MIDDLE YEARS (5-9) TRANSITION MATRIX
PARENT/CARER PARTNERSHIPS
Parents and teachers are equal partners in all aspects of
the middle years of schooling.
created by the NSW Department of Education and Communities 2012
PEDAGOGY
Consistent middle schooling pedagogy embedded across the community of
schools enables ongoing high levels of student engagement and
attainment.
LEVEL 5
Parents are active in school decision-making.
Schools consistently recognise and build on parent support
for student learning.
Teachers actively engage middle years students through learning that is
relevant and authentic, student driven, flexible, challenging, integrated and
exploratory in nature.
Whole school community actively contributes to enhanced
student learning outcomes.
Students, parents and teachers employ self reflection and ongoing self and
peer evaluation to refocus learning goals.
Students, parents and teachers are partners in a culture of high
expectations for continuous improvement in the middle years.
Parents are co-learners and co-teachers with school staff,
involved in regularly supporting student learning across the
community of schools.
LEVEL 4
Parents are deeply involved in productive partnerships
visioning for middle schooling, student wellbeing,
pedagogy and curriculum.
Teachers encourage and support students to take risks and drive their own
learning.
Teachers provide opportunities for students to solve problems creatively
by:
collaborating
analysing and synthesising ideas
higher order thinking
creating new knowledge
applying learning in authentic contexts.
CURRICULUM
WELLBEING
Collaboratively developed integrated curriculum is implemented
across the middle years.
Students empowered with knowledge and skills to confidently
articulate their own learning needs to maximise achievement.
A cohesive continuum across Years 5-9 has strong foundations
in learning skills for knowledge acquisition and academic
success.
Stage and faculty teams develop programs to meet diverse student
needs.
Learning is intellectually challenging and demands rigorous
analysis and involves deep understanding of ideas.
Learning and assessment tasks are open ended, providing
student choice and decision making, and integrate knowledge
and skills across KLAs.
Establishment of joint middle years curriculum teams
incorporating primary and secondary teachers both within and
across KLAs.
Collaboratively planned units of work incorporating shared
assessment strategies taught across the middle years within
specific KLAs.
Middle years teachers share professional expertise across the
learning community.
Differentiated and personalised learning is evident throughout the middle
years.
ADMINISTRATION
Learning community and school plans incorporate a
middle schooling focus to optimise learning outcomes
and achievements for all students.
High expectations for student learning and behaviour consistently
underpin all school practices.
Shared targets are derived from in-depth diagnosis of
all student data and knowledge of current research
about the needs and development of young
adolescents.
Students are supported in developing personal targets and
strategies for self monitoring and reflection.
All secondary staff use student information to inform
ongoing planning and programming.
Strong, mutually accountable relationships between
teachers/students and teachers/parents support student needs in
creating and sustaining higher standards and learning achievements.
The learning community includes student transition in
the regular evaluation cycle.
Student profiles are regularly reviewed and generate proactive
support for students as required.
Learning community teachers discuss literacy,
numeracy and social needs of incoming students.
Appropriate intervention strategies are formulated to support
wellbeing and academic attainment.
Shared analysis of all available data for incoming
students leads to the development of proactive school
and individual student plans.
High standards for student learning and behaviour are established
and clearly communicated to students, staff and parents.
Students across the middle years participate in an ongoing planned
student wellbeing program to build resilience and enhance
relationships and connectedness with school.
Students are supported to manage their transition and to develop
independent learning and reflection skills.
Student wellbeing and academic success are supported by teams of
teachers across the middle years.
LEVEL 3
Consistent pedagogy across the learning community supports successful
middle years transition.
Parents and school staff collaborate to support student
wellbeing and academic achievement.
Pedagogy reflects the relationship between learning, quality teaching and
assessment.
Primary and secondary school teachers share practices in middle
years curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation.
Incoming students participate in extended learning experiences in
secondary school.
Parents trained and supported to be co-learners and coteachers to assist in student management of learning.
Teachers use current research about young adolescent learning to inform
middle years pedagogy.
The learning community develops a shared understanding of
assessment in middle years curriculum.
Primary school teachers plan the school day or other tasks to reflect
secondary school experiences such as timetable use, assessment
task planning and personal organisation skills.
Parents are provided with regular feedback about their
child’s transition progress.
Regular opportunities provided for parents to learn about
current research around young adolescents and their
learning needs.
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
Roles and responsibilities are established for teachers,
parents and students as partners in learning.
Regular opportunities are provided for parents across the
community of schools to learn about the needs of young
adolescents.
Year 5 and Year 6 parents are regularly provided with
information about the long term transition program and its
progress.
Parents attend secondary school information evening or
orientation programs prior to students starting secondary
school.
Teachers across KLAs and across the community of schools work together
on shared effective middle school pedagogy.
Features of best practice trialled across some KLAs and also between
secondary and primary schools, including:
building relationships and connectedness
recognition of prior learning as a critical element of all activities
establishing a culture of high expectations across stages of
learning
developing differentiated learning activities to support
achievement of stage outcomes
making connections with learning in other KLAs or contexts.
Combined primary and secondary school professional learning focuses on:
positioning the middle years as a discrete and important part of
the learning continuum and
pedagogy suitable for middle years students.
The learning community develops a continuum of learning
through the middle years, building on prior knowledge and skills
with ongoing connections to new learning.
Partner primary school staff exchange detailed
academic and social needs information on every
incoming student with secondary school staff.
Collaboratively developed programs address student wellbeing
aspects of orientation.
Sporting and cultural activities organised collaboratively to include
primary and secondary school students e.g. art exhibition, band,
choir, debating.
Secondary students assist in coaching primary school sport and with
cultural activities.
Ongoing lessons conducted for Year 5 and Year 6 students by
secondary teachers.
Secondary school transition co-ordinator and / or STL visit primary
schools to discuss individual students with current teachers.
Units of work developed to bridge late Year 6 and early Year 7.
Peer support program operating in Year 7 to assist orientation.
Primary school teachers provide practical experiences to explicitly
teach time management and organisation.
Primary and secondary school teachers share pedagogy through
classroom visits.
Learning community teachers exposed to current research about young
adolescents and the implications for middle years teaching.
Incoming students with special academic and social
needs and their parents provided with intensive,
individual secondary school orientation programs.
Incoming students invited to secondary school cultural and sporting
activities.
Year 6 students undertake mini-lessons on DEC established
orientation day.
Primary students attend secondary school for DEC established
orientation day.
Secondary school conducts tours of school for small groups of
incoming students and parents.
Secondary school representatives speak at primary
school information evenings, P&C meetings and
meetings of Year 5 and Year 6 students.
Schools exchange relevant NAPLAN data.
Year 5 students and parents invited to secondary
school information sessions.
Partner primary schools provide information to
secondary school about students at risk.