What is the most effective way to encourage independence among your pupils now, so that they will be prepared for the primary to secondary transition ahead?

Naturally, for some pupils the transition to secondary school can be overwhelming – bigger buildings, bigger people, more people, more classrooms, more information to remember, and indeed, a lot more homework.

Which is why it makes it so important that each and every pupil looking forward to the transition is as prepared as they can be, so that they will thrive academically, emotionally, and socially in their new, bigger, and more complex environment and routine.

This can be achieved by making slight adjustments to their school routine towards the end of their primary education which will mimic the routine and additional responsibilities they will encounter when they start secondary school.

Just as one example, by issuing your older pupils with a homework diary, anything to do with their homework becomes their complete responsibility (as it will be at secondary school).

Everything from writing in their homework – including what it is and the date it is due in by, looking at their diary when they get home, completing the homework and returning it by the due date.

A homework diary also brings the added benefit of increased communication between the pupil, their parents and other teachers as comments about the difficulty of the homework and the pupil’s progress (for example) can be written in for the necessary people to see.

Image Logo UK has designed a Desk Mate Homework Diary which is suitable for such an ‘independence-encouraging’ exercise and which is also used in a number of UK secondary schools across the country.

And to make the exercise more authentic we will print a personalised cover on each of the homework diaries to represent your school.

Such branding of the homework diaries will not only encourage parents to get on board with the exercise, but will also reassure them that the school is doing everything to help their son or daughter with the transition ahead, which can be overwhelming for the parents too.

And, given that you can have the school name and phone number on the homework diary, then if anything is lost there is a reasonable chance that it will be returned to the school.

You can find more information about our Desk Mate Homework Diary on our website. If you require any other information or have any questions please do email sales@image-logo.co.uk or call 0845 758 9536.

Delivery normally takes 15-20 working days from artwork approval, but just in case time is tight we do have a wide range of Express items which could be turned around in 5 days (from artwork approval).

What’s more, if you are considering getting any other branded items for your school, Image Logo UK Ltd has a wide range of different products available, all of which can be marked up with any details of the school that you wish. You can see the whole range on our e-book.

Nicole Carter
www.image-logo.co.uk