Target audience

• Schools leaders
• Transition coordinators

Purpose

This resource has been designed to support school leaders and transition coordinators in evaluating current continuity of learning practices to aid in strategic planning for evidence-based improvement.

When and how to use

This resource can be used by schools when evaluating their primary to high school transition initiatives.

School leaders and transition coordinators can use this resource with key school staff and stakeholders within their school networks, including partner schools and Director Educational Leadership (DEL), to evaluate current transition practices and determine areas for improvement.

Evidence base

The transition of students from Year 6 into Year 7 has been researched extensively both locally and internationally in the last few decades. Evidence indicates that students in NSW public schools can experience difficulties when transitioning from primary school to high school.

1. Eccles JS, Midgley C, Wigfield A, Buchanan CM, Reuman D, Flanagan C, & Mac Iver D (1993) ‘Development during adolescence. The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families’, American Psychologist, 48(2):90–101, accessed 26 April 2024.
2. Goldberg JM, Sklad M, Elfrink TR, Schreurs KMG, Bohlmeijer ET & Clarke AM (Accepted/In press) ‘Effectiveness of interventions adopting a whole school approach to enhancing social and emotional development: a meta-analysis’ European Journal of Psychology of Education 34:755–782, accessed 26 April 2024.
3. Hanewald R (2013) ‘Transition Between Primary and Secondary School: Why it is Important and How it can be Supported’ Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(1):62–74, accessed 26 April 2024.
4. Jindal-Snape D, Hannah E, Cantali D, Barlow W, and MacGillivray S (2020) ‘Systematic literature review of primary‒secondary transitions: International research’ Review of Education’, 8(2):526–566, accessed 26 April 2024.
5. Sniedze S, Felgate R, O’Grady E, Buckley S & Lietz P (2021) ‘What Australian students say about transition to secondary school. Final report’ Australian Council for Educational Research, accessed 26 April 2024.
6. Martin AJ, Collie RJ, Stephan M, Flesken A, Halcrow F & McCourt B (2024) ‘The role of teaching support in assisting students’ transition to high school’, Learning and Individual Differences, 109, accessed 26 April 2024.
7. Martin AJ, Collie RJ, Stephan M, Flesken A, Halcrow F & McCourt B (2024) ‘What is the role of teaching support in students’ motivation and engagement trajectories during adolescence? A four-year latent growth modelling study’, Learning and Instruction, 92, accessed 26 April 2024.

Alignment to the NSW Plan for Public Education

This resource is aligned to the following focus areas and actions within the NSW Plan for Public Education:

• advance equitable outcomes, opportunities, and experiences
  • develop targeted, differentiated, evidence-informed initiatives and supports
• deliver outstanding leadership, teaching, and learning
  • support schools to deliver school excellence through continuous improvement
  • improve how data is used to inform teaching
• strengthen student wellbeing and development
  • improve support for students at all transitions throughout schooling.

Alignment to School Excellence Framework

The key themes that align to the School Excellence Framework (staff only) (version 3) include:

• transitions and continuity of learning
• curriculum provision
• whole school monitoring of student learning
• lesson planning
• data literacy
• leading, teaching and learning.

Alignment to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

This resource aligns to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:

• 5.4.3 Work with colleagues to use data from internal and external student assessments for evaluating learning and teaching, identifying interventions, and modifying teaching practice.
• 5.4.4 Coordinate student performance and program evaluation using internal and external student assessment data to improve teaching practice.
• 6.3.3 Initiate and engage in professional discussions with colleagues in a range of forums to evaluate practice directed at improving professional knowledge and practice, and the educational outcomes of students.
• 6.3.4 Implement professional dialogue within the school or professional learning network(s) that is informed by feedback, analysis of current research and practice to improve the educational outcomes of students.

Feedback

Email questions, comments and feedback about this resource to contactcurriculumreform@det.nsw.edu.au using the subject line 'Transition from primary to high school – Illustration of practice'.

Dave Stitt – Principal, The Entrance Public School

We are in the Tuggerah Lakes Network of schools, which has our partner high schools, which is the Tumbi Umbi Campus, The Entrance Secondary Campus, and Berkeley Vale. Transition processes are embedded in our school plan. One of the areas was partnerships and connection, which was the third part of our school plan. And in that we wanted to make sure we had really strong connections with our local high school and transition processes from preschool into school, but also from Year 6 into Year 7. One really great thing, I think about that, which also links in with transition is the fact that our kids can see a really clear line of sight from preschool into primary school into high school, and we're really hoping into further tertiary education. And the key to us is that communication between ourselves and our high school settings, our partner high schools.

Elizabeth Bate – Principal at Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, Tumbi Umbi Campus

Our transition processes are embedded in our strategic school plan. We deliberately end plan for our transition schedule. It's always set every year, and we always look back and refine to make sure we can do it better to meet our students incoming into our school at point of need.

Melissa Dawson

I'm the Assistant Principal of Stage 3 at The Entrance Public School, and I work closely with Tumbi Umbi High School with our transition process. What other schools could take away from our transition initiatives is really building those relationships as soon as possible and involving Year 6 teachers in those transition initiatives as much as possible because we always have such strong close relationships with our students because we only have one class of students at a time. And so really taking on board that wealth of knowledge, I suppose that classroom teachers have.

Lauryn York – Transition Coordinator at Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, Tumbi Umbi Campus

So, we have put together from our partner primary schools, our Middle Years Action Research team. We meet once a term, and in that team, is a representative from each partner primary school as well as a representative, which is myself, from Tumbi Umbi Campus. Our process starts with us making initial contact in Term 1 with our partner primary schools. And from there, just a few weeks later, we actually have all the kids in Stage 3, so Year 5 and Year 6 on site for what we like to call our 'Tumbi Tours', which gives them initial opportunity to view the school and get a feel for the school. Next in Term 2 we work through our A–Z meetings, which involves us, again, going to our partner primary schools, and in this process we collect data on all the kids that will be transitioning to us.

Melissa Dawson

We essentially sit down and we introduce every single child individually. We outline any plans that we have in place, as well as then introducing any parents that we feel would really benefit from that as well. The use of data and sharing that data with our high school has been really invaluable in making sure that we have a strong transition and continuity of learning across our primary and high school.

Tenille Dowe – Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning at Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, Tumbi Umbi Campus

It comes down to open, honest communication and trust. We get to know the students really well with our A–Z meetings with their primary school teachers. And then through that we look at their academic levels, we look at the social-emotional challenges, we look at family background. We just get to know the student, what works for them and what doesn't work for them, and then how can we replicate what has happened and how they've experienced this success in the primary school into high school.

Lauryn York

In Term 3, we moved to whole cohort presentations, which is a lot of fun, and it really gets the kids excited to come across to Tumbi Umbi Campus. It also ensures that they all get the same information and it's kind of a starting point for the transition process and to really ramp up and really get the kids excited to be coming over to our school.

Melissa Dawson

One of the strategies we found really successful is involving Year 6 teachers in the formation of Year 7 classes for the following year. We work with all of the feeder primary schools in one collaborative space, and the high school teachers that will be looking after them in their first year of high school, and we work out our students to sort of be in the best place. We find we can take into consideration their social-emotional wellbeing, as well as their academics.

Elizabeth Bate

Each class has a data profile. So, the teachers teaching that incoming student year group know where their students are at. They understand what level that they are at and how we can improve their learning.

Lauryn York

We regularly will go into our partner primary schools to observe best practice there, then we will see what of that best practice can transfer into a high school setting to, one, allow for that continuity primary school, and we've also seen the success of that in our partner primary schools and try to replicate that to a level in a high school setting. Every student in the classroom needs something different to be able to learn and to access that content, and by knowing each student really well, we're able to plan for that differentiation, and to assist the classroom teacher in planning for that differentiation and making sure it's happening at all levels. In MYAR meetings, we look closely at curriculum, how it's taught at each school. We actually bring in our programs and go through them together to ensure that learning is not doubled up on anywhere.

Melissa Dawson

We found that our general feedback from staff at Tumbi Campus have shown that our students are starting Year 7 settled and understanding the expectations of high school more so than ever before.

Elizabeth Bate

We seek feedback from the students, from the staff, from the partner primary schools, and also from their parents as well. We are always looking to see what we can do to improve.

Gary Bennett – College Principal at Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College

Transition is really important, and when something's important, I believe you really have to make the time for it to succeed. Schools can use the Curriculum Reform to assist with continuity of learning. It's really giving us a map now that we can follow with our primary and infants colleagues, having paved the way with their implementation of their new syllabuses, to then look at that sort of continuum of learning right through to Year 12. So as in the secondary schools, we're introducing those new syllabuses, we can certainly learn some lessons from our colleagues in our partner primary schools.

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