Further resources:

• Ensure that children are school-ready by sharing the Starting Reception document with parents. Starting Reception was created by a coalition of education groups and outlines a set of personal, social, emotional and physical skills that parents can practise with their children to prepare them for school in September.
• Anna Ephgrave, former Assistant Headteacher, consultant and author of The Reception Year in Action shares some tips on how to ensure a successful Transition to Reception in this blog.
• Share this Starting Primary School toolkit from BBC Bitesize with new parents.
• Scottish BookTrust’s Bookbug programme has a range of resources that teachers can access to support pupils as they start school.
• Explore the resources available from PACEY, the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, to help schools and parents ensure children have the skills they need to ensure a successful start in school.
• Build a strong school community around reading by signing up for the Picture Book Club, a fully-resourced, peer-led book club for primary schools.
• Explore a range of transition activities from early years and primary learning resource site Mrs Mactivity but note the templates are only available with full membership.
• The National Literacy Trust’s Hot Topics: New Beginnings resource has reading recommendations, creative writing prompts and ideas to promote oracy skills that can be used with pupils aged 4-14. Available to download with their free membership.
• Mentally Healthy Schools is a mental health information and resource hub for primary and secondary schools. It offers access to a range of resources to support transition across all ages, including a My Moving up to Secondary School booklet for pupils, parents and carers to work through together.
• The Summer Book Club is a transition project for new Year 7s that aims to promote reading for pleasure and help build a sense of community through a shared reading experience.
• Create a community around reading in the autumn term and enable all new Year 7s to choose a book to keep by signing up for Bookbuzz, BookTrust’s subsidised book gifting programme for secondary schools.
• Share these five top tips with pupils moving up to secondary schools from Christian Foley, former teacher, poet and author of Moving Up: How to Ace Secondary School.
• Download a set of My Transition Journals from Scottish Book Trust to support your pupils during the transition from primary to secondary school. The journal includes a mood tracker, space for recording new experiences and favourite books, as well as blank pages for some creative doodling.
• The Rooted in Reading Transition Passports are designed to encourage pupils to keep reading over the summer holidays and provide secondary teachers with an insight into pupils’ reading interests and practices.
• LGBT+ charity Just Like Us offers free resources to support LGBT+ pupils through transition as part of School Diversity Week. All resources are free to download with registration.
• Moving Up! provides a short animation and free teacher toolkit that explores common fears and potential solutions for pupils about to move or newly arrived at secondary school.
• The BBC, in partnership with mental health charity Young Minds, has created a series of films and ‘Find your Feet’ activity packs to help schools support pupils as they transition from primary to secondary school.
• Get advice on how to support pupils through the change from primary to secondary schools with this free Find Your Feet webinar for teachers from Young Minds. You can also download packs of transition activities for pupils and find tips and resources to share with parents.