Curriculum Development at HPS
By Tracy Thornton (Assistant Principal)
Transitioning from 2025 to 2026: Building Resilience, Friendships and Identity
At Highton Primary School, we place strong emphasis on supporting students as they move from one year level to the next. Our carefully planned transition program ensures every child feels prepared, connected, and confident about the year ahead. Transition is not just about moving classrooms—it is about developing the skills, strengths, and mindsets that will help students thrive in new environments.
In 2025, our transition program will be guided by the transdisciplinary theme “Who we are”—an inquiry into identity as individuals and as part of a collective. Each year level will explore this theme through Units of Inquiry designed to meet the developmental needs of students while fostering resilience, friendships, self-awareness, and confidence.
- Foundations: Students will explore the idea that routines support our wellbeing, inquiring into how we take care of our bodies and minds, and the habits that help us learn.
- Juniors: Students will look at traditional children’s games across cultures and how these games build social and physical skills while strengthening connections.
- Middles: The focus will be on role models, exploring how beliefs, values and relationships shape who we are and how we, in turn, influence others.
- Seniors: Students will explore self-identity, considering how emotions, interests, and choices shape us as individuals and impact our communities and the wider world.
Across all levels, our transition program promotes not only resilience, friendships, and self-identity but also adaptability, empathy, confidence, and problem-solving—skills essential for a smooth and successful transition.
We look forward to working in partnership with families to celebrate each child’s strengths, support their growth, and ensure that every student enters 2026 feeling ready and excited for the learning journey ahead.
Kind Regards
Tracy Thornton
Assistant Principal