Note that quotations reflect the speech of the participants, so colloquialisms and abbreviations remain as provided, and are presented in italics. Responses can be summarised as follows: positive experiences in starting school: Children’s Several families responded in terms of their personal responses so happy about her (“I’m transition to as well as family preparation about frequently in kindergarten and school”) (“Talked at home so she was and reports of living near the school so it was familiar) and their excited”, own aspirations want my child to develop friendships, to feel excited, to feel (“I comfortable”). There was praise for kindergarten preparation kindergarten helped in getting him ready for (“the settled really well. He liked his kindergarten program- he attended a school school”; “My son readiness program- the and ‘HIPPY program’”), Sibling support was happy and confident as her brother was attending the same (“She school”), The greatest praise was for school welcoming approaches an Arabic speaker, my daughter (“As learned to communicate confidently in English. She also learned new numeracy concepts.”; “My granddaughter has a good experience transitioning to school. She was very relaxed. The school always made my granddaughter and the family feel of work has been done at welcome”; “Lots the school end to help settle had no Several families specifically her”; “We concerns”). mentioned days in November- very helpful! Four visits once a week for an with “transition hour” children in the rooms and separate information for parents and carers. Numerous people praised school transition to school sessions targeting parents to inform them about their “what kids will be One school had numeracy and literacy sessions to guide parents. Buddy learning”. programs were also helpful in supporting transition had their own buddy- children’s (“Everyone had a picture of the child and the buddy in the classroom- really nice relationship- still high fiving! They were together once a week; grade 5- very although a mother with a caring…”) different experience commented, the point of a buddy when they have different break “What’s times?” Responses were summarised by one parent who said there were supportive conversations with the prep teacher to 1 meeting was really good with the this happened the day (“1 teacher…; before starting child, parent-15 minutes- where to line up, put and school…teacher, bags…”)
Note that quotations reflect the speech of the participants, so colloquialisms and abbreviations remain as provided, and are presented in italics. Responses can be summarised as follows: Children’s positive experiences in starting school: Several families responded in terms of their personal responses (“I’m so happy about her transition to school”) as well as family preparation (“Talked about frequently in kindergarten and at home so she was excited”, and reports of living near the school so it was familiar) and their own aspirations (“I want my child to develop friendships, to feel excited, to feel comfortable”). There was praise for kindergarten preparation (“the kindergarten helped in getting him ready for school”; “My son settled really well. He liked his kindergarten program- he attended a school readiness program- the ‘HIPPY program’”), and Sibling support (“She was happy and confident as her brother was attending the same school”), The greatest praise was for school welcoming approaches (“As an Arabic speaker, my daughter learned to communicate confidently in English. She also learned new numeracy concepts.”; “My granddaughter has a good experience transitioning to school. She was very relaxed. The school always made my granddaughter and the family feel welcome”; “Lots of work has been done at the school end to help settle her”; “We had no concerns”). Several families specifically mentioned “transition days in November- very helpful! Four visits once a week for an hour” with children in the rooms and separate information for parents and carers. Numerous people praised school transition to school sessions targeting parents to inform them about “what their kids will be learning”. One school had numeracy and literacy sessions to guide parents. Buddy programs were also helpful in supporting children’s transition (“Everyone had their own buddy- had a picture of the child and the buddy in the classroom- really nice relationship- still high fiving! They were together once a week; grade 5- very caring…”) although a mother with a different experience commented, “What’s the point of a buddy when they have different break times?” Responses were summarised by one parent who said there were supportive conversations with the prep teacher (“1 to 1 meeting was really good with the teacher…; this happened the day before starting school…teacher, child, parent-15 minutes- where to line up, put bags…”) and
finalconstransition.docx