To ensure children starting in primary school are supported as fully as possible, a wide range of resources and support materials have been prepared and published by both the Department of Education (DE) and the Department of Children, Disability, Equality and Integration (DCDEI).
- They include:
Let’s Get Ready, a resource to provide guidance for parents, teachers and Early Learning and Care (ELC) practitioners in supporting children’s transition from ELC settings to primary school, available at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a8d8f-ready-for-school/ - The Let’s Play Ireland website: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/lets-play-ireland/
- Guidance developed by NEPS on how the transition from pre-school to primary school can be supported, available at https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/govieassets/77926/a9fd6c42-4262-457b-95b5-49b44f148b0c.pdf
- A series of short webinars, entitled Insights, developed by the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, that address a range of topics relevant to teachers of infant classes in primary schools and include a focus on transitions, available at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c71c0-insights/; https://www.gov.ie/ga/foilsiuchan/leargas/
- 70,000 transitions packs are being made available to parents to support children starting school. Each pack includes the Mo Scéal template developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), available at https://ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/mo-sc%C3%A9al) and a postcard for children transitioning from ELC settings to share with their primary school teacher