We always encourage parents to visit our Nursery or Reception classes before they start. We plan carefully to help children to feel safe and settle in. We have visit days for all our new children and their parents in July each year. This is a great chance to get to know the class team and other families. In Nursery we then have a staggered start with every child having at least two sessions in a small group of 5. This really helps us to get to know new families. We move to a full-time day in consultation with parents over a period of weeks.
When a child moves up to the next class, we organise handover meetings where teachers and support staff make sure that the new teacher and Teaching Assistant (TA) have a clear understanding of the needs of all children.
We also provide an opportunity for parents and their children with SEND to meet the new teacher before the start of the school year. For children with specific needs e.g. autism, we create a photo book of all the new faces and classroom to take home over the summer.
Do you help children as they make the transition to secondary school?
We work closely with all our local Camden secondary schools. We always spend time doing full handover meetings about every child and in particular children with additional needs. In addition, all our local schools offer ‘Head Start’ Projects for children whom we identify as having additional needs and/or who may find transition difficult. If we think it will help, we set up meetings between parents and the secondary school.
We will support you in making the right choice by visiting secondary schools with you, setting up meetings with secondary staff and facilitating advice from independent organisations.
We invite parents and the Secondary school SENCO to take part in the Annual Review of the Education, Health and Care plan in Year 6
We encourage our parents to request a meeting with the secondary school’s SENCO as soon as possible after your child starts secondary school. The SENCO holds all the records on children with SEND new to the school and s/he will let you know who the key contact for you will be.