Hi and welcome to the site.
There are lots of threads to do with transitions on the forum if you
search for
support transition they should be returned for you.
This is a good read from teachernet -
Case study
Ultimately you need to know what your local schools do to help you support your children when they move from one stage or setting to another - ie a nursery to a school - and what you do with the schools/other settings.
These are some questions that may help you look at what goes on locally & in your practice:
- Is your nursery/preschool on school grounds?
- Does anyone from the school come to visit you?
- Do you visit the school or teachers?
- Do you know the school/s - have you been on a tour of the building and grounds?
- Does the school offer induction days and are new starters and their famillies invited to go for a wander or tour?
- Do you talk openly about the schools in your area and in general with the children.
- Is this done in an ongoing way - so that the children become familiar with the idea and knowledge of other schools?
- Do your children have siblings or family members that attend other schools?
- Do you ask your children what their brothers & sisters think about their school?
- Are you able to reassure the children if they are concerned about other schools.
- Do they know what any of the teachers look like?
- Do they know they will make friends in new places.
- Do they know the teachers will be kind and will listen to them?
- Do they know they are able to cry and ask for help whenever they want to.
- Do they know they can ask questions about the school, new places and people whenever they want?
- Can they access stories, books and toys about schools and new places?
- Do they know what resources and toys they will be able to use when they get to school.
- How do they feel about uniforms.
- How do they feel about playtimes
- How do they feel about dinner/lunch times.
- Do you ask if they would enjoy going to a new school.
- Do you have pictures or a prospectus from the schools in your area to look through?
- Do you know what sort of timetable, schedule or other way that the school organises its day? - when registration is, storytime, freeplay, snack, going to the toilet ..
- Does the school provide any take home services? - Bears, soft toy, library books, bookmarks, pens and doodle books - this helps transitionally as it takes school home and home back to school - your nursery or preschool is part of this process as it can be promoted as something the children will be able to do.
- Do staff know when the intake times are for the area and when each individual child in their care is due to begin fulltime/partime school.
- Do you plan any activities to help with transitions - to help cope in the uncertainty of moving from a familiar environment to one that is less familiar.
- Do these activities focus on the older children or do they include everyone.
- How does your setting liase with schools - do you have meetings, training sessions, parents evenings, do you keep in contact over the holidays.
Slightly OT - one of the most reassuring transitional practices my daughter enjoyed when moving from secondary to a 6th form college was bridging week which was held just before they broke for the summer - this was where they attended college for 5 days & undertook 'taster sessions for different subjects - from that point she then greatly enjoyed receiving personally addressed letters over the summer holiday from the college, keeping in touch with information
a little different to preschool aged children but prooves reassurance about change is good no matter what age
I hope this has helped
Enjoy Silkysteps
xx