SO WHAT? "Why My Transition Inquiry Matters and Measurable Impact: Transforming ECE to Primary School Transitions"

I was fortunate enough to serve as an across-school leader during the latter part of this year. I reached out to our Manaiakalani cluster schools and specifically connected with the new entrant teachers to gain insights into the challenges they face when students start school. The form I created, which asked questions about the challenges and how teachers overcome them, has revealed to me that our schools share similar challenges. I strongly feel that we can possess skills and ideas on how to overcome them. I strongly believe that with our combined skills and collaboration, we can formulate a plan to overcome them. Being stronger together makes us stronger.

The key aspects and strategies for enhancing the transition from ECE to primary school I have focussed on in 2023:

Engaging Kindergartens:

I actively involve kindergartens in our transition plan. We collaborated with local ECEs and kindergartens to create a joint strategy. The goal is to ensure that students starting school have essential foundational skills, such as writing their name, recognising letters, and counting to 10. The data clearly shows the positive impact of this collaboration. Students in the transition plan have a 73% more letter knowledge and a 57% more in letter-to-sound knowledge, compared to students without the plan. 
We've also strengthened connections by having kindergartens perform at our Culture and Matariki Festivals. Additionally, my principal and I hosted an open evening at a kindergarten to introduce our school and its offerings, resulting in new student enrolments. This collaborative approach fosters successful transitions and sets students up for success and accelerated learning. Looking at the High Leverage Practices and keeping them in mind for their literacy I reckon we are well on our way.

SO WHAT? What is my intend for next year?

Data Collection and Analysis:

Analyse the data collected from your Google Forms survey sent out to teachers to gain insights into the specific challenges teachers face during students' transitions. This data can guide my interventions and improvements for the year. A common thread that teachers mention with the trail group of teachers was that students start school with very little letter to sound knowledge, and basic managing themselves skills. 

• My intention is to capture ALL junior teachers from our cluster and gain insight through the Google form. 
• Collaborate with junior teachers and create a group that can work together with ECE and kindergartens to come up with a feasible plan for us all to use to make sure the transition into school are much smoother. Create progressions for literacy and numeracy as well as the key competencies.
• Maintain open, transparent, and consistent communication with all teachers. Regularly update them on the progress and impact of our transition initiatives. Address concerns and feedback promptly, and create channels for ongoing discussions

Structured Literacy:

School wide we are improving our literacy matrices. My intention is for next year to share our thoughts with kindergartens and ECE to collaborate on what they think can be achieved before the students start school. 

• Ensure that the matrices for structured literacy aligns with the specific needs and challenges identified during the transition process and filling the gaps within my class and provide strategies and work collaboratively with other teachers in their classes within our cluster.
• Continuously adapt and refine the literacy curriculum to suit the unique needs of transitioning students
• Gain some insight from Naomi and research team of Manaiakalani on where we might be heading for structured literacy.
• Trailing and implementing a standardised testing for structured literacy in our school and could potentially be used in the cluster until we have word from the ministry
• DIBELS, Sunshine decodable
  

Collaboration with Other Schools:

• Establish a transition committee(I have 3 people that are interested so far) that includes teachers from various schools within the Manaiakalani cluster. This committee can regularly meet to share insights, experiences, and effective strategies for student transitions and in their first year of school.
• Create a shared website or platform where schools can document their best practices and resources for smoother transitions. This can serve as a valuable reference for all involved.
• Share template of booklet that schools can create and make their own to be shared with students that will start school soon at their kindy or ECE.
• Work with teachers, pre school as well as primary, to design a transition plan that includes academic, social, and emotional aspects. Ensure the plan is well-documented and shared.
• Identify key milestones/progressions for students in the transition process. These could include assessments, readiness for school indicators, and targeted interventions to address challenges.
• Establish a system for regular assessment and evaluation of the transition plan's effectiveness. This can involve collecting feedback from teachers, students, and parents through surveys and meetings.
  Use assessment data to make data-driven improvements to the transition plan.

Training and Support for Teachers:

• Offer professional development opportunities for teachers and support staff focused on best practices for easing the transition process. Encourage diverse perspectives and ideas. These workshops might cover classroom management, pedagogical approaches, and strategies for building students' confidence and resilience and issues or challenges can be openly discussed and solved collaboratively. Teachers can provide their needs through a survey and I will source PD available
• Encourage mentorship programs where experienced teachers can guide and support newcomers, sharing their knowledge of what works best in the transition period.
• Organising joint meetings between ECE, kindergartens, and primary schools to discuss alignment of curriculum and expectations. 

Parent and Caregiver Involvement:

• Organise orientation sessions and information events for parents and caregivers to help them understand what to expect during the transition.
• Provide resources for parents to support their child's development at home and encourage active involvement in their child's education.

Well-being Focus:

Well-being programs that incorporate social-emotional learning and mental health support will be provided on the website. These can include activities to help students manage stress and anxiety.

Celebrate Successes:

Recognise and celebrate the successes and improvements in the transition process. Acknowledge the hard work of teachers, students, and everyone involved.
Organise events and acknowledgments that highlight positive outcomes and reinforce the importance of your collective efforts.