, comprehensive, and empowering initiative designed to set children with diverse needs on a path to success in formal education, equipping them a strong foundation in their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development to prepare them for their journey in regular schools. Our programme is thoughtfully structured to nurture young minds, build their confidence, and enjoy learning through varied activities, learning tools and conducive spaces.
We have a team of qualified Educational Specialists, Speech, and Occupational Therapists to support children with developmental needs in Singapore. We offer a 3 or 5-day intensive programme that taps on all areas of learning and development.
We provide a schedule of activities that lays the foundation for the demands of formal schooling and its curriculum. This programme includes subjects such as:
- Reading & Phonics
- English Language & Grammar
- Mathematics
- Social Thinking
More importantly, we focus on the following:
- Independence Skills – cultivate skills applicable in both home and school setting.
- Social and Emotional Self – helping the child to socialize and cooperate with their peers and adults and being able to identify and communicate their feelings.
- Daily Routines – help children gain emotional stability, essential to good behaviour and attention span.
- Being Respectful – instilling values of self-respect and respect for others.
Our School Readiness Reading Programme is designed to ignite your journey toward becoming an active learner. Most children can learn effectively through hands-on experiences, and it helps them boost their confidence together with their growing ability. Our P1 Preparatory Programme places a special emphasis on cultivating a positive classroom behavior and discipline in your child, ensuring they can effectively manage their tasks within the allotted timeframes. This is to sufficiently prepare your child for the transition to P1, the start of formal schooling as all of these will be expected of them and are fundamental to success in primary school.
What Our School Readiness Programme Encompasses
At Bridging the Gap, our School Readiness Reading Programme promotes the following:
1. Healthy Body and Mind:
- We encourage active and healthy living for our children.
- Our programme includes Brain Gym and Sensory Integrated Gym classes to develop gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and self-help skills.
2. Thinking Skills:
All areas of academic skills are covered at our School Readiness Reading Programme:
- Literacy – encompassing various aspects, including reading, writing, listening, using words in conversations, and utilizing digital technologies.
- Numeracy
- Language
- Recognizing Colours and Shapes
3. Self-Awareness:
- Helping your child understand themselves as an individual.
- Teaching them how to express their feelings and emotions.
We prioritize creating a welcoming environment where children feel a strong sense of belonging to the school, their friends, and teachers. This also includes fostering care, empathy, and respect for diversity, building confidence, and instilling a sense of community.
What is the P1 Preparatory Class & School Readiness Programme Process? What Steps are Involved?
1. Registration / Parent Interview:
- Before the assessment you will be asked to fill up a form to provide information of your child’s developmental history and your concerns about your child.
- The therapist will also ask you for further information.
2. Initial Consultation / Assessment:
- Our special educator will assess your child’s strengths and weaknesses combining the use of standardised assessment tools with clinical observation.
- This assessment serves as a baseline for setting intervention goals.
- With accurate information on hand, our therapists can then proceed to develop an individually customized intervention plan with concrete goals.
3. Goal Setting:
- Based on the assessment, the educational therapist will set specific goals for your child’s therapy sessions.
- For younger children, we use play-based strategies, but there will also be specific exercises targeted for focus and specific areas in school and at home.
- We’ll explain these goals to parents and provide weekly homework and updates from the therapist.
How Does Our School Readiness Programme & P1 Preparatory Class Benefit Your Child?
School Readiness Programme builds a solid foundation for later learning which will help your child to succeed not just academically but holistically. Beyond that, it develops confidence, independence skills, and the emotional stability children need through the promotion of healthy behaviour. Without these basic skills already established upon entry to primary school, children can very quickly find themselves playing ‘catch up’ compared to their peers that are advancing more quickly.
It teaches children to respect themselves as well as those around them and encourages them to socialise with their peers and adults. It helps set the foundations that will allow your child to make friends and build positive relationships throughout their school years and into adulthood.
A school readiness programme allows children to build on the skills they need to distinguish and communicate their feelings in a positive and effective way, which will become vital throughout their life.
Unlocking Early Literacy Success with Our Reading Programme in Singapore
At Bridging the Gap, our School Readiness Reading Programme is designed to help children build a strong foundation in all areas of learning and become confident readers. The Reading Programme is all about building strong reading skills in a fun way. Through exciting activities and interactive lessons, we make sure children are ready for school and have the reading skills they need so succeed both academically and holistically.
What are the Signs to Look Out for in a Child That May Require Joining Our P1 Preparatory Classes & Programme?
- Get easily frustrated on difficult tasks
- Struggle to follow instructions in daily activities.
- Needed maximum supports to do self-help tasks, such as dressing up, eating, etc
- Not yet be toilet trained
- Struggle to attend to tasks as compared to their peers
- Unable to share, take turns and shift with changing rules of a game in play
- Have poor receptive and/or expressive language skills
- Have difficulty understanding consequences of their behaviours
- Not be interested in looking at books and/or doing sit down activities
- Not interact well with their peers either in or out of the classroom
- Have limited play skills and can’t change their play to incorporate new play items or people
- Resistant to new activities and/or being guided about how to develop new skills.
- Processing different sensory inputs from the environment (e.g., noise, touch)
- Managing stress, emotional regulation with family
- Difficulty coping with lessons in school
Parent Testimonials
My family is thankful to the team at Bridging the Gap for supporting my son in adjusting to the primary school environment. He was initially discouraged in Primary 1 because he could not cope with the difference in expectations as well as his own sensory and communication issues. We are glad to see our son transitioning to independence and much happier in his school environment.
Ryan’s Parents
My daughter is coping with mainstream schoolwork and is able to understand the social demands on her, thanks to the Bridging the Gap team. Their dedication is evident as they went the extra mile to meet with my child’s teachers and sat in during lessons to try and fully understand how my daughter was fairing in class. We hope to see many years more of collaboration with this team.
Arya’s Parents
I am delighted to see Bridging the Gap team always giving more than we expect. The school’s School Readiness Programme is truly beneficial to my daughter and to her mainstream school Teachers.
T. K. X.’s Parents
We had signed up for the School Readiness Program for our daughter, Melody. She just started P1 in the mainstream.
The Teachers are firm and yet at the same time encouraging. We noticed that Melody writes better under the supervision of her assigned teacher. Her teacher also updates us regularly on her behaviour and progress in the class.
Melody enjoys attending her class on Saturdays and in fact looks forward to it.
Melody’s Parents
My child has been with BTG for 6 months and has benefitted from the programme there. She made great strides in writing, attention, and social communication skills. The teachers are friendly, and my child enjoys her sessions there. Founder of BTG Janice has also always been approachable and helpful when I seek her advice. Thank you BTG and team. 🙂
Magdalene Parents
Ready for public primary school
My son was studying in Bridging The Gap for one and a half years for ST and social skills. The teachers here are very patient and they helped my son improve a lot.
They helped him to be ready for public primary school and also shared with parents the skills to support him. Really appreciated their support. A highly recommended place!
Mr & Mrs Zhu
Claire has been with Bridging the Gap for half a year. During this period of time, she has made much gains under the programme, in terms of her focus and in areas of academic skills. She has also improved in her recognition of sight words and reading ability, much to our amazement.
What makes Bridging the Gap special has got to be the team of dedicated teachers. The teachers are patient and engaging, which makes a key difference to the learning journey of a young child. Claire truly enjoys going to Bridging the Gap and I think this speaks volume when a child looks forward to attend lessons.
Claire has definitely benefited from the programme! I would recommend Bridging the Gap as it is a centre with a heart. Thank you Bridging the Gap!
Claire’s Parents