At Allington, we want to ensure the best possible start to school life. Transition at any time in our lives can cause anxiety and we take supporting smooth transition seriously at Allington. The move to the ‘big school’ is an exciting and important time for children and their parents. We feel that children who are supported in a positive way learn to deal with transition whenever it may occur in their lives, and therefore become more confident learners.

We want children to feel safe, secure and comfortable, and staff to have an awareness of the individual needs of the children to ensure continuity and progression.

In order to make transitions as smooth as possible into Reception, we offer school visits for both children and parents and we visit nursery settings to meet key workers prior to the children joining Allington.

We understand that the transition between new classes and Key Stages can be an anxious time for some children. As part of our personalised provision, we ensure that children who may find changes difficult are supported in their transition through additional visits to their new class, time to meet their new teachers in a more individualised setting and through the use of Social Stories.

The transition to secondary school is equally exciting for our oldest children, however we are fully aware that some children become anxious at the prospect of leaving behind their familiar primary school in exchange for the hustle and bustle of much larger secondary schools. To support children with this, our Year 6 children undertake transition work in Term 6, they visit their new schools on taster days and we invite the secondary school teachers in to meet their new pupils. Alongside this, our Inclusion Manager will liaise closely with the pastoral support teams in our local secondary schools to secure additional visits and support as required for individual children.