This presentation describes the extended day Key Stage 1 to 2 transition programme organised and delivered by five primary schools in the Walney Learning Away partnership.

1. Learning Away in WalneyLearning Away in Walney
Extended transition days KS1 to KS2Extended transition days KS1 to KS2
The five Walney partnership primary schoolsThe five Walney partnership primary schools
involved in our K1 to KS2 extended transition days:involved in our K1 to KS2 extended transition days:
 Ormsgill Nursery & Primary SchoolOrmsgill Nursery & Primary School
(the host school)(the host school)
 St Georges C of E SchoolSt Georges C of E School
 Cambridge Street Primary SchoolCambridge Street Primary School
 Barrow Island Community SchoolBarrow Island Community School
 Victoria Junior SchoolVictoria Junior School

2. What are our aims?What are our aims?
 To develop confidence and a sense of wellTo develop confidence and a sense of well
being, in order to facilitate a smooth transitionbeing, in order to facilitate a smooth transition
from KS1 to KS2.from KS1 to KS2.
 To develop interpersonal social skills and self-To develop interpersonal social skills and self-
confidence to enhance community cohesionconfidence to enhance community cohesion
within the classroom.within the classroom.
 To provide high-quality learning experiences toTo provide high-quality learning experiences to
encourage children to become independent andencourage children to become independent and
collaborative learners.collaborative learners.

3. Third event – July 2012
oMeeting with participating schools to introduce new staff to the
aims of the extended transition day activities, and the range of
activities possible.
oStaff to co-construct a timetable of activities for the day.
oDates agreed and entered into host school diary.
oEvaluation of event to be anecdotal supplemented with photos.
oStaff asked to complete the online evaluation survey.
First event - October 2010
oMeeting with participating staff to explain aims, tour of grounds.
oOutline of the types of activities presented.
oDates set in each school diary.
oTimetable of the day agreed and sent to participating schools.
oHost school staff to deliver high-quality learning away
oactivities- with team building and environmental aims.
oEvaluation sheets distributed after the event.
Second event – July 2011
oMeeting with participating schools to explain the difference in approach (i.e. reduced host school
participation, changes to length of day, proposed change to method of evaluation to make it more
child friendly, change of time for event to fit in with school transition timetable in Summer term.
oStaff from participating schools to work in pairs to co-construct a timetable for their transition days.
oNew evaluation material distributed to participating schools.

4. o Looking through the woods for key words and phrases about working
together, then in a standing circle, discussing which where particularly
important and why.
o Environmental spelling group activity - boxes of laminated letters used to
spell words to name birds, insects, mammals, trees and plants
o An ‘Alien Heads’ orienteering activity encouraging paired working and recall.
o A critical skills challenge involving groups building tents and making flags to
display outside their tents.
o Large group challenge (ball, gutter and bucket challenge) - to encourage
whole class co-operation.
o Trust games - pupils guiding each other blindfolded through the woods.
o Campfire - an opportunity to come together to reflect and eat marshmallows!
o Forest Schools activity choices including:
• Whittling
• Forest art and environmental sculptures
• Den building
• Making environmental jewelry
• Bark rubbing and tree identification
Extended day transition activitiesExtended day transition activities

5. o The activities were initially brought to a co-construction
meeting by the two Ormsgill School practitioners and then
adapted by representatives from all of the other four
schools.
o We used a reflective log for staff to record thoughts
during and after the day. All schools took photographic
evidence of their day and took part in a variety of follow-
up work, either with letters, reports or reflective activities.
Supporting the learningSupporting the learning
objectives before and after theobjectives before and after the
extended dayextended day

6. o We used a reflective log and collated responses from all of
the different staff involved at each school.
o We added additional observations from notes, quotes and
extracts from children’s letters.
o Staff from individual schools were also encouraged to take
photographs, not only of cohesive behavior but also of
difficult ‘moments’ which could be discussed in class to
build on work from the day.
o Staff also completed an evaluation of the site and
activities, to aid the co-construction of the planning cycle
and for the future use of the venue.
How did we know whether theHow did we know whether the
learning objectives had beenlearning objectives had been
achieved?achieved?

7. “Me and Josh built a den with a
whole and a tin and some sticks and
leaves.”
“My favourite part was putting the
brilliant tents up and making a flag
and looking for aliens.”
“Me and Corby looked for aliens and
we got blindfolded.”
“I liked making the dinosaur village
because I got messy and mucky. It
was the best day ever. I hope to
see you again.”
What did theWhat did the
pupils think?pupils think?

8. “I really enjoyed putting up the tents
and making the dinosaur den. Well
more of a city.”
“I liked painting, making jewels, wood
whittling. My favourite part of the day
was having marshmallows and a hot dog.”
“The best bit of the day was getting mucky. The way I got mucky was
by digging in the ground with my hands.”
“My second favourite part is putting up tents and flags. Mine
represents people. I didn’t want to leave.”

9. Comments from participating staffComments from participating staff
“As a new teacher to the school, I feel it was beneficial for both
myself and the children to meet prior to September.”
“The transition day was a nice way of putting new faces to names.”
“Children asked questions about moving up to Year 3.”
“I would encourage the quieter children to have a go at taking a
lead role, although I was surprised at how naturally this happened.”

10. “Dream catchers prompted great
speaking and listening.”
“A surprising moment for me was to see how fantastically the
children became involved and how well they worked together.”

11. “One of our boys our boys who has behaviour difficulties was
thoroughly engrossed in the day. He related extremely well to the
other children and listened intently to staff.”
“One particular child who is very quiet and often left out took the
lead in one activity (ball, bucket and gutter). The team were
successful and all cheered her. It was lovely.”
“For me personally a powerful moment was when a looked after
child suddenly took control of the class group. As what he was
saying showed real common sense, he was completely
unchallenged.”
“I as surprised at how fantastically the children worked together
without fussing or complaining at all.”

12. To concludeTo conclude
oAfter analysis of the evaluation material received from staff and
children we concluded that the transition days have were successful
in developing confidence and social skills. Therefore the aims
outlined at the start were met.
oWe feel that the transition programme and activities are sustainable
over a longer period of time, as many of the staff involved felt that
they would be confident delivering the activities themselves on site
without input from the ‘host school.’ It was a great privilege to work
with so many staff and children from all over Barrow.
oWe would like to increase the opportunities for pupil reflection in
future and make the concept of transition more explicit. We can
learn from using the site in this way and use that knowledge to
improve the planning of our KS2/3 transition residentials.
oWe have also discussed trying to develop a method of assessing the
impact of these Learning Away experience on attainment.

13. “In terms of my own school, I will build in more opportunities
earlier. We have already started discussing with Foundation staff
how we can use the tents early on in the summer. One of our
support staff has planned to use a ‘Reading Tent’ in Year 1 as part
of our Guided Reading sessions.”
“We would hopefully include more learning outdoors in our
creative curriculum and allow more time for children to suggest
how to incorporate Learning Away. ”
“I felt that despite their age and despite the fact the children were
given opportunities to reflect on the day and back at school, I
would like much more pupil voice on this reflection than there was
this time in the future.”