Areas that practitioners should consider:

• The transition experience is unique to each child.
• Building relationships, establishing expectations and routines.
• Existing relationships can be used to support the transition.
• Respect and value the child’s culture, home language, background and personal experiences.
• The everyday transitions which may interrupt play opportunities within the day.
• The routines, both established and new ones.
• The learning environment and experiences Fluidity of Early Level: Best Practice in Primary 1.
• Preparation for transition.
• Ethos, Vision, Values and Aims.
• Transition policy and procedure.
• Regular Self-Evaluation.
• Shared professional responsibility for continuity of learning, care, support and challenge, and sharing key information appropriately and in good time.

 

Ways we can do this:

Ideas to support practitioners:  The transition experience is unique to each child.  Involve the child, their family and key adults in their life.  Strong relationships between the child, home, ELC and primary school should be encouraged, with an ethos of openness and trust.  Identify what is important to support each child’s learning, social and emotional wellbeing.

Be responsive to the child’s individual needs through observing, listening, and responding; this information is recorded in the child’s personal plan.

Who are the significant adults in the child’s life, and how can they offer support and consistent care during the transition?  Are they responsive and nurturing?  e.g. key workers, parents, siblings, friends.

Regular meetings with families (face to face or virtually).  Keep in contact, reassure and engage through text messages, emails, newsletters, graffiti walls, notice boards, secure online platforms (closed Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online learning journals, website) both paper and online and translated to promote equity.

Building relationships, establishing expectations and routines:  Establishing new attachments will support the development of self-esteem, independence, and a positive attitude to their new environment.

Every day, the child should be greeted by the same person (key practitioner) to build new attachments and trust and encourage them to explore their new environment.

The key worker should be responsive to their needs, likes, dislikes and support them to develop positive attachments and feel more secure.

Key workers should be physically and emotionally available.

Nurturing approach

Existing relationships can be used to support the transition:  Create opportunities to educate parents on playful learning in P1, e.g. information evening, photos, open days, virtual tours of the environment (Showbie), sharing reasons why P1 may appear less structured and formal than their own school experience.

Within ELC, meaningful and purposeful involvement could be continued through:

• Parent volunteer rotas to help and support daily routines and work in partnership
• Community fundraising or events
• Parent Board of Trustees (P&V)
• PTA (School), family learning days, and inclusive events to mark developmental milestones, e.g. graduation, sports day, birthdays.

Respect and value the child’s culture, home language, background and personal experiences:  Translate policy, procedure and transitional stories.

In personal plans, record how the needs of the child and their family are supported.

Families could be encouraged to share their culture and traditions with the setting throughout the year, e.g. Diwali, Eid, Chinese New Year.

Consider the impact of COVID-19 (job loss, bereavement, and family breakdown) and periods of lockdown on families and how you can support them.

Listen to Edinburgh Early Years Realising the Ambition podcasts episodes 1-6. 

Practitioners need to consider the everyday transitions which may interrupt play opportunities within the day:  The children need to have an extended amount of uninterrupted play.  This is required to develop skills, understanding and learning linked to their individual interests and needs.  This must be thought through in advance of the children arriving in the setting/school by practitioners (Realising the Ambition, Education Scotland, 2020, p. 90).

Consider the routine and how these changes could affect the child (nappy changing, drop off and pick-ups, mealtimes, moving between rooms/building, nap times, significant adults changing etc.) 

Established routines should be consistent across settings to support independence and build resilience and self-esteem.

New routines should be practiced and consistent.  Introduce a new routine in a familiar, secure or repetitive way using visual timetables, transition projects, small group discussions, transitional toys and books, e.g. blankets or teddies, to encourage a connection with their new environment and the security of home/ELC.  This could be planned and supported in personal care plans shared with all practitioners for continuity of care and support.  Children need time to settle into a new environment and build new relationships.

Learning environment and experiences:  The learning environment should feel and look similar to ensure a child has a fluid and successful transition from ELC to P1.  The experiences should build on previous knowledge and skills, and the practitioner should facilitate a balance of intentional and responsive learning.  The P1 classrooms should be developmentally appropriate, and an understanding of play pedagogy should be evident.

Allow children the maximum time for uninterrupted play throughout the day and over the “working” week.

Realising the Ambition thinks about a child’s learning environment as the totality of interactions, experiences and the learning space; practitioners should think about…

• How do the spaces invite children in?
• Is there continuous provision?
• Does the space reflect a nurturing and homelike environment to help children transition from their homes?  e.g. real crockery at snack time, light-filled rooms, cosy spaces, mood lighting, sofas, comfy chairs, calming music.
• How can familiar areas of the ELC environment be replicated in P1 and support feelings of security?  For example, cosy spaces, sofas, continuous provision, block play.
• Do the children feel safe and secure?  e.g. display family photographs, familiar toys and objects from home to support engagement in play and conversation.  Is there a cosy or quiet, safe space to encourage this?
• Is there consistency in care and language, positive praise and reassurance?

Environments and spaces should reflect the culture, skills, interests and needs of each child and family, e.g. ask families to complete “All About Me” booklets which include the child’s likes/dislikes, favourite stories, toys, tv programmes, their family pets, significant loved ones, cultural celebrations, important dates (birthdays) important life events (birth of a sibling).

The new environment could be planned using the booklet and include family photos, small world (mini me’s) with photos of old and new friends, favourite books placed in the book corner or stories read by practitioners on iPads.  Using this information to inform the learning environment will also help reassure parents that communication with the setting is a two-way process.  Their views and the information they provide will be appreciated, respected, and used to ultimately improve outcomes for their child.

Plan opportunities for siblings to play together and to keep friendship groups together.

Plan regular child-centred opportunities to talk and play, that share and discuss their experience, anxieties and what they are looking forward to, e.g. circle and gather times, 1:1 play; shared storytime, songs and rhymes on virtual platforms or recorded via MS Teams, sharing of book lists that explain starting school transitions and changes (Scottish Book Trust, 2021)

Consider transitioning between rooms when it is developmentally appropriate for the child rather than when a birthday is celebrated or towards the end of the term.

Preparation for transition:  Where possible, the transitions process between home, ELC and school should begin in the months leading up to the child’s start.  Children and new key workers/teachers should meet.   Examples of activities that could prepare a child for their new room or school include:

• Post a letter or card to the child, welcoming them to the school.  You could have an older child in school writing and sending this.  You could ask the child to send something back to you.
• Ask parents to complete an “All about me” booklet with their child.
• Encourage parents to start a routine at home; this helps children feel safe, secure and looked after, especially during difficult or stressful times.  For example, they could walk, cycle or drive their journey to school in preparation.
• Talk to parents about resilience, a confident, competent child with good emotional support from parents will be more resilient in this new situation.  
• Memory boxes can be made by children with their families and filled with reminders of home.
• Bedtime story boxes or story sacks could be shared between home and ELC or school.
• Transitional visits can be planned, e.g. attending an assembly with a key worker or carer, staying and playing with a new teacher or key worker.
• Virtual tours to familiarise children starting nursery and school with settings and classrooms and make links with past experiences.  These should be filmed at child height with child accessible commentary that builds in thinking and reflecting time for the child viewing the playroom, classroom or outdoor spaces.  The tour should accurately represent the new environment.  This could include typical resources and play opportunities, toilets, cloakrooms, smiling practitioners, creating familiarity when new children arrive.  Encourage families and key workers to watch and discuss together.

Supporting young children at points of transition – Wakelet @ wyndfordnursery)

• Create a social story about starting school.
• There should be strong transition links between ELC and school.  For example, the P1 teacher should be visible in the ELC or visit and get to know the children by name.  The children should know the teacher by sight and name.  Setting practitioners could visit after transition or record stories for use in P1.

Supporting a Child’s Transition to Primary School – Better Start

Transition projects started in ELC and continued in P1

The Lighthouse Keeper Joint Transition Project, Education Scotland Hub, 2021

Ethos, vision, value and aims:  Develop a shared vision, values and aims with an open ethos where families feel safe sharing information and feeling part of the community.  It is important to be consistent within ELC and across settings and schools, e.g.

• Welcoming atmosphere 
• An open-door policy
• Stay and play sessions
• Informal conversations at drop off and pick up
• Build trusting relationships

Transition policy and procedure:  The setting should have an inclusive policy that is reviewed annually and shared with all stakeholders.  It should include settling-in procedures or parent induction based on the individual needs of the setting and/or cluster.  Settings should share information, listen, respond and support.  When planning transition procedure practitioners should think about what is required for the children, families and practitioners in their individual setting, e.g.

• What happens each day, and what can families expect on their first day and after that
• The daily routine and procedure (drop off and pick up times, emergency contacts, what happens if the child is unwell, practical, suitable clothing, spare shoes, labels in clothes)
• Settling-in time with a parent in response to the individual needs of the child and family
• Procedure before starting: enrolment paperwork, consents, home visits or online meetings
• Meeting the child’s key worker or teacher
• How the setting observes and tracks progress
• Who parents can contact for ASL, child protection or general concerns
• Will the setting keep in contact to reassure the parent that their child is happy and settled despite crying when they left?
• Make time to chat with the family and build positive, trusting collaborative relationships to support the child.  What opportunities are there to keep families involved?

Self-Evaluation:  Regularly review and share, with all stakeholders, the impact of transition arrangements to ensure positive outcomes, e.g. doodle polls, questionnaires, a suggestion box, coffee and chat.  This should be planned as part of the settings self-evaluation quality assurance calendar.

 

Shared professional responsibility for continuity of learning, care, support and challenge, and sharing key information appropriately and in good time:  ELC and school should have agreed on approaches for observation and record-keeping to inform planning and support a holistic transition (literacy and numeracy).

Collaboration should be focused on the child’s needs to plan a continuous early level curriculum experience.  “Consistency does not mean doing the same thing, it means being responsive to individual needs, and preventing any needs, risks or concerns getting any worse” (Realising the Ambition, Education Scotland, 2020, p. 38).

Use developmental overviews to identify strengths and common gaps and use these to inform initial planning in Primary 1 or when moving between rooms.  Use SBC Literacy & Numeracy Trackers as a starting point in identifying common next steps to inform planning (see tabs at the bottom of the Emerging Literacy & Mathematics & Numeracy pages for these documents)

Use of Leuven Involvement Scale to observe children’s engagement in spaces and learning.

Senior leaders facilitate flexibility of practitioners working between ELC and P1, e.g. some practitioners moving from ELC to P1 with children to support the transition process, share knowledge of spaces and children with adults in P1, teachers and school ANAs spending time in ELC to develop an understanding of pedagogy in ELC.

Protected time for practitioners to plan together and share transitional paperwork, e.g. personal plans, transition reports that include key worker and family comments and child’s voice.

“Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) recognises that children and young people will have different experiences in their lives, but that every child and young person has the right to expect appropriate support from adults to allow them to grow and develop” (Realising the Ambition, Education Scotland, 2020, p. 37).

The GIRFEC approach is designed to be flexible enough to support all children and families whatever their need, whenever they need it.  It is about responding in a meaningful, supportive way, working with parents and carers wherever possible.  It considers that everyone involved with the family has an important part to play and puts the wellbeing of children and families at the heart of any support, such as ELC settings, schools and the NHS (Realising the Ambition, Education Scotland, 2020, p. 37).

Enhanced and bespoke ASL support documented in the child’s care plans, medical forms, learning journeys, chronologies, ASL paperwork, trackers and guided by current guidance and legislation.

Autism Toolbox, 2019