Starting school social narratives
A social narrative is an effective way to teach children how to navigate a new situation, such as starting school.
Social narratives can be an important resource when preparing children for change, new environments and life transitions. They support continuity between settings by explicitly illustrating:
- details about the setting
- things that typically happen in that setting
- the actions or behaviour that are typically expected in the setting.
The starting school social narrative is a template for schools to use as part of their transition practices and to share with families when welcoming new children to the school. Social narratives can help children understand what to expect at school or they can be used to support orientation.
Templates
Use suggested words in the templates below to make a social narrative about your school. Some photos have been included to represent a diverse range of contexts but these can be changed to suit the individual school.
Modify the narratives
- The templates are designed to be modified to suit the needs of all children, including Aboriginal, EAL/D, HPG students, and students with disability.
- Edit the story words and pictures to suit the needs of your school’s transitioning children.
- Some children may require one or more individualised stories, each focusing on a different aspect of the day and learning environment.
- For families who speak a language other than English at home, arrange for the story to be translated into their home language.
- Children who arrive by bus or are going to attend before school care may require a different story beginning to those who will arrive on foot.
Contact
Users can contact earlylearning@det.nsw.edu.au with any questions or feedback.
Last updated: November 2024
Anticipated resource review date: May 2025
Alignment to priorities and resources:
- Strategic plan – All children make a strong start in life and learning and make a successful transition to school.
- School Excellence Framework – Learning domain: Learning culture, Transitions and continuity of learning
- National Quality Framework – National Quality Standard - Element 6.2.1: Transitions
- Early Years Learning Framework – Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF)
- Department guidelines – Strong and successful start to school: Transition guidelines
- Professional learning – Beginning school strong and successfully
- Social narratives on the Inclusive Practice Hub that help students learn about school and learn positive ways to respond to new situations
Consultation:
Resources have been refined based on findings from consultation with key stakeholder groups including the team who own the other social narratives.
Reviewed by:
Subject matter experts from Early Learners reviewed the resource to ensure the accuracy of the content.
Evidence base:
- 'Narratives that describe social situations in some detail by highlighting relevant cues and offering examples of appropriate responding. Social narratives are individualized according to learner needs and typically are quite short, perhaps including pictures or other visual aids.' (Wong et al., 2015, p. 1960)
- Raising children network (n.d.) Social stories: Therapy at a glance.
- Briody, J., & McGarry, K. (2005). Using social stories to ease children's transitions. YC Young Children, 60(5), 38-40,42
- Evidence-based practices for students with disability were identified in a UNSW literature review conducted in 2020.