Transitions are the moves children and young people make from home to nursery, from nursery to primary, from primary to secondary, from secondary to further education and beyond.
From August 2023, national entitlement began for all parents to receive an additional year of ELC funding, should it be decided that it is in your child’s best interests to enter P1 the following august instead.
The decision whether to send your child to school or request an additional year of ELC is individual to each child. In keeping with GIRFEC policy principles, staff within your child’s ELC and prospective school will support you in making this decision.
If you are considering an application for an additional year of ELC for your child, please speak to your child’s Key Worker within their ELC to advise them of this. Please note, you should apply through the P1 school registration form in January. If you decide to request an additional year of ELC, the Early Years team will work in collaboration with your child’s ELC and yourself to support you. If you have any queries about the application process please contact firstname.lastname@example.org
Children in Scotland who reach the age of five years between 1st March 2024 and 28th February 2025 should start school in August 2024. This generally means that children start school when they are aged between four-and-a-half and five-and-a-half. For academic session 2024/2025 online registration will begin mid-January 2024; further information will be available on the
council website and in the local press.
To help your child prepare for a good start you can:
- Listen and talk to your child about this change in their lives
- Involve your child in getting ready for school by helping choose the things they will need, e.g. their uniform, lunchbox, school bag
- Keep in touch with the school about anything which may affect your child’s learning
- Attend induction events or introductory sessions
Primary school pupils normally transfer to their catchment area secondary school in August following completion of their P7 year.
Parent/Carers will be notified by email and on social media that the online registration form for registering your child for secondary education is open. This will usually take place in November for the following academic session. Parent/carers can also use this form to notify us of their decision to home educate, request a placing request and apply for school transport.
Secondary staff visit P7 pupils to discuss aspects of their transfer with them and in June the pupils will spend an agreed length of time at their prospective secondary school.
The catchment area secondary school for Castlehill Primary School is:
Campbeltown Grammar School
phone number 01586 553 773
You will be contacted by letter and offered a place for your child at Campbeltown Grammar School, which you may either accept or decline. Secondary schools have their own arrangements for meetings with prospective parents/carers, and you will be given details of these meetings.
Should you prefer your child to attend a school other than the designated catchment area school then a Placing Request must be made. Forms are available from the Head Teacher, or by contacting School Support by email to email@example.com or by phoning 01369 704000.
Your child will be involved in an induction programme every year in school. Prior to the summer holiday your child will meet their teacher/s for the following session and visit their new classroom/s. Teachers work closely and share information about your child’s learning and achievements. Staff will also share other information which will help the teacher support your child’s learning, e.g. friendship groups, preferred ways of working, etc.
When a child moves to a new school their class teacher will normally telephone the new school to share information on academic achievement and personal likes/dislikes with their new teacher. Parents/carers are encouraged to organise a visit to the new school (if possible) in advance to support the child feel secure in the move.
It should be noted that opportunities for enhanced transitions are available for children as required.
Our school maintains close links with other primary schools within our local geographical area and our link secondary school, which is Campbeltown Grammar School.
The first eligible school leaving date for most young people is 31 May at the end of S4. This applies to young people whose fifth birthday fell between 1 March and 30 September in the year they entered P1. Younger pupils in a year group are required to stay on until December in S5. Older pupils are eligible to leave as early as December in S4.
Opportunities for All is the Scottish Government’s commitment to offer all 16-19 year olds a place in education, training, employment or other planned learning from when they leave school up to their 20th birthday. All young people should receive the right amount rather than the same amount of information, advice and support in order to help them enter and sustain a positive destination. For young people who do not immediately enter a positive destination on leaving school, support will continue until they find a suitable opportunity.
Transitions are particularly critical for young people with additional support needs and require additional preparation and planning. Whenever a young person with additional support needs is approaching a transition, other agencies are involved in transition planning, the young person’s views are sought and parents/carers will be part of the planning process. In all cases, early consultation will take place with the post-school learning provider to ensure that any support necessary is in place.