Important Connections

As we move towards the end of our school year here in Australia, we prepare ourselves for change. We start thinking about which classroom we will be given next year, which kids we will have in next years class and whether we’ll be stuck with the crappy old desks that nobody wants (or whether we can palm them off to the ‘yet to be placed’ teacher). We tend to fall into the trap of thinking about our own needs and can sometimes place this self preservation over the needs of our students.

In our schools we are often guilty of looking at student learning in one year chunks. As teachers, this is time we generally have out students for so it makes sense. For our students, their time with us is just one small step in a much larger learning journey. As teachers, we need to get better at passing on data and other information about our students. Without good handover of information students can feel like the first term of their new school year is wasted while yet another teacher tries to work out where they are at. This handover of information is even worse when it comes to the transition from primary school to high school.

This afternoon saw the first steps of change take place for this transition process in our school community. At the invitation of Wirreanda High School (our local high school), Principals and year 7 teachers from our local area were invited to an afternoon tea meeting to discuss the transition process. This provided an opportunity for discussion. We talked about the concerns our students have about moving to high school, and about ideas for making this process better. Most importantly, we were able to make connections.

As we move forward in the process of improving transition, these connections will be the most important tool we have. Putting faces to names (or twitter handles) gives us someone to contact to pass on important information about students that will help them on their path forward. Hopefully it also allows for high schools to feel comfortable contacting primary schools to support them in working with students even after they leave us.

I would like to acknowledge the staff at Wirreanda for taking this step and look forward to strengthening the new connections that were made today.