Transition Junior goes virtual, helping pre-school children settle in for new school year
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Transition Junior has run in the Inverurie area since 2018, helping prepare pre-school children for the start of their first school year.
It uses sport and physical activity to help new Primary One pupils feel comfortable in their new educational surroundings.
The programme is supported by libraries and NHS Grampian to use the “Henry” children’s stories to deliver key messages around physical activity.
Sports coaches blend activity sessions into the stories, to help establish an early understanding of the benefits of physical activity, good diet and mental wellbeing.
It’s also an opportunity to meet classmates and establish friendships.
This year, given the current restrictions in relation to Covid-19, Transition Junior has moved online, meaning it’s now available to new pupils right across Aberdeenshire.
Live Life Aberdeenshire’s Active Schools team and its partners have created a new experience that pre-school pupils and their parents can enjoy at home.
Led by popular local sports coach Vanessa Jack, Transition Junior 2020 will feature a virtual activity session using the “Henry- Let’s Go Outside” story, that will focus on using everyday things found at home, in a garden or a local walk to follow the story, whilst also taking part in games and activities.
Councillor Anne Stirling, Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Communities Committee, is pleased Transition Junior can be offered to children across the area this year.
“I’m sure the new virtual option, along with the other resources that are available on LiveLife At Home, will provide and extend the opportunities for fun and enjoyment, ensuring that families across Aberdeenshire can enjoy some of the benefits that transition programmes would bring in their normal setting within schools,” she said.
Councillor Gillian Owen, Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee, added: “Transition into Primary School is an exceptionally important moment in the lives of young people and it is heartening to see that even in these challenging times, our staff in partnership with NHS Grampian have been able to create an option that our pupils, parents and schools can use to try and replicate a part of the transition experience.
“I hope that it will help our new P1 pupils as they prepare to join their new schools in the near future.”
The activity session will be available throughout June on Live Life @ Home: https://bit.ly/TrJunior
E-reading resources relating to Starting School and Outside Play are available at: https://aberdeenshirelibraries.overdrive.com/library/kids/collection/1082549
