Year 6 Transition
Welcome to our Year 6 transition page for 2020
Starting a new school is an exciting time and our Year 6 children tend to experience a range of different emotions as the end of the academic year approaches. Normally, at this time of year, we would start to prepare our Year 6 children and support them to be as ‘secondary-ready’ as possible for the next stage in their education.
Due to Covid-19, transition for our Year 6 children will look slightly different this year. We have adapted many of our resources which we use with the children at school so that mums, dads and carers can work collaboratively with their children to prepare for the transition.
Top Tips for Parents and Carers
Each week we will be posting some top tips and activities for you to complete with your child to support their move to Secondary School.
Here is a booklet that has been produced by our Specialist Teaching and Learning Team for all Year 6 children in Maidstone, to support transition. Each week we will signpost you to different activities to complete with your child in the booklet.
This week, pupils will start to think about their journey to school.
Activity ideas for Travel planning – How will your child get to and from school every day?
- Can you incorporate/practise the journey as part of your daily exercise whilst you are at home?
- Alternatively, if your son/daughter will be using transport, can you use Google Earth, Google Maps or other apps to see where the bus stops are? You could plan your journey.
- Can they read a bus timetable? Do they have access to the Arriva Bus App which gives them up to date information about the buses they may need to use.? Download the app and investigate how it works together.
Part of Year 6's home learning this week will look at researching their new school and completing the transition book pages 3 - 6.
Support your son/daughter in accessing their secondary school’s website. This may also be a good opportunity for you to have a look at the policies, practices and procedures such as timings, uniform and behaviour expectations.
We are in contact with our local secondary schools and they are currently planning events where you will be able to ask questions. These could include webinars and zoom conferences. With this in mind, you could start to think about any queries you may have? Talk through the information your son/daughter has found out – do they have any concerns? Are they pleased/disappointed with anything?
How to read a School timetable
Activity: How to read a School timetable - p12-13 in your transition book.
This weeks focus will be reading a school timetable. Some secondary schools have a two-week rolling timetable which is completely different to our weekly timetable at North Borough. Have a look at your new school's website to see if they have an example.
There is an example timetable on page 12 of the transition booklet.
Discussion points:
- What equipment/resources would your child need to take into school on specific days?
- What days will they need to take their PE kit to school?
- Could your child organise this independently? Start to instill in your son/daughter that there are usually consequences at secondary schools for students that do not have the correct equipment/resources.
Healthy Eating and Managing Money
Activity: Eating healthily/Managing your Money page 14 – 15.
Your child’s new school will have a pre-paid system for paying for their lunches/snacks. Could your child be responsible for this? During this time at home, could you set up a similar system, for them to pay for snacks/lunches? I.e. allocate a certain amount per day, put prices on the snacks/drinks in your cupboards/fridges for your son/daughter to pay for them. This will help with getting them used to budgeting and perhaps prevent constant snacking!?! Is your child able to plan for healthy options?
Discussion points:
- Is it easy or difficult to keep to a budget?
- Did you choose healthy or unhealthy items?
Managing Situations
My Journey to school
Transition book Activity: My journey to school page 11.
This week we will be looking at your child’s journey to school. Work with your child to see how confident he/she is at planning their journey to school. Can they remember their journey previously discussed in week 2? Discuss the use of travel passes – what happens if they are lost? What are the ‘backup’ plans for getting to and from school? How long will your journey take? What time will you need to leave your house to make sure you arrive at school on time? How will you get home? What about the timings of your return journey?
Discussion points
Discuss various scenarios about your child’s journey to school.
- Will they need a Bus/train pass? How do you use a bus/ train pass? Why do you need to keep it safe? What can they do it keep it safe during the school day? What should they do if their pass is lost? What happens is the buss does not show? What do they do if they miss their stop? What to do if bus doesn’t come or is full up? Who do they tell if they or someone else is being bullied on the transport?
- What is their walking journey like? Which roads will they need to cross? Can they confidently cross independently at these roads? Will they be walking with friends or siblings?
- Cycling road safety – Can the children lock their bikes? Where would they do this at school? What will be their route to and from school?
- Will they be meeting their parents/carers?
Need to talk?
Transition can be a worrying time, not just for the children but for parents too. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, worries or concerns. You can contact Miss Slattery directly via 8senco@north-borough.kent.sch,uk.
|
USEFUL WEBSITES The BBC Bitesize has two really great webpages for transition: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/collections/starting-primary-school/1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zh4wy9q/starting-secondary-school/1
|
