Target audience

• School leaders in primary and high schools
• Stage 3 and Stage 4 teachers
• Transition coordinators and school leadership teams

Purpose

This illustration of practice showcases how Cowra Public School and Cowra High School collaborate through a school developed program to strengthen continuity of learning during the transition from Stage 3 to Stage 4.

The resource highlights how curriculum collaboration, shared planning and structured learning experiences can support students to develop Working Scientifically skills while building confidence in the high school environment. It demonstrates how primary and high school teachers can work together to align learning across stages and support a smoother transition to high school.

When and how to use

Schools may use this illustration of practice to support professional learning and collaborative planning focused on transition to high school.

It can be used to:

• prompt professional discussion about continuity of learning between Stage 3 and Stage 4
• explore how curriculum collaboration between primary and high school teachers can support student learning progression
• identify practical strategies that support transition readiness and student engagement
• inform school planning and transition programs that strengthen relationships between partner schools.

Evidence base

This resource aligns with research on effective transition practices, including findings from the NSW Department of Education’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE).

Evidence highlights that successful transitions are supported through:

• collaboration between primary and high schools
• curriculum continuity across stages
• sharing student learning information and data
• structured opportunities for students to become familiar with the high school environment
• targeted support that strengthens student engagement and belonging.

The schools' program demonstrates how these practices can be implemented through curriculum-focused collaboration and shared teaching experiences.

Further reading

1. Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE). What Works Best – 2020 update.
2. CESE. The role of student engagement in the transition from primary to secondary school (2017).
3. NSW Department of Education. Transition from primary to high school.
4. NSW Department of Education. Transition guidance for school leaders.

Alignment to the NSW Plan for Public Education

• Improving student learning and wellbeing through strong transitions between stages of schooling
• Strengthening collaboration across schools to support continuity of learning
• Supporting every student to achieve their potential through high-quality public education.

Alignment to the School Excellence Framework

• Learning domain – Curriculum: supporting continuity of learning and effective curriculum implementation across stages
• Learning domain – Wellbeing: supporting student belonging and engagement during transition
• Leading domain – Fostering collaboration between schools to improve student outcomes
• Teaching domain – Learning and devleopment: strengthening professional collaboration and shared curriculum planning.

Alignment to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

• Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it
• Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
• Standard 6: Engage in professional learning
• Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community.

Feedback

We welcome feedback on this illustration of practice to support ongoing improvement of transition resources for schools. Please contact the School and System Leadership team at contacturriculumimplementation@det.nsw.edu.au to share feedback or examples of transition practices in your context.

Melinda Rowston, Deputy Principal, Cowra High School, Wiradjuri Country

I'm constantly working with the senior executive as well as the Transition team to embed the practices of our transition process into our school planning. We're constantly looking at areas we can improve.

Courtney Gorman, Science teacher, Cowra High School, Wiradjuri Country

From our perspective, we saw a need in our science curriculum that wasn't really being met, primarily through the working scientifically skills.

So we decided to pair up with our partner schools and develop the Young Scientist Program. It's been really beneficial. We've had planning meetings at Cowra Public where we've gone through their Stage 3 curriculum and worked out how to forward map it to our Stage 4, Stage 5, and Stage 6 HSC curriculum so that we can really develop those key learning skills.

Melinda Rowston

We facilitate the collaboration between the primary schools and the high school to develop our programs. We've seen growth in our students, not just academically, but through our extracurricular activities. We've got data from the primary schools to support their learning academically, you know, enable them to thrive with as soon as they've stepped through the gates into Year 7.

Amelia Hamer, Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction, Cowra Public School, Wiradjuri Country

We chose science because we don't have the facilities for doing experiments. We looked at the scope and sequence and we continuously work to become familiar with the outcomes and fill in those gaps. We've found some very exciting progress through working scientifically, which has been an area that is hard for teachers in a classroom to observe.

Courtney Gorman

We look at their topics, together work out 4 key topic areas that we would like to run experiments for. So, from the joint units that we come up with, they do the theory at their school and then we have a complementary inquiry lesson at our school. When we first started the program, we were very much looking at engagement and seeing how well the students actually engage with the high school process of high expectations in the classroom.

I've also found that their confidence in the science lab has just increased phenomenally. They're getting engaged with experiments from the get-go. They're sharing answers, when before they were a little bit more hesitant. It's all very hands-on, which they absolutely love, and they know what to expect when coming up to high school classes.

Student 1

The Young Scientist Program, it's actually really fun.

Student 2

We come out every second week, and we did a prac experiment with different equipment that we didn't have access to at primary school, helping us to try and get ready for what was to come next year.

My teachers at Cowra Public are very supportive about it.

We got to meet Miss Gorman, who this year is our Year 7 advisor, and it was nice to be able to know someone that was always there if we needed anyone.

Courtney Gorman

So, as part of the program, because we did want to have it really academically based, we've really tried to reach key academic outcomes. We've come up with an individualised rubric that the teachers use to actually observe their students throughout the lesson so that they can see in person how they're doing, how they're developing those skills, and actually make it really authentic.

Amelia Hamer

Our teachers observe, and they're part of the lesson as well. They work with the high school teachers and now we have really strong working scientifically outcomes coming through with the kids.

Courtney Gorman

Today, Sheridan and I were having a conversation about one particular lab group and the strides that they've made throughout the program, as well as thinking about future adjustment of, based on a formative assessment. How we can tweak it moving forward to have explicit teaching on hypothesis.

Amelia Hamer

We're on a journey with our transition process, and there's so many things that we keep thinking of and we want to work towards improving that process.

Courtney Gorman

It's very much a priority that both schools dedicate a lot of time towards.

[End of transcript]

Step 1: Do we have a shared understanding of continuity of learning (Stage 3 to Stage 4)?

• Yes – go to Step 2.
• No – go to Step 1A.

Step 1A: Build understanding

• Develop a shared definition.
• Engage in professional learning.
• Identify current gaps.
• Return to Step 1.

Step 2: Do we have active collaboration with our partner high school / primary school?

• Yes – go to Step 3.
• No – go to Step 2A.

Step 2A: Establish partnership

• Identify a partner school.
• Set regular meetings.
• Build teacher relationships.
• Return to Step 2.

Step 3: Are we aligning curriculum and sharing student learning data?

• Yes – go to Step 4.
• No – go to Step 3A.

Step 3A: Align curriculum

• Map Stage 3 to Stage 4 outcomes.
• Co-plan learning opportunities.
• Share student learning data.
• Return to Step 3.

Step 4: Do students have structured opportunities to experience high school learning?

• Yes – Go to Step 5.
• No – Go to Step 4A.

Step 4A: Design experiences

• Regular high school learning sessions.
• Cross-school projects.
• Mentoring opportunities.
• Return to Step 4.

Step 5: Build your cross-school program (any KLA)

• Choose a KLA focus (e.g. English, Languages, HSIE, CAPA).
• Define the purpose (skills progression).
• Co-designing learning across schools.
• Implement sustained student experiences.
• Monitor impact (engagement, confidence, skills).

Intended outcome

Strong continuity of learning and a sustainable transition program.