2 July 2024
In this episode Jodie Zwar, Principal of Gladstone Primary School, unpacks the intricacies of transitioning our young children from preschool to primary school, and how Gladstone’s approach fosters a successful transition. Hear how the collaborative efforts of educators, the benefits of early exposure to the school environment while supporting young learners and their families, help Gladstone Primary ensure a smooth and successful start to their educational journey.
Show Notes
Transcript
Dale Atkinson: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Teach, a podcast about teaching and learning in South Australia. My name is Dale Atkinson from South Australia's Department for Education and today joining us down the line from Gladstone Primary School is Principal Jodie Zwar. Welcome Jody.
Jodie Zwar: Thank you Dale. Lovely to be here.
Dale Atkinson: It's lovely to have you. So let's talk about what a successful transition for children from preschool to school looks like. What is it that your school does that tries to make that a success for young people and families?
Jodie Zwar: We're really lucky here at Gladstone. [00:01:00] We have a site-based preschool, so we have our kindy children on site 2 days a week and then on a Thursday 3 days a term and for us it is embedded and a part of the way we work. We're really lucky in that we have a building that has our kindy and our reception-one class in there. So they work together all the time and especially in terms 2 and 4 where there is a door connecting, so they can open the door on a Wednesday afternoon and we have children working within both spaces.
So it's beneficial for both our kindy children for stepping into that reception space the following term and also great for our reception children who really like to work in the kindy space and then go back in there and be within that environment.
Dale Atkinson: And what are you looking to achieve through that sort of transition process?
Jodie Zwar: We're really looking for it to be just the next step in learning, going from one to the next. We look at them as classes, so they move from one into the other – that’s seamless – they're used to having met the teacher, working with them. So it's really, really smooth. They also come into the school yard on a regular basis. So, fantastic at recess time in terms 2 and 4. Those students at a starting school, they are putting on their little high-vis vests and coming with the kindy teacher and just getting used to being in a bigger yard and having experience with older children.
Dale Atkinson: Yeah it sounds like great exposure for them. [00:02:00] You mentioned before we came on air that there are 4 kindies within your catchment area. Are there things that you observe that are different between those primary and kindy kids who've had that exposure to those that haven't had it?
Jodie Zwar: We find that it is quite normal. They don't know any difference. So they settle in really quickly and having also their kindy teacher who is actually their reception teacher one day a week also really helps make that seamless. So it's just normal, it's a part of the whole big picture of their education.
Dale Atkinson: And what are the educators picking up through this process of collaborative work?
Jodie Zwar: They work together really, really well. They've worked together for a couple of years. So they have regular meetings. We have learning teams, so we have an early years learning team that includes from preschool up into year 2 and they work together just to get that smooth transition right across and programs that work across all of them. That works very, very well between those and they also work together with looking at data and students and how they're going so what learning plan they're using within the kindy, what they're doing, where their goals are at. That is transferred to the reception teacher so then they can make that continuous and smooth.
Dale Atkinson: So there's a lot to be gained in [00:03:00] terms of the individualised learning for those students and young people as they come across.
Jodie Zwar: Absolutely, so that is that real focus within a preschool, the curriculum and if you're working on their goals, their language, their social skills and then how can we build upon that when you move into the reception space.
Dale Atkinson: And what's the extension of that in terms of engaging with the families?
Jodie Zwar: For us having a site-based preschool also enables us to have occasional care as an option and also play group. So we are having families that come in at a very early stage with their child. So in play group they're playing and getting to know other people and socialising then through into occasional care and then into our kindies. So we're building relationships from very early on in with the child to get them ready. So parents also feel really comfortable in that space.
Dale Atkinson: And that parent connection is just so important, isn't it?
Jodie Zwar: Absolutely, that is huge. So with the new Mid-year intake into kindy last year, I had a parent come and speak to me. She was quite concerned about having had already had a child start school at the beginning of the year. And kindy, what was that actually going to look like for her second child who would be starting mid-year? So she had many questions about that. So I sat down and had quite a long conversation with her.
Dale Atkinson: Interesting! How much additional work does it take to approach it in this sort of way, as opposed to perhaps being a bit more passive?
Jodie Zwar: It does take a bit more work, but I think the benefits completely outweigh anything else. We really want that child to be settled and comfortable in our environment, whether that is in the preschool space or in the reception classroom, and for the parents too. [00:04:00] So it does take a bit of work but it is so worthwhile in the end when you see that child so comfortable within the spaces.
Dale Atkinson: And what does it mean to have 2 intakes across the course of a year in terms of how you schedule the work and allocate some of these tasks to your team?
Jodie Zwar: It has been a shift in headset. I was a reception teacher when we were doing those sorts of things and having the four intakes a year and then not having that for a while but it's just been a change of headset for us. So looking at our continuity of learning plan that we did within our portfolio for each site and looking at how we're going to map it out, what are we going to do when. So then we make it manageable for ourselves to be able to provide the best outcomes.
Dale Atkinson: What are you learning together as a portfolio? What are the opportunities for you to share the information and the knowledge that you've gained through this experience?
Jodie Zwar: Our partnership and portfolio are fantastic. So we often get together and we've had someone focus on that continuity of learning within our portfolio last year. So for all sites having that continuity of learning plan for every preschool going into reception. So for both the kindergarten and for the school to be on board together to make sure it's all planned out to make that the smoothest transition possible and that possible.
And having a site-based preschool does make that slightly easier in that we're one site where we can all just come together. [00:05:00] But we do have three site-based preschools, so we could all get together and have those conversations and support each other in putting those plans in place. So that was very, very helpful in setting us up for the mid-year intakes.
Dale Atkinson: So a good collaborative learning experience by the sound of things.
Jodie Zwar: Absolutely.
Dale Atkinson: So what, if anything, would you do differently for next year's mid-year intake?
Jodie Zwar: I don't know if I'd do anything differently but our next step is putting an information package for families into one document. [00:06:00] So we still have 2 documents, so starting kindy and then starting school. So for us we're really getting the message that we're one site. It is kindy to year 6 and putting all of that together so when families come to enrol in they get all the school information as well, we're one site this is how it all works. So just sort of streamlining that process is our next step.
Dale Atkinson: And does that also feed back into the activities of your teaching staff as well?
Jodie Zwar: Absolutely, so we're finding when we have our reception teacher working and then she actually comes out and does a curriculum role. We have our kindy teacher step in to that Reception-1 classroom. So we're finding that she has brought the intentional play through and changing those concepts. And the way we go about teaching within the early years, but our Reception-1 teacher is very experienced and also has that headset as well. So they work together to bring across both of those together, so the traditional as well as bringing through the intentional play and that child focus.
Dale Atkinson: [00:07:00] It seems like a lovely kind of flexible approach to meeting those little people where they are.
Jodie Zwar: Yes, yes and it's lovely to see them grow and we had transition full day last week and looking at our older children in the 5-6 class racing over to welcome our new children into the preschool and having our preschool children come into the Reception class and watching all those conversations and those older children being involved and encouraging them and being a part of it. It was a lovely moment to see.
Dale Atkinson: So, Jodie, [00:08:00] what does it take in terms of organising the school day? How is that different for you now?
Jodie Zwar: I suppose the other one big change for us has been that we are releasing our kindy teacher for lunch and doing that. It's been done by myself as the leader and our reception teacher. So on a Tuesday I go in there and release our kindy teacher and then I'm in there having lunch with the children and building relationships. And then on the Wednesday our reception teacher is in there and she is actually working with them and having lunch and building those relationships in preparation for coming to school. [00:09:00] So that's been a really big change for us and worked really well.
Dale Atkinson: And so that must be a positive right through for you, your kindy teacher, your reception teacher and for yourself as well in terms of the reward.
Jodie Zwar: Absolutely and it's great to have those conversations and get to know them so that when they pop down into the office they're quite happy to pop their head into my office and see how I'm going and what I'm doing.
Dale Atkinson: That does sound absolutely perfect. Jodie, Principal of Gladstone Primary School, thank you very much for your time.
Jodie Zwar: Thank you very much, Dale.
back to Teach episodes
