Starting school – your essential guide

Remember you're not the only parent feeling the way you do - the parents of your child's classmates feel the same!

Your child’s first day at school is a big milestone. Yes, your pre-schooler is no more - you’ve now got a school child on your hands! Starting school means a lot of changes for both you and your child. We’ve rounded up all the need-to-know info you should read before September arrives. Our tips and advice will have you both feeling prepared, so you can make the most of this exciting new stage in your child’s development.

• Preparing your child for school - what to do before school starts, how to help your child settle in on the first day, what happens after home time, plus solutions to common problems.

• Preparing your child for the school routine - from getting ready in the morning, to lunch and playtime, here’s a daily routine to start before September, so the school day feels more familiar to your child.

• The ABC of starting school - the key things you need to know about starting school, from questions parents should ask, to building your child’s confidence, making friends, using the school toilets, coping with head lice, and finding school shoes.

• Help your child make friends - how to help your child overcome common friendship-building hurdles and build their all-important social skills.

• Help your child cope with change - changes to routine can be stressful for a child, but here’s what you as a parent can do to help your child through big life events, such as starting nursery or school.

• Tips to survive your child’s first day at school - eight must-read tips that will help you and your child sail through the first school day.

• Getting to know your child’s new teacher - how to get the most from your relationship with your child’s school teacher.

• Everything you need to know about road safety for your child - whether your child will walk, ride or be driven to school, there’s road safety advice you need to teach them.

• Children's shoes - buying and fitting guide -an expert guide to ensure you get the best-fitting shoes for your child's growing feet.

• Healthy lunchbox recipes - easy, fun school lunch ideas and tips on packaging food and keeping it fresh for lunchtime.

• Guide to head lice and nits – one of the least fun things about being the parent of a school child! Here’s how to recognise if your child has them and how get rid of them.

• School-run mums – school isn’t all serious faces and worried, furrowed brows. Our fun guide will see you spotting classic parenting types with ease, and you might even find you fit one of the mummy stereotypes!

• 10 great bags - funky bags for children starting school.

• 10 fun lunchboxes - cool and quirky lunchboxes to make lunchtime fun.

• 10 top pencil cases - so super, you child might just remember not to leave them behind.

• School essentials - high street school uniforms - affordable uniforms from your high street faves, such as M&S, John Lewis and more.

• School essentials - supermarket school uniforms - bargain schoolwear from the big name supermarkets, such as Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

• School shoes for boys - five great pairs for boys off to school, which they can do up without help.

• School shoes for girls - five fab pairs for girls starting school, which they can do up and undone themselves.