MIDDLE YEARS TRANSITION MATRIX
ADMINISTRATION
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 5
Learning community and school plans
incorporate a Middle Years’ focus to
optimise learning outcomes and
achievements for all students.
Shared targets are derived from in-depth
diagnosis of all student data and knowledge
of current research about early adolescent
needs and development.
All secondary staff use student information
to inform ongoing planning and
programming.
DRAFT
SOCIAL AND PERSONAL
Student profiles are regularly reviewed and generate proactive support for
students as required.
CURRICULUM
A cohesive continuum across Years 5-9 has strong
foundations in essential academic and learning skills and
knowledge.
Stage and faculty teams develop programs to meet diverse student needs.
High expectations for student learning and behaviour consistently underpin all
school practices.
Students are supported in developing targets, monitoring and discussing
progress.
Appropriate intervention strategies are formulated to support wellbeing and
academic attainment.
PEDAGOGY
Consistent middle years pedagogy embedded across the community of
schools enables ongoing high levels of student achievement.
Learning tasks are intellectually challenging and demand
rigorous analysis and involve deep understanding of ideas.
Teachers actively engage middle years students through learning that is
relevant and authentic, student driven, flexible, challenging, integrated, and
exploratory in nature.
Tasks are open ended, providing student choice and decision
making, and integrate knowledge and skills across KLAs.
Students, parents and teachers employ self reflection and ongoing self and
peer evaluation to refocus learning goals.
Collaboratively developed integrated curriculum is
implemented across the middle years.
Students, parents and teachers are partners in a culture of high expectations
for continuous improvement in the middle years.
PARTNERSHIPS WITH PARENTS/CARERS
Parents and teachers are equal partners in all
aspects of the middle years of schooling.
The learning community includes student
transition in the regular evaluation cycle.
Strong, mutually accountable relationships between teachers and students,
and teachers and parents provide the support a student needs and helps to
create and sustain higher standards and learning achievement.
Learning community teachers discuss
literacy, numeracy and social needs of
incoming students.
High standards for student learning and behaviour are established and clearly
communicated to students, staff and parents.
Establishment of joint primary – secondary curriculum teams
within specific KLAs.
Teachers encourage and support students to takes risks and drive their own
learning.
Parents are co-learners and co-teachers with school,
involved in regularly supporting student learning.
Secondary students assist in coaching primary school sporting and cultural
activities.
Collaboratively planned units of work taught across the
middle years within specific KLAs.
Parents deeply involved in productive partnerships
visioning for middle schooling, student well-being,
pedagogy and curriculum.
Sporting and cultural activities organised collaboratively to include primary and
high school students e.g. arts exhibition, band, choir, debating.
Middle years teachers share professional expertise across
the learning community.
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.
Shared diagnosis of all available data for
incoming students leads to the development
of proactive school and individual student
plans.
Students across the middle years participate in an ongoing planned student
well-being program to build resilience, enhance relationships and
connectedness with school.
A variety of strategies is developed to involve
parents as co-learners/teachers of student learning
across the community of schools.
Differentiated and personalised learning is evident throughout the middle
years.
Student wellbeing and academic success are supported by teams of teachers
across the middle years.
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
Consistent pedagogy across the learning community supports successful
middle years transition.
Incoming students with special academic
and social needs and their parents provided
with intensive, individual high school
orientation program.
Incoming students participate in extended learning experiences in secondary
school.
Joint primary-high school teacher share practices in middle
years curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation.
Pedagogy reflects the relationship between learning, quality teaching and
assessment.
Parents collaborate with the school to support
student well-being and academic achievement.
Incoming students invited to high school cultural and sporting activities.
The learning community develops a shared understanding of
assessment in middle years curriculum.
Teachers link current research about young adolescent learning which informs
middle years pedagogy.
Partner primary schools exchange detailed
academic and social needs information on
every incoming student with high school.
Primary school teachers organise school day or other experiences to reflect
things such as secondary school timetable, assessment task planning and
personal organisation.
Parents trained and supported to be co-learners and
co-teachers to assist in student management of
learning.
Teachers across KLAs and across the community of schools to work together
on shared effective middle school pedagogy.
An integrated cross-curriculum unit of work developed to address aspects of
orientation to high school.
Representatives of the high school speak at
primary school information evenings, P&C
meetings and meetings of Year 5 and 6
students.
High school transition co-ordinator and / or STL visit primary schools to discuss
individual students with current teachers.
Schools exchange relevant NAPLAN data.
Primary school teachers provide practical experiences to explicitly teach time
management and organisation.
Features of best practice trialled across some KLAs and also between HS and
PS, 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.
Enrichment lessons conducted for selected primary school
students by secondary teachers using the high school
resources.
Peer support program operating in Year 7 to assist orientation.
Units of work developed to bridge late Year 6 and early Year
7.
LEVEL
1
Year 5 students and parents invited to
secondary school information sessions.
Partner primary schools provide information
to high school about students at risk.
Primary students come to high school for DEC established orientation day.
High school conducts tours of school for small groups of incoming students
and parents.
Year 6 students undertake mini-lessons in Science labs,
technics rooms or other practical teaching areas on DEC
established orientation day.
Combined primary and high schools 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.
Primary and high school teachers share pedagogy through classroom visits
and collaboration.
Learning community teachers have been exposed to current research about
young adolescents and the implications for middle years teaching.
Parents are provided with regular feedback about
their child’s transition progress.
Regular opportunities are provided for parents to
learn about the characteristics of adolescents and
issues adolescents are likely to face.
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.
Parents are regularly provided with information about
the long term transition program and its progress.
Parents attend high school information evening or
orientation programs prior to student starting high
school.