Transition to School

As your child is getting ready for school, we are aware that there may be feelings of uncertainty and worry about how your child will cope with this big change. As you enrol your child for primary school you may have heard the phrase ‘transition to school’ and wonder what this means for your child.

Transitions are a time or process of change and already your child will have experienced many transitions in their life, the most significant transition being from home to nursery.

In order for your child to have settled well at nursery and be at a stage where they are happy and content to leave you, this transition would have had to have been tailored to suit your child’s individual needs. Carefully planned transitions and close working relationships with the parent and keyworker would have ensured a positive transition for your child at this time.

Developing Skills for a Positive Transition

It has been recognised that the skills the children will learn by having opportunities to visit a primary school environment are valuable. Every school environment has similarities such as the school bell, canteen, playground the layout of the classroom with desk and chairs, whiteboard and most importantly a teacher.

By having regular visits to a school environment, this will enable all children to become familiar with the routine of a school day. The children will become more confident and gain skills at these visits which they will transfer when they begin primary school in August.

We are fortunate enough to have St. Joseph’s Primary School on our doorstep and we have a positive working relationship with our colleagues at this school. In using this opportunity we have planned a transition programme where all pre school children will visit this school to develop skills that will support them in Primary 1.

Our Transition Plans

In August 2015 we began sessions for pre-school children and Primary 1 to learn together. This was done through Vygotsky Story Grammar sessions telling the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. This was hugely successful and the pre-school children developed many skills learning alongside positive role models from St. Joseph’s Primary School.

We will continue with the pre-school and Primary 1 children learning together Vygotsky Story Grammar sessions by moving onto ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’.

Visit to the Primary 1 Classroom

Each Wednesday groups of pre-school children will have the opportunity to visit the Primary 1 classroom. The focus for these visits will be Health & Wellbeing and how we manage our emotions when faced with change. The children will become familiar with the character emotions from the movie ‘Inside Out’ and through exploring these emotions we hope that the children will become equipped with the skills to ensure a positive transition.

The children will also have the opportunity to explore ‘playtime’ in the playground. This will encourage independence skills by putting on own jackets, collecting own play piece, responding to the school bell and most importantly developing our social skills with our friends.

Parental Involvement

Not only is it important for the children to feel safe, secure and confident in their new environment we also want parents, carers and family members to feel the same. We have worked alongside St. Joseph’s Primary School to organise learning sessions for pre-school children and their families. The focus for these learning sessions will be Numeracy & Maths and Literacy & English. We hope you can come along to be involved in these learning sessions with your child. These sessions will be hosted in St. Joseph’s Primary school at 1.30pm

Numeracy & Maths Learning Sessions

 Thursday 21st April 2016

Thursday 28th April 2016

Thursday 12th May 2016

 

Literacy & English Learning Sessions

Thursday 19th May 2016

Thursday 26th May 2016

Thursday 2nd June 2016

Building the Ambition (2014) will provide you with more information on effective transitions.