Teachers and educators play an integral role in supporting children starting school and their families.

Research suggests that transition programs that recognise the importance of the wider community are most effective in helping children to make a successful transition to school. Your transition program can alleviate anxiety for all involved and offer a child the best possible outcome in their early school years by:

• providing an open, welcoming environment for children and families,
• encouraging universal involvement,
• nurturing collaborative relationships,
• building communication networks between services, schools, families and children, and
• celebrating and incorporating previous learning experiences.

Keep connected

Our Transition to School e-groups are designed so that schools, early childhood centres and support services can share information and key dates, and discuss transition issues. They also provide an opportunity to find out about events and professional development opportunities from the Illawarra Transition to School Project team. To sign up, please click on the link below and 'Apply for group membership'.

• Wollongong
• Shellharbour and Kiama

You will need a Google Account to sign up for the Transition to School e-groups. If you do not have one, you can create a free Google Account here.

Knowledge base

Stay informed as you plan, design and implement transition programs in your early childhood service or school. Keep up to date with the latest research, and learn from other transition programs, which can be adapted to suit diverse educational settings. If you have suggestions for resources that you would like to see included or programs you would like to see profiled on this page, please contact us.

• Transition to School knowledge base