Transition Toolkit for Parents & Carers of Children with Developmental Delay & Disability

Student Engagement October 2021

*All resources and materials referred to in this presentation are available on public websites

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, play and where we are meeting today, the Ngunnawal people. I pay my respects to Ngunnawal elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of our city and this region. I would also like to acknowledge and welcome any First Nations People joining today.

Schools & transition planning term 4 2021

ACT Health directives in response to COVID 19, guide how schools plan and support transitions for students across the remainder of the 2021 school year .

Your child’s current school and their new school will work with you to ensure your child’s transition is planned and supported.

It will look different to what you may have experienced at other transitions times.

Most of the school based transition work will be completed remotely with schools developing transition programs to meet the needs of all students.

Current information is available at:

https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/home

https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/covid-school-arrangements

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

.

This presentation focuses on what you can do at home to support your child to manage a school transition. You may be thinking about a transition from preschool to kindergarten, from primary to high school, from one year to another in the same school or changing schools midway through primary or high school. Transitions happen for all of us across each day, week, month. For children at school key transitions include:

• from home to school and back home
• into school and the classroom
• between classrooms and teachers
• outdoor play/break times
• across the school eg: to the library, bathroom, canteen

​

We know routines and planning are key to supporting children at all times – especially at times of change and transition.

​

There are a range of suggestions and ideas across this session…..some will be specifically relevant to a primary or high school transition, others will be universal and relevant to any transition point for any child….others will be dependent on your child and their learning and development.

5 Tips to help prepare your child for school

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMIewysimss

1. Respond to anxiety with support
2. Role play school
3. Read picture books about starting school
4. Model calm behaviour
5. Wind down after school

Transition…… it’s a partnership

• The most successful transitions prioritise ongoing communication and building relationships / connections between families, their children and school.
• A positive start to school leads to better learning and wellbeing outcomes for your child both during the transition and beyond.
• It helps to support your child’s continuity of learning and development.
• It supports children and young people to feel secure, confident and connected to new people.

Transitions

• Prepare both you and your child for what lays ahead
• Looks different for everyone
• Start conversations early – once you have confirmation of enrolment contact new school and let your child’s current school know too
• Child’s voice is important - what are they looking forward to, what questions do they have, their concerns/worries?
• Current school and new school, parents/carers, young person (where appropriate) and other involved professionals meet to plan – in 2021 that will happen remotely via email/phone/teams meetings/google meet ups
• Parents/carers continue to support child’s independence

​

You may feel apprehensive and have mixed feelings about the transition. Reach out to your friends, family and health professionals for advice and support. It is important that you remain enthusiastic and positive when you speak to your child about school. Your positivity will increase your child’s confidence.

Planning for 2022 :

Working with the school� Sharing:

• your child’s strengths, interests, likes and needs
• your goals, hopes, wishes
• your childs hopes, dreams and concerns
• your concerns
• what helps your child to feel connected
• self care needs
• wellbeing and medical
• others supporting your child
• reports/assessments

Ask questions

​

Identify your go to person/contact in the school

Supporting your child at home:

• Being positive and reassuring
• Listening to their concerns
• Supporting their independence

​

All about me….

Other template ideas…..

• Starting kindergarten will be easier if your child is familiar with the school environment. Transition activities are important.
• Practical preparations help too, like organising uniforms, lunch boxes and bags well ahead of the first day of school.
• Starting kindergarten is a big transition for your child. Your child might need extra support and plenty of rest in the first few weeks.

What can you do as family?

• Be positive about starting school and enjoy your child’s excitement.
• Encourage your child to do things on their own.
• Support their independence: this could be dressing, going to the toilet, washing their hands, packing their school bag, unwrapping their food and opening and closing their drink bottle and lunchbox.
• Support your child to be able to ask for help.
• Talk with your child’s current educators about things you can do at home to help your child.
• Show your child where the school is and talk about how you will get there.
• Arrange catch ups with other families whose children will be going to the same school.

How you can help your child

• Talk positively and confidently about starting school.
• Talk about and practice the change in the daily routine, how will they get to school, what time do they have to get up in the morning and what will they have in their lunch box?
• Join a remote tour of the school with your child -its an opportunity for them to see classrooms, playground equipment, bubblers, toilets, sick bay etc.
• Join an online ‘meet the teachers’ session and speak about them positively to your child.
• Request photos of staff who will be supporting your child and places in the school
• Look on the school website for photos of staff, the school and things that happen across the year
• Talk about supports that the school offers e.g. if there is a buddy system where an older child supports your child in their first year of school.
• Read books together about starting school.
• Develop family routines at home to support your child’s learning at school e.g. read with your child each night, help them with any homework etc.

Avoid overloading your child – when children begin school, they tire easily. It may be worth considering fewer extracurricular activities such as swimming, music or dance lessons, until they adjust to their new routine.

Starting high school

High school is a good time to have your child involved so they can ask their own questions and offer their own suggestions.

Moving from primary school to high school is a time of change for your child. A change which they may be looking at both with excitement and uncertainty. With good preparation you and your child can approach this time with confidence.

High school brings lots of changes, including:

• new teachers
• extra subjects
• more classmates
• different teaching styles
• moving from classroom to classroom.

With help from you and the school, your child can feel supported and prepared.

​

When children are making the move to secondary school, you have the biggest influence on how smooth the transition is. Your child’s friends do influence how your child feels about the move, but your support has stronger and longer-lasting effects.

​

​

​

​

​

Children often have mixed feelings when starting high school.

They might be:

• excited about new friends, subjects & teachers
• nervous about learning new routines, making new friends or wearing a new uniform
• worried about the workload and fitting in

​

​

​

​

​

​

High school tools

• Have an example timetable and a map of the school at home
• Join the ‘meet the teacher’ remote meetings
• Join a remote school tour
• Explore the school website
• If your child has friends going to the same school, encourage them to go together for the first few days or have an agreed meet up place
• Colour coding books and textbooks (a different colour for each subject). This is useful for easy identification
• A weekly timetable for home, with a colour coding grid to match their books. This will help to remind them what to pack in their bag for the day
• Tactile coding can also be useful, for example, small pieces of sandpaper inside the textbook and the same inside the relevant exercise book
• Buddy systems are used successfully in many schools

12 tips to help your child moving to high school

Planning tools

​

A planning tool with prompts and examples for children and young people starting primary school and high school:

https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/uploads/2.-Planning-Tool-with-prompts-and-examples.docx

​

​

Example primary school transition matrix

Primary school matrix cont’d

Example high school transition matrix

High school matrix cont’d

Resources

• ACT Education Directorate

What you can do at home Parental engagement in primary school (act.gov.au)

Parental Engagement High School Parents Fact Sheet FINAL

Before your child starts school - Education (act.gov.au)

Children Aged 5-12 - Education (act.gov.au)

Young People Aged 13-18 - Education (act.gov.au)

High School - Education (act.gov.au)

​

Positive Partnerships | Homepage

Positive Partnerships | Planning Tool

https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1693041/My-First-Day-at-Big-School-book.pdf

​

https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1693039/Were-Excited-book.pdf

​

https://raisingchildren.net.au/

Resources

​

Raising Children -the Australian Parenting Website Starting school: preparing your child | Raising Children Network

Reimagine Australia https://re-imagine.com.au/practitioner/transition-to-school/

Starting School – Jane Godwinhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi-VxAK5ug4

First Day- Andrew Daddo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qka8Kl-UgaQ

Lola Goes to School – Anna McQuinn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-EsNnchdYw

Lucy’s First Day at School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnvgCguI5mo

​

​

​

​

​

Tips for Starting High School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ozTuK43bb4

Raising Children -the Australian Parenting Website Starting Secondary School

Starting secondary school or high school | Raising Children Network

​

Raising Children -the Australian Parenting Website Raising Children Network

ALLPlay (Victoria)

https://allplay.org.au/parents/

​

Spark their Futue (Queensland)

https://www.sparktheirfuture.qld.edu.au/category/my-child/

​

​

• Drive, ride or walk past the school
• Practice the morning routine
• Get used to wearing a new uniform and carrying a new school bag
• Look at the school website
• Request a photo of a staff member – doesn’t need to the class teacher – just someone they will see around the school- a familiar face
• Request photos of parts of the school that your child will regularly access
• Social story

​

Day one…..

• Say goodbye confidently – saying a quick, confident goodbye may help them to feel secure and reassured that you trust that they will be okay at school.

​

• Label your child’s belongings - labelling everything, including clothing, can help reduce anxiety for children, school staff and yourself.

​

• Communicate with your child – take time to tell your child what might be happening at school that day, and in the afternoon, ask your child about their day. This is a great way to build confidence, and to find out how they are feeling as they settle in.

​

• If you have any concerns talk with your child’s teacher, who will provide further insight to their day.

​

Take aways

• Be positive / reassuring
• Include your child in planning
• Ask questions
• Share information
• Work with your child’s current team to identify key priorities to support their transition eg communication, self help, independence
• Identify your contact, key go to person at school

​

​

Finally…….

We know that transitions will look different for you, your child and their school/s across the remainder of this school year.

Connections will be made remotely including schools providing :

• teacher meetings online
• virtual tours of the school
• social stories, photos of staff and learning spaces

Whilst transitions will look different schools are committed to working with you. Schools want their students to have successful transitions to feel supported, welcome and safe. Be reassured that you can reach out to your child’s school.