Developing a Blueprint for Action on the Transition to School: Implementation of an Action Research Project Within a Preschool Community

In early childhood education, a long-standing debate exists around issues related to school readiness and the transition to school. This paper describes an action research project implemented by teachers in an urban Australian preschool which gathered multiple stakeholder perspectives about school transition. The project was initiated to support more collaborative partnerships across the local community in which the preschool was located. Data were gathered from children, parents and local school personnel. Specific research objectives included locating similarities in perceptions about school readiness between stakeholders to use as a basis for strengthening collaboration. Further, identifying ways to form connections between a play-based programme implemented at the preschool and the more didactic teaching and learning approaches within local schools. A blueprint on school transitions was developed that considered how local systems operate in both cooperative and opposing ways. The project identified multiple and complex factors that require consideration within the community to support children’s successful transition to school.