All services with a funded kindergarten program are required to provide a transition statement for each child starting prep the following year.
There may be circumstances where completing a transition statement isn't possible, like:
- recent resignation of a qualified staff member
- qualified staff member away on leave
- having difficulty recruiting to a position or multiple staff members in the role over a period of time.
In these circumstances it's helpful to have these noted in the ‘context of the early years setting’ section in section 1 of the transition statement. Specifically, the following should be noted:
- staffing circumstance
- period of time the relief, temporary or new staff person has worked at the service specified
- that information contained in the transition statement has been prepared on the basis of existing records and observations recently made.
The service still needs to provide a statement for each eligible child and should consider how best to manage this given the circumstance. Possible approaches could be to:
- seek the assistance of another educator who has spent a longer time with the children to write and/or coordinate the transition statements, under the guidance of a qualified educator
- discuss and negotiate with the local schools the possibilities of a later date for forwarding the transition statements.
If a child leaves a kindergarten during the year
If a child leaves the kindergarten program before the usual time transition statements are created, early childhood educators should discuss the child’s learning and development with the family before they leave.
A transition statement may provide the child's future service or kindergarten with useful information about their learning and development.
Updated