Transitioning into Post Primary

Transition into Post-Primary at Enfield Community College

Starting post-primary school is an exciting milestone in every young person’s life — a time filled with new opportunities, new friendships, and new ways to learn and grow. At Enfield Community College, we recognise that this transition can also bring questions and a few nerves for both students and parents. We are committed to making the move from primary to post-primary a positive, supportive, and rewarding experience for every member of our school community.

Building Strong Foundations

Communication, consultation, and collaboration are at the heart of a smooth transition. We work closely with our feeder primary schools throughout the year to ensure that students feel prepared and confident as they take this next step. Our Principal, Mr. Shane Foley, maintains regular contact with primary school principals, and our incoming 1st year Wellbeing Co-Ordinator and Special Educational Needs Coordinator meet with teachers to share important information and discuss how to best support each individual student. We believe that successful transitions begin long before the first day of school. Visits from our team to local primary schools allow us to introduce students to life at Enfield Community College, answer their questions, and begin building relationships early on.

Welcoming Students and Families

We understand how valuable it is for students and their families to get to know our school environment before September. To support this, we are developing open days and information events where incoming first-year students and their parents can explore our campus, meet staff, and learn about key aspects of school life — from our curriculum and timetable to policies, procedures, and extra-curricular activities.

Induction and Ongoing Support

Support doesn’t stop once the school year begins. During the first weeks of term, we organise induction activities to help students settle in and feel part of our community. These sessions are often facilitated by peer mentors, who share their own experiences and offer guidance and reassurance. We also hold information sessions for parents early in the first term. These events provide families with an opportunity to connect with staff, share information, and build strong home–school partnerships that support students throughout their post-primary journey.

A Special Keepsake

One of the ways we celebrate this important milestone is through our unique “Transitioning” booklet, which each incoming student completes before joining us. This booklet captures their hopes, goals, and reflections as they begin life at Enfield Community College. As part of our school culture, we return these booklets to students at their 6th Year Graduation, offering them a chance to reflect on how much they’ve grown and achieved during their time with us.

Looking Ahead

At Enfield Community College, we don’t just welcome students into a school, we welcome them into a caring, inclusive community where they are encouraged to explore their interests, discover their strengths, and reach their full potential. We are proud to guide our students and their families through this exciting new chapter and look forward to celebrating all they will achieve in the years ahead.

Download Enfield Community College Transitioning Booklet

At Enfield Community College we recognise that the transition from primary to post-primary can be a stressful event for all students and their parents. We understand the importance of communication, consultation and consolidation during this transition.

We are continuing to build relationships with our feeder primary schools. Our Principal Shane Foley is in regular contact with Principals from our feeder schools.

We have excellent practices in place to support students at various transitional points. For example, our Principal Shane Foley will visit our Feeder Schools to inform 6^th class pupils about our school. The year head and Special Needs Coordinator from Enfield Community College meet with the primary schools to discuss issues and share information around transitioning to our college.

In the future we will be organising open days for our incoming students and their parents. Providing specific information, including details of the physical layout of schools, teacher roles, timetables, curriculum, school policies and procedures and extra-curricular activities.

Induction activities during the first weeks of term facilitated by peer mentors, are particularly important for students. Organising ‘meet and greet’ sessions for parents during the first term of first-year provides parents with an important forum to share information and a basis on which to build relationships.

At Enfield Community College we spent some time designing our own unique booklet for “Transitioning.” Our incoming students fill out this special publication before they enter our college. As part of our school culture, we will then be presenting this booklet back to our 6^th years at their Graduation.

Download Enfield Community College Transitioning Booklet