Transition to school

Our reception cohort has 45 children, and every year they typically come to us from more than 10 nursery settings. Our reception team plan a transition timetable that gives children, and their families, opportunities to get to know us and our school before they start school in September.

• The team speak to all the nurseries, to understand and get to know the children before we meet them.

• Children and their families are invited to come and have a delicious lunch in school.

• We invite children to come along to a taster session of two and a half hours without parents. There are two sessions offered, parents can choose the one that suits them best.

• Action for Inclusion meetings help us make sure that any child with additional needs has a successful transition to school.

• Children and their parents are invited to come to a story time with one of the reception teachers. We offer three, to accommodate working parents.

• A parents evening drop-in session allows mums and dads time to ask questions and meet the staff.

• Parents are offered a home visit in the summer term if their child has any additional need, or the parent has worries that they would like to discuss with our team.

In September, we are aware that we have an intake of 45 young children into one room, which although is a super environment for them to learn and play in through their year with us, is sometimes difficult to provide a quality start to school with the level of care and attention to children's needs if all of the children start at once. Some of the children, when they start school are almost 5 years old, and we have some who only a few weeks ago were still 3. Many children are pleased to see friends from their nursery, however we have a significant number who are the only one coming from their pre school setting, and don't know anyone. Some children walk in confidently, whereas some require adult support one-to-one to settle. 

To this end we have a two week gradual start, and allows us to ensure that every child has the attention they deserve so that they see school as a positive and exciting place to be. For the first two weeks of school the older half of the cohort attend for two whole days, the younger half for two whole days, and all families are offered a home visit, which allows us to get to know the children when they are most relaxed, and for parents to ask any questions about the start to school. We ask parents to work with us for two weeks to give all the children the opportunity to settle in this gentle start, and for us to get to know them. 

Moving on 

In Upper Key Stage 2, we prepare the children to be ‘High School Ready’ in a Useful & Kind way to ensure that there is a seamless transition. Over the course of two years, we ensure that our children leave Kingsmead Primary School ready for the adventures that await at whichever high school they will be moving onto. 

In Year 5, we expect the children to become more independent with routines as well as encouraging them to complete tasks such as remembering their PE kits and completing their homework tasks independently. During Year 5, the children are invited to Masterclasses at The County High School Leftwich, which is our main feeder school, this gives them the opportunity to experience and familiarise themselves with high school expectations. There are also numerous sporting events that are run across a variety of high schools, these give the Yr 5 & 6 children a wider experience of being at a high school. 

We have well-established links with the high schools that we feed into and during Year 6, there are a wealth of more formal opportunities that are provided as part of the transition process. This enables us to ensure that the children are fully prepared to start life as a Year 7 pupil. These opportunities include:

• All children take part in Phys Kids training that is run by The County High School Leftwich PE teacher. This gives them opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

• All Year 6 children apply for, and undertake a monitors role around school, this enables them to give back to the school and exhibit their leadership experience. 

• All children are offered transition days by the high school that they will attend.

• The head of Year 7 from our feeder high schools will meet with teaching staff and Mrs Rutter-Brown to discuss each child individually.

• Any children who receive additional support in school will be offered additional transition sessions to support them with their move to high school.

We understand that your child may feel anxious about starting a new school, however we hope that you can feel reassured that a significant amount of time is spent supporting the transition process to give your child the best possible start to their high school life.