Families were keen to have as much information as possible. This was sometimes impeded by organisational issues such as a microphone in the (for parent information sessions), “Have gym” or and a half hours advertised for orientation but was finished in 45 minutes! Should have “One been there for the full amount of time - was too short; child had a lot of questions and worries about where things were”. Some families found the process straightforward: have transitioned well; I think of “Mine couldn’t anything else- teachers and another noted the classroom to parents is all, lovely!” “Opening fantastic. You can stay as long as you like when you can; flexibility is so A poignant important!!” issue was raised though by the mother who said: the twins first went to school I was new “When to Australia. I had limited experience and found it hard to communicate with teachers and other social support This parent stated that actually learning English from her services”. she’s reader that they bring home daily. Finally, desire to know the Prep teacher children’s child’s earlier was a common focus for improving confidence and familiarity. Findings from discussions with children Children are the central focus in transition, and therefore the ideal source of information for a consultative process. This section seeks to delve into transition to school from a child’s perspective in order to understand what is important from those who have the most current experience. This information will guide the development of future resources in transition. In this consultation, given an opportunity to contribute their perspectives through drawings, individual and group conversations, 29 Victorian children in May of their first year of school had a great deal to contribute about that experience. Only children whose families/parents had given permission were able to participate in the process, so there may be a slight bias towards more confident engaged families, but anecdotal evidence from teachers suggests that the participating children were living with a range of financial, cultural and family backgrounds. Data collection processes unfolded differently in the two focus schools due to teacher commitments and space availability. Therefore, more spoken data is available from Ascot Vale
Families were keen to have as much information as possible. This was sometimes impeded by organisational issues such as “Have a microphone in the gym” (for parent information sessions), or “One and a half hours advertised for orientation but was finished in 45 minutes! Should have been there for the full amount of time - was too short; child had a lot of questions and worries about where things were”. Some families found the process straightforward: “Mine have transitioned well; I couldn’t think of anything else- teachers and all, lovely!” another noted “Opening the classroom to parents is fantastic. You can stay as long as you like when you can; flexibility is so important!!” A poignant issue was raised though by the mother who said: “When the twins first went to school I was new to Australia. I had limited experience and found it hard to communicate with teachers and other social support services”. This parent stated that she’s actually learning English from her children’s reader that they bring home daily. Finally, desire to know the child’s Prep teacher earlier was a common focus for improving confidence and familiarity. Findings from discussions with children Children are the central focus in transition, and therefore the ideal source of information for a consultative process. This section seeks to delve into transition to school from a child’s perspective in order to understand what is important from those who have the most current experience. This information will guide the development of future resources in transition. In this consultation, given an opportunity to contribute their perspectives through drawings, individual and group conversations, 29 Victorian children in May of their first year of school had a great deal to contribute about that experience. Only children whose families/parents had given permission were able to participate in the process, so there may be a slight bias towards more confident engaged families, but anecdotal evidence from teachers suggests that the participating children were living with a range of financial, cultural and family backgrounds. Data collection processes unfolded differently in the two focus schools due to teacher commitments and space availability. Therefore, more spoken data is available from Ascot Vale
finalconstransition.docx