Some children may need particular help, including from other agencies, to ensure that their transition is as smooth as possible. Research suggests that transitions are central to young children’s development and emotional wellbeing. How the first transitions are handled can have a significant impact on a child’s capacity to cope with change in the short and long term and impact on the progress they make from their starting points.

HFL Education has been commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council to undertake a Transition Project to review and develop transition processes for children aged between 3 and 5 years across Hertfordshire.

The project is designed to further improve the early identification and support for all children, particularly those with potential barriers to learning.

For further information please click here to go to the HFL website: https://www.hfleducation.org/school-improvement/early-years/supporting-smooth-transitions

Secondary Transitions

In addition to the above work, DSPL3 have identified that a smooth and robust transition plan into Secondary School is vital to give our children the best chances of success.

Our Secondary Outreach Teacher already provides transition support and is highly valued by our schools. To compliment that work, and following the success of our first event in 2025, our SENCO Transition Day will now be an annual event.  This year's Transition Day will be held on Tuesday 5th May 2026 at Herts & Essex Sports Centre Bishop's Stortford (9 - 3.30pm).:

• SENCO ‘speed-dating’ transition Meeting – A face-to-face meeting where each Secondary school will be set up in a hall at a desk, and Primary schools will have booked a time slot with them. This should ensure sharing of information and discussions of pupil’s strengths/needs/EHCP plans, to give greater depth of understanding about the pupils that are transitioning to their schools and to generally get to know them better and pass information over. The idea is that by the end of the day almost all pupil information has been passed over from Primary SENCO to Secondary SENCO. We will have various other professionals in attendance on hand too that may be useful/relevant to the process.
• DSPL3 has written a Transition Guidance document  - please see PDF below.  This helps to detail what a good transition might look like.  This document contains information that can be used by families, Primary and Secondary Schools to give an all-round and collaborative, robust transition for the pupil.

Transition ‘train-the-trainer’ Workshop

A training session delivered by Alison Lindsell to Year 6 teachers, SENCO’s, pastoral leads or TA’s.  The aim is for those professionals to replicate this to pupils leaving their schools and transitioning onto another setting.  The aim is to prepare our CYP for this pivotal moment in their adolescent lives and for them to go on to thrive in their next chapter of education.

Your chosen member of staff will then have the skills to deliver this each year to their outgoing class.  Whilst the workshop is aimed at year 6 leavers, this can also be used across the lower/middle school system and we welcome anyone that wishes to attend.

The duration of the workshop will be approximately 1 – 1 ½ hours.  DSPL3 will hold an annual refresher session for those that would like to refresh their training or for those schools that have lost the previously trained member of staff and wish to train another.

The following sessions available are:

• 18^th June @ 9.30am – Millfield (Buntingford), SG9 9DT

Transition Workshop - Buntingford – Fill in form

• 23^rd June @ 10am - Avanti Brook (Bishop’s Stortford), CM23 2UW

Transition Workshop - Bishop's Stortford – Fill in form

• 2^nd July @ 9.30am - St Catherine’s (Ware), SG12 0AW

Transition Workshop - Ware – Fill in form

• 7^th July @ 10am - Mill Mead (Hertford), SG14 3AA

Transition Workshop - Hertford – Fill in form