At St. Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, we want to ensure the best possible start
to school life. Transition at any time in our lives can cause anxiety and we take
supporting smooth transition seriously at St. Benedict’s. The move to the ‘big school’
is an exciting and important time for children and their parents. We feel that children
who are supported in a positive way learn to deal with transition whenever it may
occur in their lives, and therefore become more confident learners.
We want our children to feel safe, secure and comfortable and staff to have an
awareness of the individual needs of the children to ensure continuity and
progression.
In order to make transitions as smooth as possible into Reception, we offer school
visits for both children and parents and we visit nursery settings to meet key workers
prior to the children joining St. Benedict’s.
We understand that the transition between new classes and Key Stages can be an
anxious time for some children. As part of our personalised provision, we ensure
that children who may find changes difficult are supported in their transition through
additional visits to their new class, time to meet their new teachers in a more
individualised setting and through the use of Social Stories.
The transition to secondary school is equally exciting for our oldest children, however
we are fully aware that some children become anxious at the prospect of leaving
behind their familiar primary school in exchange for the hustle and bustle of much
larger secondary schools. To support children with this, our Year 6 children
undertake transition work in Term 6, they visit their new schools on taster days and
we invite the secondary school teachers in to meet their new pupils and liaise with
our Year 6 class teacher. Alongside this, our SENDCO will liaise closely with the
pastoral support teams in our local secondary schools to secure additional visits and
support as required for individual children.