Transition to School
Starting school is a big milestone for children and their families. The transition between learning environments can be both challenging and exciting, and there are many different programs and activities that families, services and schools can draw on to support the transition process.
To support the transition to school, the department has updated the Transition to School Statement to make it more user friendly for educators and teachers.
The Transition to School Statement provides a snapshot of each child’s strengths, perspectives, and personality, and also gives them a voice in the process of meeting new people in the school environment. It helps link the Early Years Learning Framework to the Early Stage 1 Syllabus in kindergarten so that teachers can better understand each child’s learning, development and background.
The Educator’s Guide will assist educators in completing the Statement, and provides clear links for kindergarten teachers to understand and interpret the information provided.
There are lots of different ways for services to approach transition to school. In the videos below, three different services in NSW share their transition to school practices and experiences.
You can watch their stories here:
Some other resources for families include A Special Place, a children’s book about going to school, and Getting Ready For School which is a great source of important information for parents. ‘Let’s Go to School' is an activity book that children can do with their parents.
You can learn more about the literature and research done on Transition to School programs through a paper released by the department’s Centre for Educational Statistics & Evaluation.
Further research and suggestions on the transition to school are available through the t Commonwealth Department of Education’s Continuity of Learning resource.
For more information about primary schools in your area, visit the primary school finder
Please note you must have written authorisation from parents or carers of enrolled children before sharing information about them with schools.
