As we progress through the final term of nursery a lot of thought and discussion centres around the transition into Primary one. Here are some ways that we prepare children for this transition throughout their time at nursery and during the final term.

By the time children are going into primary one they have already experienced many transitions in their lives as part of their development and part of life. One major transition was of course starting nursery!

At nursery children learn to follow the rules and routines of the setting, such as saying goodbye to their adult, hanging their coats up, washing their hands and signing in on arrival. These are four important transitions that soon feel normal and part of routine.

  

Throughout the day all children experience transitions, through daily routines such as hand washing, snack times and through natural play between areas and between groups of peers. Managing these everyday transitions build confidence, self-esteem and resilience and gives children skills that they can use when experiencing larger transitions in life, such as the move to primary school.

 

 

 

 

In the Whalsay setting the children benefit hugely from sharing their time at nursery with peers who will also transition into the same primary one class. They have time to develop meaningful friendships with each other and can share the excitement of experiencing the next step into primary school together.

Having the nursery located beside the primary school, which all children will transition into, is another huge advantage which helps makes the transition to primary school smooth. The children are already in a familiar environment, are aware of what their school looks like, where their classroom will be and have familiar faces already attending the primary setting.

Of course, Covid restrictions mean that transition arrangements are different from normal but during the last term of nursery children have weekly opportunities to walk around the outside of the primary building, locate their classroom and discuss their thoughts, feelings and ideas about primary one.

Staff are very responsive to children’s questions about the move to primary and use these moments to discuss what primary one will be like. Books about starting primary school are freely available for children to explore and discuss.

Weekly play with the teacher times are a valuable way for children to develop a positive relationship with their new teacher and provides them with a familiar friendly face when starting school after summer. Having time to play and have fun with the teacher is something that is recognised as being one of the most important aspects of a smooth transition.

And on a final note, the way in which the Scottish curriculum emphasises the importance of, and supports the development of, play based learning from 3yrs to 7+yrs means that the Primary one environment and the approach to learningin Primary one will be familiar for all children as they make the next step in their learning journey.