Transitions Information

For those of you who have been enquiring about information on transitions in recent days, today's post should be very useful. For links to reports and guidance on a range of different transitions, read on...

A good starting point is Early Childhood Transitions Research: a Review of Concepts, Theory and Practice; this is a 2008 publication from the Bernard van Leer Foundation which gathers together much of the literature already published on this topic.

The previous government carried out plenty of research on various transition types. Here's a list of them with links to the relevant reports, though bear in mind that if any official policies are stated, then they may not necessarily be the policy of the current government:

• A Study of the Transition from the Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1

• The Early Years Transition & Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project

• What Makes a Successful Transition from Primary to Secondary School?

• Transfer and Transitions in the Middle Years of Schooling (7-14): Continuities and Discontinuities in Learning

• The Impact of School Transitions and Transfers on Pupil Progress and Attainment

• Strengthening Transfers and Transitions: Partnerships for Progress

Two other documents that may be useful are A Transition Guide for All Services: Key Information for Professionals About the Transition Process for Disabled Young People (a publication from the Department of Health under the previous government) and Support for Care Leavers, a 2009 Ofsted report which examines how effective strategies and services can help improve the quality of life for care leavers and assist them to make successful transitions into adulthood and independence.

Finally, the Teaching Expertise site has plenty of articles which are filled with practical tips on managing various transitions within education. There are far too many to list them all here, but if you do a search for 'transition' in the site's search box then you'll find lots of reading to keep you busy for a while.