Professional learning to support transition to school

HEATHER BARNES:
Hello and welcome. I'm Heather Barnes and I'm delighted to be co-presenting today with my friend Louise Dorrat. And we're also fortunate today to have Cindy Podhorsky, who is a prep teacher at Newtown Primary School, Geelong. And behind the scenes we have the wonderful Emily and Claire, who will be doing all sorts of wonderful things like helping you out if you're having technical problems or putting things, links to important stuff in the chat. So before we begin, we would respectfully like to Acknowledge the Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners of the land and waters now known as Victoria. We Acknowledge the Victorian Aboriginal Elders and recognise their central place as knowledge holders and teachers across early years learning communities. We recognise and respect Aboriginal cultures and their unique place in Victoria's past, present and future. As we all know, learning about Aboriginal cultures and valuing the place of Aboriginal people is essential to understanding and implementing the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework based on the principles of equity and human rights.

This workshop, as you know, is for kindergarten teachers and educators and prep and foundation teachers who are new to writing or using Transition Learning and Development Statements. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication in providing a secure base in the lives of young children despite another challenging year. So this workshop, as you can see, is going to include these topics, the key features of a positive transition to school. And we're going to look at transition learning and development statements. We'll from time to time refer to them as TLDS just because it's a short way of saying it. So we'll look at how to write them and we'll look at in using a strength based approach involving children and families in the writing of the statement. And of course, what happens to them when they leave the kindergarten teacher and go to the school. And then we'll talk a little bit about planning for term one and the benefits of play-based and inquiry-led learning. So we encourage you to listen to the whole of the workshop, as we know that teachers in schools really benefit from hearing more about how kindergarten teachers write and think about transition statements.

And the kindergarten teachers benefit from learning about the way foundation teachers use the statements and plan for their classroom. We won't be covering the technical part of the online TLDS tool. If you experience issues with logging in to the platform or with the tool itself, please contact the State Library Victorian Helpdesk, as they're the ones that are providing IT support for the tool and they also work with the department on improving user experience. So we'll tell you more about that at the end of the session. We're also going to be referring to transition, a positive start to school resource kit during this session. The kit can be downloaded or ordered from the dept website if you can't find a copy in your service or in your school. And we know that the kit provides a wealth of information on effective transitions, including suggested timelines for the transition process, and the link will be put into the chat. Thank you, Claire. She's so on the job. Thanks, Claire. So this next tab, we're gonna look now at the consideration of children's learning experiences in 2022 and how to meet children and families needs as they transition to school in 2023.

And that will be a key factor, of course, in supporting effective transitions. So first of all, what do we mean by a positive transition to school? We know that a transition to school is not a one off event. It's not complete at the end of that first day of school, it's a process that occurs over time. We often hear of children who come home from school after their first day tell their parents, well, I haven't learned to read yet. That doesn't happen in a day, does it? So although most children make the transition to school successfully, negative experiences during the transition can have longer term effects on a child's resilience and their image of themselves as learners, whereas when it's managed well, the transition to school can foster positive attitudes and behaviour in children. Effective transitions are a major factor in disrupting cycles of social and economic disadvantage. So what does the research tell us? It tells us that relationships are at the core, equity should be the focus in transitions and transitions need to be child centred.

So over to you, Louise, now to look at these in a bit more detail.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Thanks very much, Heather. So as teachers and educators, you understand the importance of relationships and that respectful relationships with children provide protective factors which act as a buffer to help children feel safe and confident enough to try new things and learn new skills. So, therefore, relationships, as you know, are the core of positive transitions. So effective transitions involve all parties in the process, so children, families, early childhood services, schools, outside hours, care programs and communities. So it's recognised that when there are strong partnerships between early childhood services and schools, this collective support can promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing for the child and family as they transition to school. So the next slide, you would all be aware of this image, this beautiful image. So this is about supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds, which is the key of positive transitions. So this image here, it shows the difference between equality and equity.

So positive transitions are not a one-size-fits-all. Research shows that some children and families from diverse context, such as what you can see listed on the slide, have not been as strongly supported in the transition process as they could be. So it's also important to remember that what may be a vulnerability to one person can be a strength to another. (AUDIO DISTORTS). Children and families experiencing vulnerability can make such a positive difference. And transition to school programs will be unique according to the local particular context and community. So similarly, we know that each child is different, each family is different, and therefore each transition should be different. So it's important that time is prioritised and strength-based approaches are used to work more intensely with children and families experiencing these vulnerabilities. So now children need to be active participants in their transition to school. So this means giving the child a voice and listening to children's feelings and concerns about starting school, drawing on children's strengths and being responsive to their interests and of course, their ways of learning, and the last point enabling children to make decisions about transitions.

So now over to Heather. Heather, this term, school readiness, what does it really mean?

HEATHER BARNES:
Sorry, I just had to unmute myself for having difficulty there for a second. So thanks, Louise. So what does it mean? It's a really good question, isn't it? What we know, of course, is that ready children have the maturity and social and emotional development that contribute to their ability to learn. They have dispositions for learning as opposed to academic and physical skills. And these may include these attributes and skills that you can see in the purple box on the slide. Other important elements for children being ready for school relate to their health and well-being, the support they receive from the secure relationships that they have in their life, and the confidence that school will be a positive experience. Some families place an emphasis on children learning to write their name or have similar academic expectations, such as not being able to count to 100 and all sorts of things. But as you can see from that, this definition of literacy from the VEYLDF or the VEYLDF, however you like to say it, literacy includes all of these things.

That includes music and movement and dance. And you should be doing this slide away, this is your forte, storytelling, visual arts, maybe in drama as well of course, those important conversations that children have talking and viewing things and reading and drawing and writing. So families obviously can support learning at home by providing play-based experience, such as reading books and singing and rhymes and providing art materials for their children as well as, of course, these are all really important precursors for reading and writing. So, Cindy, this is over to you now, so what approaches do ready schools use?

CINDY PODHORSKY:
So ready schools provide environments that are flexible and adaptable. Schools are working to prepare for next year students, so early childhood teachers input and support will be invaluable in helping foundation teachers to ensure that they're ready for the new children. And as foundation teachers, we know how important it is to make contact with the kinders. Schools are responsive to individual children, in some schools, there is now a stronger focus on play-based learning and social and emotional development for children at foundation level, schools involve families. I'm sorry, I'm still at school. Families will be encouraged to visit the school and be actively involved in their orientation process. Schools connect respectfully with the ECEC and the OSHC educators. Some children spend many hours a week, some up to 20 hours per week in outside school hours care programs. So it's really important to include the OSHC educators in the transition to the school process.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Cindy. I've just been visiting in some OSHC programs and we were talking about how valuable they are for OSHC educators because of course they're receiving these little prep children as well, and knowing that they're likely to need a nap at

3:
30 helps the OSHC educators to have a quiet, comfy place where children are likely to want to rest. So we know that the TLDS has been designed to assist families and educators to share information and specific strategies to support each child's learning and development. The transition statement is only one of the many tools that are used to connect early childhood education and care services and schools and OSHC services and families all working together to support effective transitions and the continuity of learning for each child. The TLDS is one of the effective transition tools or practices that can be used and not the only one, as we mentioned earlier. So the TLDS is not a report card, it summarises a child's learning and development at the time of writing because the idea is that you write them in around about November so that the schools are able to learn about these children that they will be receiving. And more about that in a little while. It also helps to identify their interests and their approaches to learning and indicates how that child can best be supported.

It's a way to share consistent information and facilitate communication between the early childhood and the school professionals and the children and families. But it doesn't replace those really important partnerships and collaboration. It supports them. So the TLDS is completed and shared by the Insight Assessment Platform, or IAP. So schools all have these Insight Assessment Platforms, most schools do, and the online TLDS will be held within the child's IAP profile along with any other assessments of learning that are undertaken as the child progresses through the school. So all government schools and early childhood services with funded kindergarten programs use the Insight Platform, and most Catholic schools and some independent schools also have access to the Insight Platform. So we know that the TLDS is made up of multiple sections, section one, completed by the early childhood educators, section two, completed by the child with an adult or completed with the child by an adult, it should be, and completed by the family.

And we'll go through this in a bit more detail shortly. So we know that the transition statements are used by foundation teachers in a number of ways, and these include, obviously to get to know the child and their family, to facilitate those early conversations with families as the child comes to orientation and to begin their journey through school, allocate children to classes, and to plan appropriate teaching and learning programs, establish warm and welcoming environments for the child, and actively support and accommodate individual requirements to ensure continuity of learning. So, Cindy, do you have any other ways that your school uses the TLDS?

CINDY PODHORSKY:
One of the things that we look at a lot is the children that might need some extra assistance. This year is a perfect example, we had two of my young little humans, who are amazing, have quite a significant amount of extra needs. So through the TLDS, we were able to make contact with the kinder. Simone was amazing, we had a meeting with Simone, who is a kinder teacher. And then through Simone, we made contact with the parents and all of us, myself, my assistant principal, Simone and the family sat together and had a really good discussion of the needs of these little people. And it just made the transition for them easier, but also for us because we already had that heads up about what they actually require. And then the next step for us was where we need to go to assist them even further.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, that's a great example and it just illustrates that there's a lovely phrase in the transition, a positive start to school kit, that talks about ready children, ready families, ready educators, ready schools, ready communities. And I love that that you're ready for these children because you've had that heads up, I love that. Thank you, Cindy. Thanks, Louise, for holding it up. And it's your turn now. I'm throwing back to you.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Thanks, Heather. Yeah, that was terrific to hear, Cindy. And it shows what we said earlier about the benefit of everyone working together benefits the child. So, now for this year, it's likely that the transition statements will need to include information on how COVID-19 or other sicknesses has impacted on the child's learning, and as you all know, there's been a lot of illness this year, how any changes in the learning environment were managed by the service, for example, has there been increased outdoor focus or a new bush kinder kinder operating as a result of COVID, the child's attendance and or their home learning environment, if they've not been regularly attending your service and family's views on child's learning. So the first part of section one covers the context of the early year setting and specific information relating to the child. So use the context of early year setting box to include information on your setting, for example, is it a long daycare or standalone service?

Include information about your community, your service program, including a description of program delivery, the hours, the days, indoor or outdoor program, bush kinder program, routine outings, and any other significant changes to program delivery. For example, you may have a new lead teacher, change of rooms, change of philosophy, etc. So this section provides the context for the remainder of the statement, and this information will automatically populate in each new statement created. So you don't have to write it out every time. And you must be careful therefore, not to include child information here. And I was visiting a service recently and the early childhood teacher was concerned about this part taking them so long, so we discussed for either like the admin person to be able to do this section or even a parent on the committee with those skills, because this part is not about individual programs. So you may consider that idea to reduce workload. Now the next section use the specific information section of the statements to capture information on things that might have impacted on the child's continuity of learning specific to each child.

So this could include information on attendance levels, describing the home learning environment, family circumstances and involvement of the family in the learning, etc. Remembering, of course, that the family receives a copy of this transition statement. So be mindful and considerate of comments relating to the family. So now let's look at, here we go, at section 1.1. So a dropdown list of learning and development outcome descriptors taken from the Victorian Framework and the Victorian Curriculum Foundation two, is provided to assist you to write a short summary of the child's learning and development. So you can edit the descriptors or choose to write your own, or simply select the relevant descriptors that best describes that child's learning and development. And under each outcome you will see a number of drop-down lists relating to different aspects of that outcome. So for example, under the identity outcome, there are seven lists relating to seven different aspects of identity, such as attachment, as an engagement, emotions, coping mechanisms.

So when completing section one of the Transition Learning Development Statement, you must select at least one descriptor for each outcome. So we recommend you select between two and five descriptors in total for each outcome. Next on, so now on this slide, so the Victorian Framework Learning and Development Outcomes and the Victorian Curriculum Framework up to ten sets out the learning and development goals for all Victorian children. So it's important that all early use professionals understand how the Victorian Framework Learning and Development outcomes links to the goals of the Victorian Curriculum. So this enables the educators and teachers in early childhood to plan for children's learning and development, taking into consideration where they are heading next. It's also helpful for foundation teachers to see how the early childhood descriptors links to the Victorian Curriculum at the foundation two level. So you may be familiar with the illustrative maps that were provided in the Victorian packet.

You know, the ones that open up as the large sheets like this, or you might find them in the or you will find them in the back of the transition kit in this A4 size. So, at the... So these are also available in the interactive form as online as well and Claire put the link in before. And Claire has just put the Victorian Framework Illustrative maps in the link as we speak Eva and Cindy, I tell you what, talk about efficiency and competency from the department. Hence we would never expect anything with this.

HEATHER BARNES:
No, indeed.

LOUISE DORRAT:
So, now, while the language may be different, there is continuity between the way learning and development is recognised. So, across from a whole... from early childhood all the way to the primary school. OK. I got so excited, then I just flipped to the next bit. Alright. OK. So, now we're going to be talking about Section 1.1 of the transitional statement. So, this is completing a summative assessment. So, a summative assessment or an assessment of learning, it provides a summary of what the child can do. What does the child know? What does the child understand at that particular point in time that Heather was talking about before? Now a summative assessment evaluates the child's learning against the five learning and development outcomes. It provides a snapshot to evaluate and report on children's learning. It can help illuminate areas of strength and or areas where children need additional support, and it also provides information to staff, all the staff, and to families. Now, the last point summative assessment should be conducted at least twice yearly, but ideally multiple times throughout the year in order to highlight areas of strength and or areas where children need additional support when reflecting on program delivery.

So, this allows time to address these rather than completing the transition statements at the end of the year and not having a chance to address any of these areas of concern. Similarly, a second-year statement is completed in term four, the children who are attending a second year of standard four-year-old kindergarten. So, the second-year statement aligns with the transition statement and provides valuable information for the child's teacher and the following year by identifying how a child can best be sorted, be supported as they transition into a second year of four-year-old kindergarten. And for those of you who might also now be working in a three-year-old under the kindergarten programs. Thank you, Victoria Department. There is no requirement to complete the transition statement. However, of course, you might find that the transition statements are a useful tool to support summative assessments of children in your program. So, the information captured by a summative assessment is also really useful for families to understand their child's progress so that nothing in the transition comes as a surprise.

And it's also helpful for receiving teachers. So, whether they are in a four-year-old kindergarten program at your service or at a different service or a foundation teacher at a school it's valuable information. Now assisting assessment in kindergarten, the department has developed a new assessment tool called the Early Years Assessment and Learning Tool. So, this is affectionately known as EYALT. So, the purpose of the EYALT is to support summative assessments and planning. It aims to assist educators to draw on the knowledge of a child to assess their learning and development against the learning outcomes. So, no extra work, it supports what you already do. The online tool then develops a report that includes ideas for further learning goals and (INAUDIBLE) plans. So, a phased rollout of the EYALT in funded kindergarten programs will commence next year in 2023, following the tool being trialed by a number of services over the past two years and currently as well. So, the EYALT has been designed to support you, early childhood teachers, to populate the transition learning development statements.

So, this tool will provide clear and consistent information. It can be used in writing the transition statements and strengthening effective information sharing between kindergarteners and foundation teachers. So, more information about the EYALT can be found by visiting the department's website. And also Claire will put that, that bit there just as we speak. Claire will also put the information about the second-year funded four-year-old kindergarten and the EYALT if you want to express your interest, which what a great opportunity. And further information will be added to the site so that early childhood teachers can express their interest in using the tool in 2023 or attend a segment briefing. So, head to the department website. You can, I mean the links there, or you can search early years assessment learning tool. You can register for the information sessions that are being held from today to the 2 September, which is this Friday. You'll hear from DR Jane Page from Melbourne Uni and his and or and the service who are already using the tool in a short video.

And you can also read more about the evidence phase and benefits, which is an eight-page report. And you can also hear more about the support packages for services. And finally, you can apply for the expression of interest until the 16 September. So, over to Heather to talk about intentional teaching strategies. Thanks, Heather.

HEATHER BARNES:
Thank you, Louise. So, as you can see, this is the other part of Section 1.1. So, for each outcome, early childhood educators must write at least one intentional teaching strategy that has worked well for the child and is likely to support their continued learning progress when they start school. And these strategies, these helpful strategies that you can write in there can support the foundation teacher and remember the OSHC educator as well to plan curriculum the environment and get to know what works best for that child's learning style. So, think about what you know about a child and what you've learned from observing them participate in your program, and what you've learnt from what families have shared with you. And remember that there's still a whole term of learning ahead before they actually start school. We know that intentional teaching is defined as deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful. So, when thinking about intentional teaching strategies that you've used throughout the year, consider the following questions on the slide.

What have I observed that works well for the child? What tools, activities, or learning sequences bring out the best in that child? What's been or can be done to support the child's learning and development if there is a concern or a challenge? And what supports or external services are already in place? So, these pat, all of these bits of information are really helpful to the school. So, every child, yes, needs to tell the readers. And remembering that the readers are the families in the first instance and then school-based educators, whether in school or OSHC what learning and development has taken place. By best selecting those best descriptors from the learning outcomes that Louise was talking about, as well as including strategies that have been successfully used to support and extend that child's learning and development. So, what we want to encourage you to do is to try to make these as specific and concise as you can, because strategies that reference the individual child's abilities, dispositions, and interests are really helpful.

Use a strength-based approach when writing and using the TLDS for all children. That means writing in a way that shares what's worked well to support the child as well as what might worked in the school or OSHC setting to extend and support the child's learning. So, we'll explore strength-based approaches in a little bit more detail. So, as we just noted, strength-based, a strength-based approach focuses on each child's strengths and encourages educators to look for what the child can already do, what the child can do when provided with pedagogical support, and what a child might be able to do next. So, a strength-based approach encourages educators to identify what works for the child and when and how it works so that those strategies can be continued and developed when the child starts school. It supports foundation teachers and OSHC educators to identify strategies that would work in the new setting to extend upon a child's abilities, skills, and dispositions to learning. A strength-based approach recognises that children's learning is dynamic, it's complex, it's holistic, and we know that children demonstrate their learning in different ways, don't we?

So, a strength-based approach recognizes that children's learning is dynamic and complex, and holistic and that children will demonstrate their learning in different ways. You start with what's present, not with what's absent, and write about what works for that child. So, let's sum up some of these things. Strength-based approach or strength-based practice is opposite to a deficit-based approach. It's not only about positive things. It's not a way of avoiding the truth or accommodating bad behaviour. It's not fixated on problems. It's not about minimizing concerns. It's not one-sided. And it's not a tool to label individuals. In other words, it's not about describing a child's learning and development only in a positive light and neglecting to identify areas for further development or areas of concern. Nor is it about framing, learning, and development message in one way for families and another way for foundation teachers, and OSHC educators, it's about a consistent sharing of information.

So, a deficit approach can lead to a long list of things considered to be wrong with a child's learning and development. All things a child cannot do. The deficit approach model fails to provide sufficient information about what the child can currently achieve and strategies to support a child's continued learning and development throughout the transition to school process. There's a really helpful resource on strength-based approaches from the transition to school resource kit available from the department's website, which will have a look at now. So, this table is taken from Section 6.4 of the transition resource kit, and you can see that there's deficit-based language on the left and strength-based language on the right. So, if you can read that very pale and small font, just take a moment to have a look at some of those examples. Depending on how quick you are at skim reading, you may not have got to that bottom one yet, but I really love the way they've described that. So, the left-hand side is focused on what George can't do.

He can't speak English. And when you look at the strengths-based approach, it talks about his first language being Greek and that he communicates confidently in Greek with his family. And some of the things that have helped George's English development include using pictures and objects to show him what you're talking about and repeating simple phrases related to what he's doing and partnering him with a friend during new or whole group activities. Other children also learned some simple Greek words or greetings, colors, and numbers to share his culture and have him feel proud of the group. So, that... the right-hand side example is so much more useful. Wouldn't it be Cindy than that one on the left?

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Definitely, definitely much more useful. And it gives you I guess, a nicer picture of what he's going through rather than just saying he can't speak English.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, exactly. So, we are going to have another look at another one now. Thank you, there that's it. This is about Zainab. And when you have a look at this one in the descriptor, it tells the foundation teacher or OSHC educator that Zainab needs further support to be able to self-regulate. And then in the teaching strategy, it says that she benefits from adult prompts, reminders, and positive reinforcement. So, right when you're writing ECDs, when you're writing these statements, write what the teachers and educators in school settings need to hear to best support the child. And remember that there should be no surprises for parents. Sometimes we've heard foundation teachers saying, sometimes I just ring and have a chat to the kinder teach, because that's really helpful to me because I can hear it straight from the horse's mouth. But in fact, we want to have consistent messaging. And so anything that we tell the... anything the ECDs tell the prep or foundation teacher should be out there for parents to hear as well.

So, we're now going to do a little activity, which is going to give early childhood educators an opportunity to practice writing some teaching strategies. And educators from school settings can participate in this as well. So, let's have a look at this. So, think about one of the children in your kindergarten program. Describe an intentional teaching strategy that you have used that you think would be useful for the prep teacher to know about. Like that example, we've just looked at. And remember, as we emphasized earlier, to try to be specific, concise, and strength-based. In other words, ask yourself, what do the educators in the school settings need to know in order to prepare for this child? So, if you're a teacher in a school setting, think about a child in your current prep class and share an intentional teaching strategy that you found helpful when you received the TLDS, or that you would have found helpful if you received it. So, when you're writing these in the chat, don't worry about your spelling or mistakes or grammar or anything, we will do that.

Just make sure that you send it to everyone so you'll see that some on the bar there, it just says, make sure that you put it to everyone and we're going to read out and discuss some of these examples. So, start typing and we will be very, very interested to read what you've got. That's good advice, Claire. Thank you. We're not going to be sending everybody these chat notes. So, if you to, if you see a great idea from somebody else, make sure you cut and paste it. That's a good one Varney. Do you want to just elaborate a little bit more in case I know what you mean by zones of regulation? Perhaps not all educators do. So, just give us a little bit more detail. Imagine I'm the prep or foundation teacher that's going to be reading that. So, what do you mean exactly? I think most prep teachers do know bad zones of regulation, don't they Claire, Cindy? But it's better not to assume because sometimes they may really benefit from hearing exactly what it is that you are doing with the child.

Some people use zones of regulation differently.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And also, Heather, a reminder about being concise and specific.

HEATHER BARNES:
This is a great one, thank you, Mitchell. A foundation teacher, who is noting here that the TLDS mentioned giving a student longer and quiet eating time mention and crunch and extra five minutes of eating indoors in silence. Oh, I like that.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Munch crunch is a great strategy. We do it here as well. It's really good.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yes. Thanks, Claire. If anybody's feeling brave and you want to put your hand up, you can use that little icon where it says raise hand. And we always love to hear people actually talking. People get a bit nervous in large groups, but we love it. It's much more personal.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And Heather, look at (INAUDIBLE) one, Heather. At whole group storytimes, Dee is motivated to participate if he has something to hold.

HEATHER BARNES:
I like that, love it.

LOUISE DORRAT:
It's specific and it's concise.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah. And using visual prompts is a really. Thank you, Laura. That's a great example as well. We know that if they know that they're going to do this and then this and then this and then this, and it's all displayed visually, that really helps the child to do their mind shift, doesn't it, before they have to start packing up or whatever it is they need to do next. And having a quiet space in order to regulate their emotions. Most prep classrooms have got a spot where children can go to be a dark teepee with mirrors to help them regulate all of that. Good. These are terrific examples. Thank you, everyone. Keep them coming. Can you see any more that I've missed? Louise, It's hard to keep track.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Oh, there's so many, isn't there?

HEATHER BARNES:
Yes.

LOUISE DORRAT:
See that one from Isabel when supporting a child with this self-regulation, when overwhelmed, we provide a sensory item, to regulate his emotion. Yeah.

HEATHER BARNES:
Offering fidget toys or a chewing necklace. That's a useful one for a child who really needs that sort of support. Yeah. Items in boxes in the room. Yeah. Fantastic.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Simple instructions during transition times is also great and that's from Jessica.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah. Thanks.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And the routine and predictability as well. Where was that? They're coming in.

HEATHER BARNES:
They are, we can't keep up. I like that one about giving the child time to do, to say goodbye to their family during drop-off that's really important, isn't it? Or handing their child over to a friend rather than to an educator and giving them time to greet calmly.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Hey, Heather. I'd love to hear more from Wendy about the emotional boxes. If Wendy wants to be brave and put her microphone on.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, that would be really good. We'd love to hear about that, Wendy. If he can work out how to do it.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Raise and lower. Raise the hand.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah. These are really fabulous examples, everybody.

LOUISE DORRAT:
They are because they can source, they're specific and they're strength-based.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah. What about this one from Kim? About the child...

HEATHER:
will sit and participate in group time after being given a carpet square to sit on. So that's the spot, I love that, yeah.

CINDY:
I can see calm cards, which is a great strategy that they have on the wall so children can just look up and go, Oh, that's the right one for me. And they can just then do it by themselves.

HEATHER:
Yes, great.

LOUISE:
Is that like emotional boxes, Cindy, do you?

CINDY:
Well, I'm not actually sure, I'm hoping that Wendy pops their hand.

HEATHER:
Oh, Wendy, (CROSSTALK). Wendy, you could put a bit more info in the chat for us because we're all really interested in those.

LOUISE:
And here's a great line from Kylie. Encouraging the child to make their own choices supports the little engagement in the program. For example, how many minutes until you'd like to have a snack?

HEATHER:
Nice, I like that.

LOUISE:
For the child that needs that real structure.

HEATHER:
Yes, and eating when they're ready rather than being, you know, being driven by the clock. Lots of people are, oh I like the noise thermometer, reminding Susan to,

LOUISE:
(INAUDIBLE). Is the noise thermometer, tell more, please.

HEATHER:
I saw something like this in an early learning centre in Perth, it looked like the shape of an ear and it lit up in different colours, telling the children whether it was, you know, green obviously, the good noise level. And when it was getting a little bit too noisy, it went orange and then when it was thorough noisy, it went red. It was fantastic.

LOUISE:
Heather, not only would children with sensory issues benefit from that, I think all children.

HEATHER:
Oh, yes, indeed. Absolutely.

LOUISE:
With noise inside, it's just,

HEATHER:
And even if you can't get something fancy like those and both things, you can make your own, can't you? With little traffic light signs to say, you know, they're green, this is green, this is fantastic.

LOUISE:
Heather, Wendy is ready to speak.

HEATHER:
Oh good.

WENDY:
Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt where we've got. (CROSSTALK).

SPEAKER:
Wendy, you're there?

WENDY:
Yes, I am here.

LOUISE:
Oh, good. Thanks, Wendy.

WENDY:
Sorry, I've been trying to unmute myself, realizing that I can't control that.

HEATHER:
No no, the department has the power.

WENDY:
Of course. What specifically do you want to know? Because I can't remember the question after all that.

HEATHER:
You were telling us about these,

WENDY:
Emotional boxes.

HEATHER:
Emotional boxes.

WENDY:
Yes, so the children at the start of the day will put a photo in a selection of emotional boxes to say how they're feeling. And at the end of the day, we have a few different reflection tools. And one of them is utilizing the emotional boxes. We bring them out and we look in them to see where the children are by the end of the day. So if we've noticed during a session, a child has put themselves in worried or scared or anxiety and we've seen the emotion change during the day, we will sometimes reflect on that and see if that, how they're feeling and whether they want to change it into a different box. If we don't do it during the day, at the end of the day, we also then going to that and unpack that. So then we ask them if the photo still in the worried. Then we will say, well, how are you feeling now? And what has made you feel this way and acknowledge that it's OK, depending on where the conversation leads, acknowledging well, I noticed that you felt worried earlier because you missed your mom or dad or whatever the conversation is.

So we make links to how they're feeling and acknowledge the reason behind they feel that particular way, and that's OK. But it's also then finishing off at the end of the day in a positive way. Oh well, I can see now you're feeling very excited because you're coming to see dad now or your whatever, you've just had this wonderful time with this child and you've acknowledged that. So that is one of the things.

HEATHER:
Yeah, thank you so much.

WENDY:
At the nd of the day, we do a lot of reflection. So we have a talking time, or we just ask the question. We have another activity of respectful moments. So we acknowledge children on that. So, quite powerful in hearing their voices, what they're doing.

HEATHER:
Indeed, yes.

WENDY:
And how they feel when the day is gone.

HEATHER:
Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. And also, we have Sharfally, I think, who would also like to share about this.

SPEAKER:
Yeah, let me just unmute Sharfally. There we go.

SHARFALLY:
Hi, everybody.

HEATHER:
Hi.

SHARFALLY:
I just really saw this great idea because I was also implementing on it yesterday or day before yesterday, we did a book with children about the colour monster because there are a lot of children as it is coming towards the end of the term, you know, they're emotionally tired. They need all that support. So we started reading that book and in the coming weeks, we were also creating the jars about separating the emotions with the colours. And as children are introducing themselves to working on their language and literacy. So we will be using their name tags to put every morning what emotion they are feeling, and when they change throughout the week, they can, you know, change the, or the day, they can take their name tags and put it in the other feeling that they're going through. Because some of our children need assistance with the speech development. And I feel this is a great visual exercise for them to showcase their emotions and connect to each other.

HEATHER:
Yes, thank you so much for sharing. We could go on talking about all of these wonderful examples for ages, but I'm sure you all want us to finish on time, so perhaps we'd better wind up. But I just want to congratulate you all because I'm reading some fantastic, you're all being very specific and concise and clear and not too much detail, but enough detail. So, Cindy, if you were reading those on the receiving end, they would be really helpful, wouldn't they?

CINDY:
They are very helpful, trust me. They're amazing.

HEATHER:
Alright, thank you, everyone. We will hand over now to Louise, who we're going to investigate section 1.2.

LOUISE:
Yep, terrific.

HEATHER:
And keep on putting some more things in the chat if you want to.

LOUISE:
Oh, yeah, they're so beneficial. OK, so this next section, 1.2, we recommend that all educators complete this section to support children with a disability or a developmental delay. Now, a child doesn't need to have a clinical diagnosis for this section to be completed. But before filling in this section, you should discuss with the family how the information could be most helpful for the future school. And as you can see in the points on the slide, this section captures information from other early childhood professionals supporting the family and the child, and it lists reports or assessments that have been done and are available to support inclusion planning. So, if you have completed, for example, an Early Ables report for the child, you should mark that in this section. So, for those of you who don't know, Early Ables is an online assessment, a learning tool that can help early childhood educators develop and provide a more individualized learning experience for children aged 2 to 5 years with disabilities or developmental delay, and can be used to support and improve transition to school.

So as the slide says, the tool helps educators to observe and assess the child's progress in the learning, develop appropriate learning goals. So this is in collaboration with families and other professionals involved in the education and care of the child. Develop and further refine an appropriate individualized learning plan with teaching and learning strategies that have been found to work. Monitor progress along a likely progression of learning. So to be able to better support the development of the individual child's learning program using the earliest planning cycle and improve transition processes through consistent information sharing across services and schools. Now, although you can attach the actual report to the Transition Learning Development statement, it will alert the receiving teacher that one exists so that then they can get in touch with you and all the family to obtain a copy if they want. If you have any questions, you can e-mail the Early Ables inbox on earlyables.education.vic.gov.au.

So the disability inclusion form is being rolled out across Victoria so that government schools and families will benefit from resources, support and guidance. It began last year and will be progressively rolled out to other areas over the next five years. So this year, schools in Bayside Peninsula, Barwon, Loddon, Campaspe, Mallee, Central Highlands and outer eastern Melbourne areas have transitioned to Inclusion Disability Insurance. Guys, it is in my head that the scheme, So, disability inclusion profiles and now used in these areas and others that were part of the rollout last year to understand, and support students with a disability. So, the disability inclusion profile is a new strength-based process to help schools and families identify children's strengths and aspirations, as well as any educational adjustment or any additional funding requirement that may be needed. So the profile will typically be completed once a child has commenced school. Children might participate in the first profile meetings with their families, and their kindergarten teachers may also attend those meetings.

So if your kindergarten service is in an area that is already transitioned to the disability inclusion and you have a child attending your service currently who has that high complex needs. Well, you should encourage the family to contact the school for more information. So schools in other areas will continue to use the existing program for students with disability process until they transition to disability inclusion. Now, the final point of the slide, enhanced transition processes to support children with disability continue to be applicable in all areas across the stage. So more information is available on the links on this slide and they hopefully will be put into the chat as well and transition to primary school for children with the disability. You can access the disability inclusion rollout schedule on the link, Disability Inclusion and that will be put in the chat very soon as well.

HEATHER:
It's there.

LOUISE:
Oh, yes, of course, it's there. If only I just scrolled down. I was still up to all those beautiful and (INAUDIBLE). perfect. And also, as you know, you'll get all these slides emailed to you, so you've got them there as well. Now, the next slide, so, this section here is about involving the child. Now, as we said earlier, involving children in contributing to the transition statements is a key part of ensuring children are active participants in their transition. So families are encouraged to complete this section with a child, or it can be completed by the educators or teachers in the kindergarten program with the child. So now here is some great strategies that educators and families can use to support children's involvement in the transition process and the transition learning and development statements. So you may wish to talk with families about how they can prepare their child for school using some of these strategies on the slide. So, for example, creating opportunities for children to talk about school.

How are you feeling? What are you expecting? Any concerns that they might have. You can record or document the children's views about school, offer materials to draw, to try, to create, and express their feelings, provide dramatic play areas and props for children, I mean always that is important. specifically, so that they can role-play their experiences of school. Read lots and lots of books, that include stories about starting school and connect with schools virtually or on-site in alignment with the current advice. Now let's look at the family section. So partnerships with families are critical and encouraging their involvement in the transition statement is so important. The families, as we know, are the primary influence on children's learning and development. They have a long-standing relationship with and unique perspectives on their child, including valuable information about their strengths, their abilities, their interests, and, of course, their challenges. So having look at the points on the slide and remember to engage with families and children to learn more about their ongoing learning and development.

Discussing intentional teaching strategies like those great examples that you all gave with families before adding them so that there's no surprises. Encourage families' contributions to Sections two and three to capture their perspectives and insights. So, as we know, there's fabulous resources on the department website and even templates of letters to families that you could use to support families. And these are available in multiple languages. And the link is there, of course, there it is, 42 languages. Thank you, Clare. Now here's another opportunity for discussion. Let's hope it's just as fabulous as the previous one. So note in the chat, or if you'd like to speak as you know, you just click on the hand icon. And now let's look at the first question. Share Ways that you have successfully engaged with families that have helped you to understand more about children's ongoing learning and development. And what information have you received from families this year that you think could be used in the transition statements?

So, don't worry about spelling and let's just go. And I know one.

HEATHER:
Face-to-face meetings.

LOUISE:
Oh, face-to-face meetings, excellent.

HEATHER:
I was saying, (CROSSTALK).

LOUISE:
What did you say, Heather?

HEATHER:
I was just about to say that in one of the previous sessions, I was remembering that when I was a kindergarten teacher back in the Dark Ages, we used to be able to do home visits, and they were amazing to be able to go to the child's home. And, you know, they would be so excited to show us where they sleep or their favourite toy or make their dog or any of those kinds of things. And families seemed to really enjoy it because it was on their territory, not our territory. And yeah, there's some fantastic suggestions coming through in here.

LOUISE:
Parent-teacher interview communicating through story Park, terrific. Now, that second question, what information have you received specifically from any of these face-to-face meetings, emails that you could actually use? There's a good one from Michelle, that the parent told Michelle that when walking around the block, the child was writing out the numbers on the litter box, and that's a discussion about orderly even. So that's a great contribution.

HEATHER:
Yeah, well, remember last year, Louise, when we were doing the parent workshops around this school readiness and parents would say those sort of lovely stories, didn't they? About odd and even numbers and being able to recognise names on letterboxes and all sorts of things.

LOUISE:
Yes, and there were the spoon spills, so they'd be counting the spoons, they'd be discussing spoons, all of that family history and goals for children. So Sujata, she's talking about bilingual families need a lot of support. Having an educator speaking their language reduces their anxiety.

HEATHER:
Yes.

LOUISE:
Great comment.

HEATHER:
I like Kylie's contribution about having a Q&A evening to have the early childhood teacher and the prep teachers both attending and having asking questions and hearing the answers from two different perspectives, I love that.

LOUISE:
Yep, and Samantha's contributions, family photos of weekend events because that conversation doesn't end here they're on demand by, of course, what you've done and can be added to the documentation at Belinda, it would be good idea to give the family a heads up that you would like to have a chat with them at some point in the coming weeks to ask them, you know, for them to let you know what a good time would be. So that's very respectful, isn't it?

HEATHER:
It is.

LOUISE:
It is indeed so to meet the parents nights.

HEATHER:
And I think having anything that links the service with the home, like take the lovely idea of the take-home communication books or some services use a take-home toy with a book that the family then reads to the child at home, and then they share information about the story or how the child responded and so on. And sometimes services we were talking last week with Cindy about how sometimes services have, you know, a cuddly toy like a teddy or something that goes home and then the families encouraged to write about the toys' adventures and but we were saying how sometimes that can get quite competitive and I was sharing the story of that one Teddy that went to Paris with the dad on a business trip. I mean, that's just taking it a bit too far, isn't it?

LOUISE:
Yes.

HEATHER:
That anything that enables that communication is fabulous.

LOUISE:
Exactly, and there's lots of great examples here about excursions to the local schools and parent participation in the programs and informal discussions during these times. And now it's terrific that most services are allowing the parents into the room again because that's been a real.

HEATHER:
Yes.

LOUISE:
Yeah, very difficult to, because we're talking about relationships with the core and yet they haven't been able to be outside or they haven't been able to be in the room.

HEATHER:
Exactly.

LOUISE:
OK, so, we see oh my goodness, there is so many. Oh, Kylie, so this inviting a teacher, cause I imagining having someone like Cindy coming to the kindergarten and talking to the children and parents with that, what is expected that would be, Oh, come on, Vanny. We do lesson plans together with preps weekly. What else, my goodness?

HEATHER:
Those are my great ideas.

LOUISE:
So I think we'll wrap that feed up and,

HEATHER:
It's Cindy's hand.

LOUISE:
Cindy, over to Cindy, fantastic. Cindy, how on earth do these transition statements assist in the early years of the school? So unmute yourself, Cindy.

HEATHER:
I'm glad I'm not the only one having trouble.

CINDY:
It's been a long day today. We've had 100 plus more days of school. Sorry.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
So I'll actually summarise now. The TLDS, this is the early years of school in a number of ways. So it assists children's flow of learning by sharing strategies that have been successful in facilitating and supporting learning and development at the kindergarten, which is very valuable for us. It provides schools with children's individual outcomes identified in the VEYLDF and the first three levels of the Victorian Curriculum. It helps teachers to make curriculum decisions and plan appropriate learning and teaching programs for their students. And it assists educators in school settings to understand the children as an individual so that they can cater to the individual learning and development needs and to build strong relationships with the child and the family, which is vital for us as foundation teachers.

HEATHER BARNES:
Thank you, Cindy. So this next slide is for obviously directed at the teachers that are going to be receiving these little people. And the focus in the VEYLDF is a focus on continuity of learning, that children are supported to manage change, and that educators can help children to build social and emotional skills and strategies. And you can see this gorgeous image from the VEYLDF, the Integrated Teaching and Learning Approaches, that it promotes a balance between child-directed play and learning, guided play and learning and adult learning. So the integrated teaching and learning approaches involve the adults drawing on and moving between the three approaches in an interweaving way. So a really strong classroom lesson plan or program in early years is to have all three of those threads evident. So using a play based approach to teaching and learning as children start school provides them with familiar experiences and environments and ways of learning and supports their social and emotional learning well-being.

So as that quote there says, "Play is central to the concept of the integrated teaching and learning. Through play, children learn to make sense of and construct ideas about the social and the natural world, the people, the places, the objects and experiences that they encounter every day." When educators are intentional, deliberate, purposeful and thoughtful about using integrated approaches to teaching and learning, they base their planning decisions on children's strengths, abilities and interests, as well as what they already know and can do. So, as you can see on the left, this is more about play-based learning, we know that there are different types of play-based learning, so self-directed play, intrinsically motivated play, play based on positive emotions, process-oriented play and imaginative play. So Sohiberg has been very influential in writing about play. So, we need to think about what play-based learning is not. So when we're thinking about what myths might be around play-based learning, it's not just about letting children play, it's not about an unstructured classroom, and it's not necessarily about having stations where children can self-select from, and it's not always about child directed learning.

So allowing children to choose what they will do and to dictate the direction of the learning. So I was sharing at the last one of these sessions that in a prep Grade 1 classroom, composite class that I visited once, there was an amazing jewelry shop set up, which was supporting dramatic play, but it was also helping children to learn about money and problem solving. And there were strings attached from the roof down to the floor with bits of wool, really. And when I asked the children about these, they said that they were the laser beams to catch the thieves. So we know that there's amazing learning that can happen through play-based learning. Cindy, can you think of any other examples of play-based learning that you or your colleagues have used in prep classrooms?

CINDY PODHORSKY:
We actually do quite a bit of play-based learning, exploring. Just yesterday and the day before, we've actually started a new learning task in maths, which is just exploring weight in maths. So the first lesson literally was that I put out pen balances, digital scales, but also scales that you weigh yourself on. And the kids were just able to explore. The language that they came out with was amazing. The things that they figured out by themselves was amazing. During that session too, there obviously isn't enough for everybody to have one each, so they had to negotiate, they had to share, they had to contribute. You weren't allowed to be bossy, because when you're bossy, you get told off by all the children. It's actually a really good way to teach kids. And then yesterday, the session was, now that we had our exploration, was that they had a task which was very open-ended, they had to work in with the partner in little groups of three to make it balance. So I didn't tell them how they had to make it balance.

So they were able to choose things from around the room and they got so excited when they made, you know, the big teddy and three little teddies balance. So, just that ability to be able to, like you said before, problem solve, negotiate, compromise and do all those things that we need to do as we're growing up, but as adults as well, is a really good life lesson. And the kids love it, too.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, they sure do. Thanks, Cindy. And I think that that example really illustrates how important the adults are in children's play, even when the child is directing the play, because you set it up, you had the idea, you were intentional about the maths perspective that you wanted to draw into this play-based learning. And obviously, you set up an environment that was conducive to support active involvement and participation. So that's really crucial, isn't it? So for...

LOUISE DORRAT:
Heather, there's a great... Sorry to interrupt, there is a great example from Sarah that's similar, a Pokemon mess investigation because the children are very interested into Pokémon at the moment, which of course is so good to look at children's interests. And it took their engagement to the next level as well as reinforce their addition-subtraction skills.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, I love that example. (CROSSTALK). Oh, fabulous. And it's just an illustration about that when children are having fun, they don't sometimes realise they're learning, but my goodness, the learning that's happening when they're involved in play is incredibly important. So, for those of our colleagues that are school-based, there's some free online training for teachers in schools that's being delivered by the department in partnership with Deakin University, and the program is aiming to optimise opportunities for play-based teaching and learning in the early years of school, and to develop and strengthen teachers' knowledge and understanding of the role of play and inquiry, of course, in children's lives and learning. So it's a multifaceted program and it includes online modules and webinars and online community of practice and a resource bank to support the implementation of appropriate curriculum, design and pedagogical approaches. So Claire will be on the job and we'll have included that in the chat.

So Cindy, would you like to lead this next discussion?

CINDY PODHORSKY:
So this time, it's time to focus on teachers in schools. So once again, we'd love to hear from you all. So if... Well, I think we can see from you that you're very enthusiastic about sharing, which is fantastic. So you can click on the handle icon again or write into the chat. So here are the things that we'd love you to consider. So, in what ways have you used the TLDS in previous years to plan for your foundation class? How will they be useful to you this year? And for those of you who are new to this, how do you envisage you would use the TLDS? So let's go. Let's see what we can come up with.

HEATHER BARNES:
And if it's easier to raise your hand, we'd love to hear from you.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
One of my favourite parts of looking at the TLDS is the pictures that the children draw, just makes me happy for some reason.

HEATHER BARNES:
I think it's when they do their self-portrait, it's really interesting, too, isn't it? Because you see children that are just beginning to engage with drawing and it's a fairly simple round circle with maybe some features, but down the track, sometimes some children are very well developed and they've got years and all sorts of amazing things added.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
We actually do self-portraits in prep in term one, term two, term three and term four, and they hang up in our corridor and then at the end of the year we put it together so that kids can take it home to their parents. And just through that, you can see the progression of how they've moved throughout the year, which is lovely too.

HEATHER BARNES:
Oh, yes.

LOUISE DORRAT:
There's some great examples, Cindy, here.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Let's have a look. Yes, some work from Alisha. That's how we do, how it helps form our foundation classes for the following year. We also look through transition times at friendships as well from the kids from the same kinder. And that's also another helpful tool for us, is that even though they might go to the same kinder, they may clash. So that means that we probably put them in a different class. So information like that is great to have.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And Cindy, have a look at Sarah's. We've used the transition every year to set up our initial play area...

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah, I love that.

LOUISE DORRAT:
(INAUDIBLE) dramatic play, but next to the assessment section in 1.2 will be so useful because it gives the heads up about any additional needs or support that each child requires.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Yes. It's also good to know I see from Samantha, she's written that, The first few days as I was able to implement activities that complement, oh, it just shut up, the children's strengths, which is also a great thing, and to have things ready that you know that the children like, so they feel more comfortable coming into the classroom is good.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And look at this for self-reflection must have meant earlier they have used deficit language, but now they are confident to use strength-based language.

HEATHER BARNES:
Right. Excellent.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Very courageous to say that.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yeah.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
Yeah.

LOUISE DORRAT:
So we'll continue.

HEATHER BARNES:
I think that's over to you, Louise.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Yes, alright. Terrific.

HEATHER BARNES:
That's everyone.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Yeah. Haven't the discussions been amazing?

HEATHER BARNES:
They have.

LOUISE DORRAT:
So what do the information sharing and family violence reforms do? Yes, let's just take it down a notch here. So, as many of you know, they build upon a complement existing child or family well-being and safety responsibilities and practices in early childhood set services in schools. Now, information sharing schemes do not replace current obligations and authorisations to share information such as child safety standards, mandatory reporting, privacy or criminal law and reportable contact, but they can be used alongside the transition statement. So, for example, information not suitable to be shared in the transition statement example, well-being or safety concerns, can be shared under the schemes. So information sharing entities, called ISEs, are authorised to request and share relevant information with each other to support children's well-being and safety when certain requirements for sharing a met. So kindergartens, long daycare services, outside school-hours, services and schools, including government, Catholic and independent, became information sharing entities, so ISEs, as part of the reforms a couple of last year in 2021.

So the benefits of information sharing are outlined in the information sharing and family violence reforms, which of course Claire has put in the chat then. Now, here's some further links for information about child protection, privacy and sharing information. And as you can see, there's also a phone number provided and a link to register for webinars and elearning modules as well. So, here are some more phone numbers. And also extra support services for family violence and other support services. And Claire has put in a few another an extra link there and another one there, that's for the sharing webinars. So that brings us to the end of the workshop. Now, as we've said in the chat, these slides will be made available on the department site and also included in an email to you after all the workshops have been completed. And which the last one of these sessions is next Tuesday, the 6th of September at 3:00 to 4:30. So there may be other colleagues interested. So please spread the word, that's the last one.

Now, a link to a SurveyMonkey evaluation of today's session has been posted in the chat. It only takes a couple of minutes. So we'd really appreciate it if you just clicked on that link now, that would be fantastic, get done and dusted. And it's the aim to have the certificates of attendance sent through to your email address in the coming months. So please wait at least four weeks before you follow it up. And there are also links to supports and resources available to assist you, which, you know, have been so extraordinary in posting all of those links this week, the minute that we talk about it. The online transition statement is a very user friendly tool. So if you know how to do online shopping or banking or the KIM system, you'll be fine. However, for those of you who are a little unsure, it might be a first time, State Library Victoria will provide video instruction, phone and email support as well. As you know, the department positions to school website has lots of information including family resources and guides in completing the transition statement, as we saw in 42 languages no less.

And an email address that is specific to transition is provided in case you have further queries or concerns, and someone will respond to you as soon as possible. And links to the disability inclusion site and to the professional learning program on play-based learning program are included as well. So, thank you, everyone, for joining us. And we have a couple of more minutes, so either we have time to ask the question in the chat or if you could write down what's one thing that you've taken away from this session too?

HEATHER BARNES:
Louise, I've just answered then question from Suzanne about when these transition statements are meant to be sent across to the schools. And I was explaining that they're usually completed early November, some teachers start them earlier, that's if they can't be completed too early because you need to use all that wonderful information that you're gathering about children in order to be able to complete them to the best of your ability. So it's, I think, using the suggestion from Louise earlier, try and complete in the school holidays, if you haven't been lucky enough to have admin support in your service to help you do that first bit, start doing some of those bits early so that when you are actually starting to complete them you'll be such a whiz at it. Therefore, if it's your very first time, you might find that it takes you quite a while to do your first one. But after you do the first one, you'll have worked it out. So I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. And just remember that each of your funded kindergarten programs have received funding from the department to cover to give you time to actually complete those statements.

And yes, they do need to allocate your time to complete these statements. So I was reading your mind. (LAUGHS).

LOUISE DORRAT:
Yes, and there's a great timeline in the Victorian (INAUDIBLE) as well. And it reminds us to focus on the children with high support needs and additional needs first, is that right, Heather? So that that information can be...

HEATHER BARNES:
Yes, that can be sent to the school early so that they can be prepared for that particular, you know, to put in particular supports and things.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Yes, and Jessica is feeling more confident now. And it's her first time, isn't that that makes her heart (INAUDIBLE) Jessica?

HEATHER BARNES:
Oh, and there's another one here that says she's been writing them for many years, and now they've evolved over time, becoming more strength-based and supportive of the child's needs and (CROSSTALK) to school. That's fantastic.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Isn't that right? And this beautiful strength-based chapter in the transition KIT which Heather spoke about before will further increase your skills.

HEATHER BARNES:
And Carly, the timeline is in the transition of positive start to school KIT that will be in the links or on the department's website.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And also, Heather, (CROSSTALK) we were talking about before, it should be not a massive job because they've been doing summative assessments throughout the year.

HEATHER BARNES:
Yes, indeed.

LOUISE DORRAT:
And it's about being concise and strength-based. And what was the other word, concise, and specific (INAUDIBLE) on, isn't it?

HEATHER BARNES:
That's it, yeah.

LOUISE DORRAT:
Cindy needs to know to prepare that child for school next year. So pretend you're Cindy.

HEATHER BARNES:
Fantastic.

CINDY PODHORSKY:
(INAUDIBLE) a question, Heather or Louise. It's a tick box to contact the teacher still on the forms?

HEATHER BARNES:
That's a good question, (UNKNOWN), I'm assuming it is.

STUDENT:
We're just having that discussion ourselves, actually. I also assume that it is, but I would need to check. (CROSSTALK), it's been a while since we've been (CROSSTALK) to look at that.

LOUISE DORRAT:
I've found the time on here, and it says to start in October and get the families involved in November, and then sent to the family prep teacher after and (UNKNOWN) at the end of November. So that's (INAUDIBLE).

HEATHER BARNES:
Good.

LOUISE DORRAT:
But the children with additional needs earlier on, which...

HEATHER BARNES:
Yes.