Ormiston Primary School and Edukids Flat Bush Centre (TLIF 5-043) - Creating a sense of belonging through transition Publications
Publication Details
Project Reference: Ormiston Primary School and Edukids Flat Bush Centre (TLIF 5-043) - The transition process planned through the project allowed to address issues of social and emotional development in children. It created positive experiences for learners and their families as a whole, thereby helping to address needs within a social context. It also considered the relationships within family and prioritised involvement and partnership between children, parents, whānau, ECE and the school. This helped to create continuity with earlier educational experiences, and had positive effects on student motivation, their relationships with their peers, their interactions within the environment, and their overall sense of belonging, role and identity.
Author(s): (Inquiry Team) led by Fatma James (Ormiston Primary School) and Anupama Diddee (Ormiston Primary School)
Date Published: February 2019
Overview
Ormiston Primary School is a rapidly growing new school. In 2018, a small group of its new entrants struggled with the transition from their early learning centre to this new and changing environment. Considerable support was needed to help these children develop the foundational learning and behavioural skills they needed to flourish at school.
The transition process planned through the project allowed to address issues of social and emotional development in children. It created positive experiences for learners and their families as a whole, thereby helping to address needs within a social context. It also considered the relationships within family and prioritised involvement and partnership between children, parents, whānau, ECE and the school. This helped to create continuity with earlier educational experiences, and had positive effects on student motivation, their relationships with their peers, their interactions within the environment, and their overall sense of belonging, role and identity.
Project team final report
The teachers in this project sought to develop a more comprehensive transition programme that would start before transition began and more closely align children’s experiences in the early learning and school environments. They sought to do this through more intensive information-sharing with parents and whānau and through greater collaboration. This enabled the identification of four target children who were likely to require additional support. Close observation of these children enabled teachers to make targeted changes to school practices and routines that would help the children find a place and a role at school.
The partnership approach was successful in making transition for these children an easier and more connected process. Problems were forestalled because everybody was closely watching their development and making adjustments before they became difficult. Children’s strengths and interests better informed the design of learning, making the transition experience easier for everyone.
The inquiry story
This project involved the project lead, three new entrant teachers, two early learning teachers, and a SENCO. Four early learners and their whānau were at the centre of the study. There were two boys and two girls, and they came from diverse cultural backgrounds. Two were English language learners.
What was the focus?
Ormiston Primary School is a new school that is experiencing rapid growth, doubling in 2018 from 365 to 741 learners. In the new entrant classroom, a group of five children struggled to adjust to the demands of a new and evolving learning environment. Despite going through the school’s transition process and spending time in the reception class, they did not develop a sense of belonging and struggled to join in either the play-based activities or the structured rotation activities. Considerable additional support was required to help these children engage in learning tasks and develop positive behaviours. Knowing the importance of the transition to school in terms of children’s long term learning pathways, the participants in this project wanted to develop a more comprehensive approach to transition that would better meet the needs of their diverse learners. The aim was to help children develop a strong sense of identity and to feel safe and supported while exploring and learning in their new environment.
The team developed the following innovation statement:
Through our inquiry, we want to know whether a new transition process involving better collaboration with ECE and whānau will have an impact on enhancing learner transition to school and strengthen students’ (target students) sense of belonging at school.
What did the teachers try?
The project team engaged in two cycles of inquiry. The focus of the first cycle was on developing collaborative relationships between teachers at the school and early learning centre and on information-sharing with parents and whānau. Educators in the two environments had opportunities to observe and learn from each other so that they could find ways to mirror each other’s practices and routines. The purpose of this was for children to find similarities and feel a sense of belonging when they moved to school. Parents completed pre-visit questionnaires with information about their expectations, their children’s likes and dislikes, and the support their children were likely to require for transition. They were invited to meetings and open forums and provided with written information that was translated where necessary.
In the second cycle of inquiry, four children were selected for intensive support through the one-month transition process. These were children who had been identified by their whānau and teachers as having additional needs for social and emotional support, having behavioural issues associated with anxiety and stress, and having whānau who were willing to work with teachers and specialists to provide wraparound support. They fit a similar profile to the children who had struggled with transition in 2018.
Teachers engaged in a process of project-based learning that involved rapid cycles of observation, reflection, and response. For example, the new entrant teachers observed the children while at the early learning centre and used what they learned to make changes to their practice. This meant an increased focus on play-based learning and the purchase of new resources for use as provocations. The children were also closely observed on weekly transition visits. The purpose of these observations was to understand their motor skills, self-management and social skills, ability to follow instructions, and general preparedness to cope with a new environment.
During the visits, the transition learners were asked to bring their portfolios to school so the teachers could get to know more about their interests and experiences and build upon these in designing learning experiences at school. The children were also given transition boxes in which they were asked to place an item to bring for show and tell.
The teachers developed an assessment form that linked Te Whāriki and The New Zealand Curriculum and created a rubric to monitor shifts in different aspects of wellbeing. ‘Narrative capture’ (stories and photos) was used to find evidence of shifts in both learning and well-being. For example, evidence of social development might be found through observations of a child who appears to enjoy playing and interacting with others. In addition, a ‘Tell Me Tree’ was created to help the children talk about how they were feeling by pointing at one of three faces. In addition, parents completed a post-transition questionnaire to capture their perceptions of how it had gone for
What happened as a result of this innovation?
Teachers at the school shifted from focusing on children’s chronological age and where they ‘should’ be to thinking about the milestones children need to achieve to be successful at school and where they actually were. They came to better understand the diversity of new learners and how to build upon what they brought. They developed positive, trusting relationships with children and whānau and shifted their pedagogy to offer learning opportunities that were more play-based.
The teachers accepted the need to adjust routines so that children felt more comfortable. For example, children and whānau were met at the office for their transition visits, rather than having to make their own way to class. A child who suffered severe separation anxiety felt a greater sense of belonging when invited to water the plants every morning and to choose a calming activity.
The team encountered some challenges in connecting with a Pasifika learner and his whānau, which they addressed by seeking support from a Pasifika colleague. This helped them to build connections with the whānau and understand their concerns and expectations, and their child’s strengths. They were then able to create a more positive and welcoming environment for the child by focussing on his strengths and interests and helping him make friends.
All the children experienced a successful transition. They came to feel a sense of belonging at school and were ready to learn and grow with their peers. Teachers have used what they have learned to start the construction of a new curriculum for new entrants at the school. In an unexpected outcome, they have also created a Transition to School Cluster Group.
What did they learn?
The information sharing and collaborative learning relationships developed before children began school helped to create a greater sense of continuity that eased children’s transition. It enabled teachers at school to reshape their environments to help make the new place feel more familiar to children who are going through a big change in life. By taking time to really get to know children, parents, and whānau before school entry, they were able to build upon children’s strengths and experiences and address areas where they needed additional support.
Inquiry team
This project was led by Fatma James (Ormiston Primary School) and Anupama Diddee (Ormiston Primary School), supported by Sudha Jacob (Ormiston Primary School) and Clayanne Flower-Paparoa (Edukids Flat Bush Centre).
The project was supported by two external experts. These were Sally Peters (University of Waikato) and Marek Tesar (University of Auckland).
For further information
If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Anupama Diddee, one of the Project Leaders, at adiddee@ormps.school.nz.
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