School transition days - cancelled

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Have primary (reception or p1) transition sessions been cancelled where you live?

Our school says this has had to happen on guidance from the council. I just wondered if this is happening nationally or only in our area?

It's such a shame for the children, their needs are being placed at the lowest possible priority and it's just so unfair. Hospital admission rates are barely rising even with the recent rises in cases. It feels like every excuse is going to be made forever to prevent a return to normal for children.

YANBU. Kids have been thrown under the bus during this whole shitshow. Though plenty of people will be along soon to tell you how it’s all for the greater good.

Primary and secondary transitions cancelled here. I am very lucky that because of DS additional needs (and the ehcp which states he needs extended transition period) he is being able to go in but none of this classmates are sadly

It’s hanging in the balance -and we’re in a local national ‘leader’ area for high Covid levels. If it was legal necessity, you think they’d have cancelled it by now..

Our secondary has half the bubbles isolating at the moment. Mixing a couple of hundred other kids from loads of different schools just for a few hours doesn't sound sensible to me at the moment. If one of them later tests positive, how many families would need to self isolate, with impact on their end of term events, holiday childcare and holiday plans. It's just not worth it.

It'll be ok, they will just start the transition stuff on the first day like last year's lot did. We had a lot of videos home to watch with DC too in the summer, introducing staff and showing them round the school.

Transition days are a relatively new thing. I'm sure all children will adjust well. Sometimes it takes a while to settle in, with or without a transition day.

All transition days cancelled in our school and it is because of the mix of children from different bubbles inside. We have moved it so that they get a day in the week before term starts.

Have to say I don't really see it as that big a deal. So long as the schools spend their first day familiarising them with routine and how everything works, then its no different doing it at the start of term than the end. In fact kind of makes more sense.

@MrsFin

Transition days are a relatively new thing. I'm sure all children will adjust well. Sometimes it takes a while to settle in, with or without a transition day.

It’s over 30 years since I started and they where happening then so it’s not that new!

All the (private and state) transitions have been cancelled here. Poor DD has never really seen her new secondary school because all the open days etc were cancelled too. They are instead running an outside tea for each tutor group (only 15 children).

Our primary has had to partially close this week due to active Covid.

Year R visits have already happened. Secondary transition has been cancelled ages ago, infants to juniors was going ahead with more distancing (staying outside the building!) but now the infants has at least 2 positive cases so any more visits will probably be cancelled. Which is a bit pointless as most of us have children at both schools anyway as its a cohort with a big sibling group. However, the schools have to do their best, follow all the rules however illogical they actually are. Fortunately having a sibling at the juniors anyway means youngest is pretty clued up on how it works. More difficult for some of the others.

Just another small, petty way in which our children have been fucked over this year. There's no big money to be made in holding transition days, or sports days, or end of year trips so fuck the kids. Big sports events though, they're fine. I'm so so fed up with this shit, and furious on behalf of my shy four year old who will have to go into a strange classroom on his own in September.

Dds year 6 transition evening went ahead this week. In tutor groups, mainly outside, but otherwise very normal. We are in a fairly low numbers area though. They’ve also been doing sports events against other schools and had trips and residential going on. Very much seems to be how the local authority and school leadership have interpreted the guidelines.

High school teacher here (on my break and need escapism after my Year 9s!). I am a year 7 tutor and we had transition in August last year for one day. I think the usual three days is brilliant and the kids missed out on feeling secure in the school. Year 7s seem to have no identity as a school - no assemblies to meet head or year heads. No interform sports etc. It is such a shame.

As a school though we are dictated to what we can and can't do. Covid is rife here - one local primary is shut and others with missing bubbles. We have Year 8 and 10 half empty due to tracking and testing.

Although kids will catch up academically to the ancient curriculum - socially it will take longer. My form have not yet 'grown up' to high school levels, which they normally would have by now.

Mrsfin I am 50 and I had a transition day (39 years ago!)

My child is on a secondary transition day today. They are doing it one school at a time rather than having all feeder schools go on the same day.

@MrsFin

Transition days are a relatively new thing. I'm sure all children will adjust well. Sometimes it takes a while to settle in, with or without a transition day.

Exactly this, they weren’t around 15 years ago in my area.

Nope I have 2 on Monday, one primary to secondary, one primary to a new primary (attached to the same secondary). Still going ahead as far as I know.

Certainly when I was young we didn't have transition days. My children didn't in primary school only one day when they went to secondary school.
I'm sure they'll be fine without them.
Case's are rising in our area quite steeply so don't think adding more children to the mix would be a good idea.

Into Reception and Reception to Y1 still going on here

At the moment my sons Y7 transition fortnight is still going ahead where their new tutor group will be their new bubble and they won't come into contact with the rest of the school allegedly.

DS’s future secondary has changed the timing so they will have a shorter day, will have them mostly outside or in the PE hall, and will be keeping them in their primary school bubbles but it is still going ahead.

10 day Summer school from end of July is as well.

Our P7s got a Friday afternoon in high school as a compromise. They didn't go on the same day as the other feeder primary schools and the high school kids are not there in Friday afternoons. That was it.

No thankfully.Ds 7 has been on his transition visit this morning

We're NW and my DC's transition day for Reception, parents meeting and other bits have all been cancelled.

Same for DN who is going to high school, all cancelled. So as it stands, her first time stepping foot in the school will be her first day of yr7.

Reception will have transition in September at our school apparently. They usually stagger entry a bit with a gradual introduction anyway so I don’t see the big deal of missing a visit before summer. They’re all in the same boat. Concern here is apparently the reception staff being taken out/forced to isolate by a transitioning child that has covid - that would be an utter nightmare for their current class, who have to take priority at the moment.

Transition days are still on here as each year is a bubble and they are all moving on the same day, classroom sanitisation in between.