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Research about transition to school

Research projects to support a positive start to school. Open all

The department has released two new reports: a Rapid Literature Review undertaken by ACER and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, and a Practice Review by Deakin University on ‘Early years transitions: support for children and families at risk of experiencing vulnerability’.

The Rapid Literature Review highlights Australian and international evidence-based practices for supporting children and families experiencing vulnerability in early years transitions. Building upon this review, the Practice Review identifies promising practices, strategies and gaps across Victoria.

A statewide survey was conducted, receiving 309 responses from early childhood education and care professionals, school principals and teachers and education policy and program staff. Focus group discussions and interviews were held with 126 professionals and 19 family members.

Both reviews emphasise the importance of:

Fact sheets

Full review

Practice Review

We commissioned John McCartin, Lecturer Early Childhood Education at Victoria University, to undertake a literature review that summarises evidence and provides strategies to address the differences that some boys and girls experience in their transition to school.

The literature review was used to inform the revised Transition: A Positive Start to School Resource Kit.

The review found that most children irrespective of their gender navigate the transition from home and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services to primary school successfully.

There is also a significant body of educational and developmental research on gender, which suggests that boys and girls enter primary school with comparable levels of cognitive and academic skills, but with significant variance in their language, social, emotional and behavioural abilities.

It has been suggested that when these variances are not effectively addressed that boys in particular are at greater risk of suffering from a poor transition, which can result in disengagement and/or poorer educational outcomes in their schooling.

Full literature review

Across the first half of 2015, Semann & Slattery, on our behalf, conducted a series of consultations (the Consultation) across Victoria.

The Consultation obtained qualitative feedback from key stakeholders that will further strengthen the department’s understanding of current transition approaches, including transition learning and development statements and supporting resources.

626 people contributed to the Consultation, and the department would like to thank all those who contributed their valuable ideas and feedback at the face to face consultations as well as through the online survey.

Full report

The department engaged Monash University and Semann & Slattery (in collaboration with Macquarie University) to deliver the Supporting Reciprocal Visits project across 2014 and 2015.

The purpose was to increase understanding for teachers through collaboration and shared professional learning. The project implemented a learning program consisting of reciprocal visits and professional learning sessions at four sites in Victoria (Carrum Downs, Bendigo, Banyan Fields and Puckapunyal).

Throughout 2014 and 2015, teachers and educators from neighbouring schools and early childhood programs worked together to build a better understanding of transition processes within and across their contexts.

Data was collected from the participants about the effectiveness of the program, including focus groups, evaluation protocols and professional learning videos.

Full reports

Monash University:

Semann and Slattery:

The Commonwealth Department of Education and Training released Continuity of Learning: a resource to support effective transition to school and school age care, developed by Charles Sturt University.

The resource includes effective transition practices that reflect the experiences of children, families, educators and communities as they support transitions to school and school age care.

For more information, refer to Continuity of learning .

The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) undertook a series of consultations with early childhood education and care services, family support services and schools.

The consultations investigated the practical implications and applications of the findings from an earlier literature review on the key enablers and barriers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experiencing a positive transition to primary school.

Report

This world-leading research provides the first evidence to support an understanding of how to measure the outcomes and indicators of a positive transition to school.

Building on recommendations from the 2009 project, this research aimed to develop and test tools for measuring the outcomes and indicators of a positive transition to school for children, parents/families, early childhood educators and school teachers in Victoria.

The project was undertaken by the Centre for Community Child Health (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Royal Children’s Hospital) in partnership with Victoria University (authors of the ‘Outcomes and indicators of a positive start to school’) and the Clinical Epidemiological and Biostatistics Unit (CEBU) of the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).

Report

The department conducted a follow-up evaluation to determine how specific groups - early childhood professionals, prep teachers and outside school hours care (OSHC) services - were engaging with the Transition: A Positive Start to School initiative in its second year. Highlight results showed that:

Other interesting findings pointed to stronger relationships between early childhood and school professionals, and that early childhood professionals value acknowledgement and feedback as a way of improving the quality of information provided to prep teachers.

Evaluation report

This action research project was undertaken in 15 sites, largely comprised of an early childhood service and a primary school, across Victoria. The research explored the efficacy of three promising practices - buddy programs, family involvement and reciprocal visits for educators - in supporting a positive transition to school for children, families and educators.

The project was undertaken by the Equity and Childhood Program, Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne.

Reports

Report summary

An evaluation of the Transition: a positive start to school initiative was conducted in 2010. The intention of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of what has been designed to date and to inform refinements and further improvements to the initiative. The final evaluation report is now available.

The report contains 13 recommendations directed at the department and three recommendations for professionals in the early childhood and schooling sectors, which aim to enhance the future implementation of the initiative.

Report

Victoria University undertook research to identify the outcomes of a positive transition to school for children, their families and educators and to establish indicators to measure these outcomes.

Report

To inform government policy and expand the local evidence base on what works in supporting children’s transition to school, 30 pilots were funded though the Transition: a positive start to school initiative. The pilots trialled, or extended, a range of transition approaches in a diverse range of Victorian communities. The pilots ran from October 2008 to May 2009.

The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Program Evaluation (CPE) was commissioned to conduct an independent evaluation of the 30 transition to school pilots. A theory-based evaluation approach was used to inform the collection of a range of data on the perceptions and experience of implementing the pilots.

Report

The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood (CEIEC) undertook a review of international literature concerning young children’s transition to school.

The review addressed the question:

What are the key findings and issues for improving transition into prep for children, their families, local communities and early childhood education and care professionals in Victoria?

The Linking Schools and Early Years (LSEY) project was a partnership between:

LSEY’s six-year project (2006-2012) sought to inform policy development, build research evidence and provide a model of practical, effective, low-cost, place-based strategies.

This enabled schools, early years services, families and the community to work collaboratively to overcome barriers to children’s learning and development, and for children to arrive at school ready to engage and be successful at school.

The LSEY project complemented the Transition: a positive start to school initiative. For more information, refer to Linking Schools and Early Years.

Education & training

Updated 26 March 2026

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