Municipal Education Management

Transition from Kindergarten to Elementary School

The transition Kindergarten - Elementary School

For many children, the transition from Kindergarten to elementary school must seem like a change between two worlds. Whereas before they could play freely with the other Kindergarten children, now, as elementary school students, they have to diligently acquire knowledge, because 'the serious side of life' has begun.

But even though school enrollment marks the beginning of a child's school career, learning is not new to the children. The educational journey begins much earlier. By the age of six, children are no longer beginners when it comes to acquiring new knowledge and skills. Learning processes take place constantly, whether by chance during play or accompanied by the family or educational professionals. These experiences play an important role in the transition to elementary school and are crucial for the first steps in the new learning environment of school.

In order to support the children in this farewell and new beginning, educators, teachers, parents and other professionals prepare the future elementary school students for this upheaval. Above all, the cooperation of the various actors can ensure that the learning experiences from the daycare center are combined with the challenges at school during the transition to elementary school and that nothing stands in the way of a successful start to school.

 

Survey of Kindergarten Centers, Elementary Schools and parents on the design of the transition

In order to get a first impression of the current state of transition management in the Landkreis Börde, an investigation of this topic was carried out by the staff unit "Bildung integriert". For this purpose, interviews with regional actors on the organization of transition took place from August 24 to October 11, 2020. The relevant institutions, namely Kindergarten centers and elementary schools, as well as the parents of children in the first and second grades of elementary school, were surveyed. The aim of the surveys was to take stock of measures and formats for supporting children and parents during the transition, the cooperation between Kindergarten centers and elementary schools in this regard, as well as the experiences and expectations of the actors and parents with and for the organization of the transition.

72 daycare centers (54% of the daycare centers in the Börde district, including 22 independent daycare centers) and 29 elementary schools (58% of the elementary schools in the Landkreis Börde, including three independent elementary schools) participated. 273 questionnaires were received from parents.

Since December 2020, the statistical analyses have been completed and in February 2021, the institutions that participated in the survey were informed about the results.

You can also view the results of the survey here.

 

The project "Bildungslandschaft Börde - Hier fällt Bildung auf fruchtbaren Boden" (funding code 01JL1815) is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Social Fund funded.