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At the beginning of each year we have a one-on-one interview with each family to get to know
the family and the child. That would be a great time to bring up the transition statements
and see if they have one that they could share with us.
We understand that the transition statement is a document that is given to the parents
by the kindergarten and therefore it's a private document, but it is a really useful document
for us. It tells us about the child and it helps us to settle them into school, so that
they can feel safe and happy in our school environment.
Hi Jo, thanks for coming in...
Thank you.
So tell me about Charlie at Kindy.
Well, Charlie really loved kindy and when he left they gave us his transition statement
that's got loads of information about Charlie in it.
Great, what does it tell us about Charlie?
I think the biggest thing it tells us is that he really loved to learn. He loved to go to
kindy. He liked his friends, he liked the activities and he really liked his teachers.
So what does it tell us about Charlie? What sort of things did he like to learn?
It says that he really liked to do anything to do with reading and words and rhyming and
those sorts of things; that he had a real interest in the world map and pointing out
things like that. That he loved sport, and that he loved Lego.
I used the information provided in the transition statement to get to know the child, to see
what they like and what they can do. On the first day of school it's very noisy; there
are lots of children and parents around. And so if I can put out activities that that child
is interested in, it helps to capture their attention, and takes their mind off the fact
that there's a lot of noise and a lot of strangers and that it's a new place for them.
Transition statements help me with my early planning in that they tell me what the children
have done, and I can build upon what they've done in their kindergarten settings. For example,
if a child has done life cycles in kindergarten we can build upon that with an extra unit
of science in Prep.
You can help me read this one. On Monday he ate through?
One apple.
But he was still hungry. On Tuesday, he ate through?
Two pears.
But he was still hungry. On Wednesday he ate through?
Three plums.
Three plums but he was still hungry.
The value of passing on a transition statement to a prep teacher is that it tells us a little
something about that child, a little snapshot of their time in kindergarten. They've been
with that kindergarten teacher for a year and they have valuable insights that they
can share with us. They can tell us what the child knows, what they can do and what difficulties
they may have.
Did Charlie make friends easily?
He did actually, at Kindy, and the transition statement says that he was really keen to
make friends with familiar and new children and helping other students get involved in
the day.
That's great.
So will that be useful for you?
That will be very useful, thank you.
Okay, I'll leave that one with you.
Thanks very much.
You're welcome.