The Transition to School Statement is optional in NSW. It is recommended that early childhood education and care services complete a statement for children starting school the following year. The information in the statement summarises a child’s strengths, interests and approaches to learning in their year prior to school. It assists primary school teachers to better understand a child and how best to support their transition from early childhood education to school.

The new Transition to School Digital Statement was made available to a small number of services during a pilot last year. Services participating in the pilot were able to choose whether to use the new digital statement or the existing paper-based Transition to School Statement.

Will the Transition to School Digital Statement be available in 2021?

We will be using the valuable feedback provided during the pilot and the outcomes of that pilot to improve the solution before it is made available to more NSW services this year.

Will the Transition to School Digital Statement change after the pilot?

We are analysing the feedback received from the 2020 pilot and we may make changes to the Transition to School Digital Statement based on this. If you or your service would like to provide further feedback or be involved in a future pilot, please register your interest.

We are excited for what’s to come, and look forward to bringing you a product that meets the needs of your service.

I used the new Transition to School Digital Statement during the pilot. What happened with the digital statements I created?

All Transition to School Digital Statements completed during the pilot were delivered to primary schools in readiness for Week 1 of Term 1, 2021 to support children commencing kindergarten.

Here you'll find information for NSW public schools who received the new Transition to School Digital Statements.

What is the Transition to School Statement?

The Transition to School Statement was developed in partnership with teachers, educators and families and provides valuable information about individual children, aimed to support and enhance their transition to school.

The Transition to School Statement is completed by a child’s early childhood educator and sent to the child’s prospective primary school.

The information in the statement records the child’s interests, strengths and preferred ways of learning. This information can assist kindergarten teachers to get to know the children entering their classrooms, plan appropriate learning and teaching programs and provide an opportunity for children, their families and teaching staff to support a child’s successful transition to school.

What is the Transition to School Digital Statement?

In 2020, the Department developed a digital version of the Transition to School Statement and piloted the new version with a small set of early childhood education services, and schools linked to these early childhood services.

For children commencing school in 2021, the use of a digital statement offered a new way to help them connect into their new school community.

What is the change for schools receiving emails as part of the pilot?

Your school may have received Transition to School Statements in a new format for your 2021 cohort. If an early childhood education service has completed statements using the new Transition to School Digital Statement portal for children in your 2021 cohort, they will have been sent to your school via password-protected email.

Please pass on the Transition to School Digital Statements files to the relevant Kindergarten Orientation Coordinator or relevant school staff member.

The information in the Transition to School Digital Statement can assist Kindergarten teachers to get to know the children entering their classrooms, plan appropriate learning and teaching programs and provide an opportunity for children, their families and teaching staff to support a child’s successful transition to school.

Teachers can use the Educators Guide to the Transition to School Statement NSW (PDF, 256KB) to interpret the information provided by early childhood education services.

Why did my school not receive an email?

Schools that did not receive an email did not have any linked early childhood education services take part in the initial pilot using the new Transition to School Digital Statement for their 2021 Kindergarten cohort.

Why might I still receive different versions of the Transition to School Statement?

As the Transition to School Digital Statement is still in pilot phase, your school may continue to receive the paper-based version of the Transition to School Statement.

I’ve received Transition to School Statements for students that are not enrolled at my school.

Parents indicated the school their child would be attending in 2021, and we have used this information to distribute digital statements to those NSW public schools.

You do not need to forward the statement to a different school. Please retain the statement in the event the child’s parent is yet to complete the school enrolment process. If the child does not attend your school, please delete the statement.

Where can I provide feedback on the process?

We would love your feedback on the way in which schools are receiving Transition to School Statements so we can improve the process for NSW primary schools once this digital version is made available to all NSW early childhood education services.

Please email ecec.transitions@det.nsw.edu.au with your feedback.