Research shows that transfer from Primary to Post Primary can be a very “stressful time for parents and students.
Over the Years we have developed a tailored programme called “Mol an Oige” which means ‘encouraging youth’. Since 2005, we have evaluated the programme each year with parents, students and staff and have made many changes to meet the needs of the students and parents. This year we decided to have a workshop for Parents / Guardians which has been a great success. This workshop was facilitated by our SCP Team and included input from the Ms Green our newly appointed Acting Deputy Principal, Ms Connolly our newly appointed Home School Liaison Teacher, our 1st Year SNA Aisling Mc Kee and our SCP Team Kim Co-ordinator, Sharon Cleary SCP project worker and Margaret Mc Garry our attendance officer.
Our 5th year Mentors, Head Mentor Amy Doyle and Ester Johnston our Head Girl for 2016-17 were also part of the extensive team that were on hand to ensure 1st year students and their parents felt included, safe and welcome.
According to Kim Bates SCP Co-ordinator, “the SCP 1st Year Transfer Days offered the students a great opportunity to become familiar with their new school and classmates before they actually start”. Students are given the opportunity to discuss their hopes and fears about starting secondary school which makes the transition between primary and secondary school a much easier milestone in their educational journey. Kim added “We take a relaxed fun approach to our transfer days which include a lot of icebreakers and games so when it comes to actually staring 1st year a lot of nerves and worries have been eased for students, parents and staff!
The following areas were covered during the workshops for students, friendship, hopes and fears of their new school, ice breakers, school’s code of behaviour promoting positive behaviour, and polices, tour of the school.
Parents reflected on the hopes and fears they had for their daughters, what the Mol An Oige programme has to offer, the importance of our the school journal, and the VSWARE system which enables parents to track their daughters progress from any electronic device through a personal password.
Deborah Uzell former student and parent of an incoming 1st year student stated “The programme was a great experience and has helped my daughter Abbie and myself prepare for her transition to St. Dominic’s”.
To conclude the induction days our 1st year students and parents celebrated with a “fun BBQ lunch” with inflatable games such as Mega Slide, Obstacle Assault Course, A Large Bouncy Castle and Sumo Suits!
Catie Byrne incoming 1st year said “I thought the transfer programme with SCP was really helpful because it helped us to get to know each other so that we will not be nervous to go into different classes with different students. I had a great time and I cannot wait to start my new school.”
