Was there a big jump from Infants to Juniors?

[UndertheCedartree]

Just wondering what to expect really. The first change I am aware of is that instead of walking straight to their classroom they are dropped off in the junior playground. What other changes are there likely to be?

Mine walked straight into their classroom in YR! There needs to be transition meetings between the schools and parents will have a meeting at the junior school so questions can be answered.

Usually it’s about becoming more self reliant. Although I believe a good infant school should do this! More sport so kit has to be remembered. More clubs to join and more DC walk to school. Far greater music opportunities as instrument tuition should be offered. More trips to support the curriculum.

I think the main thing is greater self reliance and possibly having different teachers for different subjects.

Thanks @bubblesbuddy - we have all been hoping there will be a meeting but nothing organised so far!

Is it a separate junior school or just moving from KS1 to KS2 within one school?

It is a seperate Juniors but on the same site.

In our primary school there's no afternoon play for juniors. Morning play with juniors only, mixed at lunchtime.

No, they just used a different entrance.

It's probably not such a big thing as if they were going to a separate place then. Usually it does mean dropping an afternoon playtime and having different assemblies but other than that it's just a natural progression.

Very little difference really. Generally they drop afternoon play, and, in London anyway, they’re not entitled to the free fruit anymore. Other than that, it’s much the same.

My dc1 found the jump from reception to year 1 harder than the jump from infants to juniors.

Paying for school meals. The KS2 choir is less harsh on the ears...
For me, it's easier as the Y3/4 playground is nearer the school entrance. Little difference otherwise - used to be a move to an upstairs classroom but Y2 was upstairs too.

I'm a primary teacher - have taught all the primary year groups - and I have primary-aged DC. IMO, parents worry a lot about the transition into KS2 as it seems a big jump. There will often be a change of location - either a different building or perhaps a different part of the school, a new playground and sometimes different arrangements for dropping off (in my school, for example, KS1 are dropped at the classroom door but KS2 are dropped at the gate and make their own way to classrooms). Also no free school meals or free fruit!

However, in terms of learning, there really isn't a big jump. I agree with PP that the biggest jump is between Reception and Year 1, and maybe also between Year 3 and 4. The thing the children usually worry about most is the playground with bigger children, but they tend to get used to it very quickly.

My daughter is also moving up to Juniors this year, and it’s also a separate school on the same site. So she’s already familiar with the grounds and layout, which is good. They spent a few mornings in their new class at the end of the last school year. I think the main approach Juniors take is really encouraging more independence from the start, to start preparing them for secondary school from the word go. In Infants parents were still ‘allowed’ to go into the classroom in the mornings with children, even up to Yr 2. My daughter goes to breakfast club though, so she’s used to going in to her class and putting her stuff away without me or her dad there. At the meeting we had at Juniors, they said it’s little things like if we write a message to the teacher in her home journal, it’s up to the child to give it to the teacher so it’s read, they don’t check for messages as a routine (although you can also email them directly).

All in all, my daughter is looking forward to it, although I’m sure she’ll be a bit nervous the first morning.

OP. It’s dreadful there has not been a meeting for new parents! Crap Head would be my main worry! Do they like parents! How odd not to have a meeting for them.

My DDs both moved to a junior school adjacent to their infant school and I wouldn’t say the junior school actively welcomed parents, but they did have a meeting to go through routines, uniform, expectations and introduce the PTA. Your school seems a bit remote - I hope they will improve.

OP. It’s dreadful there has not been a meeting for new parents! Crap Head would be my main worry!

Interesting. Is it a different head OP? The schools I know like this are essentially the same school with the same head hence everyone here saying there's no big change, and I would guess that's why no meeting for parents too, since they're not really new

I have taught for 15 years, many in Year 3, and have never worked in a school where they build a parents' meeting for moving into Year 3! It would be like holding one to move from Reception to Year 1. Why build it up into a bigger deal than it is? It's not like moving from a separate infant to junior school.

We have an optional parents session at the start of every year for every year group going through things like class routines, brief topics in the curriculum and the like!

My eldest is moving infants to juniors (separate school but they work closely together) and I think there's been a prospective parents meeting, a confirmed new parents meeting, an afternoon for us to be shown around with our kids by some of the older kids and a load of visits between the sites for the kids as well. I have a child that particularly struggles with transitions and they've prepared them all so well.

I did assume it was a separate but adjacent school. Many schools do arrange a meeting to talk about KS2 even if they are a through primary school. If it’s the same school, there isn’t a huge change. Particularly if the school is small.

I have been a governor of a junior school in the same village as an infants school. Two Heads but they liaised closely and parents did have a meeting at the junior school in the summer term. Exactly the same happened at the two schools my DDs went to and they shared a campus site. Far less evidence of the Heads working together but there was still a meeting for parents. I really meant it was a crap Head if this was the situation. If it’s one Head and essentially the same school, that’s not such a challenge. But, different Heads, different ethos, different curriculum, different uniform and a different daily routine in a different school does warrant a meeting.

Thanks for the answers - very informative. The infant and junior schools are a federation so they have the same principle. The schools are large so there are 3 different heads over the schools. I'm sure I'm making a bigger thing of it than necessary. The main thing is we don't pick up from the outside door of the classes (as all infant classes have an outside entrance to the outside area they use for free-flow) and I'm not sure where I will have to pick her up from.

I have now discovered that my dd was given a booklet written by her Y3 buddy. Seems the main differences are they have assembly every morning - infants have it a couple of afternoons a week and they start learning French. My dd thinks her new teacher is nice so hopefully all will be a smooth transition!

I'm sure I'm making a bigger thing of it than necessary
I think we so often do. We are watching and it feels really big to us but for our children it often feels more like a natural progression, something they go along with as part of a group.

@DippyAvocado - it is pretty normal to have a parents meeting when dc are new moving in to a school.
If you've worked in all trhough Primaries, that is quite different from the Infant and Junior schools being separate schools. I've worked in both.