Moving from Early Years to Primary School
Starting school or moving between different stages of education can be a worrying time for any child, but especially for those with additional needs and disabilities. There are ways that your childcare setting, your child's future school and you can support with this transition.
What you can expect from your child's setting or future school:
- Both settings should work together to share all relevant information and paperwork.
- The setting or school may hold a transition meeting, which gives a chance to discuss strengths and needs in detail, and ensures the school has time to make any specific plans or changes (see appendix 8 in Supporting Positive Transitions in the Early Years Appendices (DOC)).
- The future school should share information about what to expect in your child's first days or weeks at the school. Ideally, the school should offer child-friendly information for you to help prepare your child over the summer, such as pictures of their new teacher and classroom.
- Your child's future school may do home or setting visits.
- The early years setting will support all children with activities to help with their transition and can change these slightly, to help children with additional needs. This may include social stories about starting school or creating their own photo book.
- Where appropriate, visits should be set up so that your child's new teacher can see them in their current setting and your child can visit their new school. Some children may need a few visits to the school with their key person, and the setting can apply for funding to support this.
- If your child has an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, the school should be clear about how they will provide the support in the plan.
- Schools should be open to discussions about flexibility of starting hours for children with additional needs, as they may need a longer transition process, or may need to settle into a routine as quickly as possible.
How you can support as a parent:
The Surrey County Council Early Years Team who work directly with staff in early years settings, to support children who may have additional needs, have produced a video for parents to support transition from an Early Years setting into School.
You may also find the following helpful to refer to: