From Friction to Flow: Rethinking Transitions in Schools 2026071F

Date and time

Friday 11 September 2026, 9.30 am to 3.30 pm

Delivery mode

Face to Face at Melbourne Metro location

Audience 

 Wellbeing Leaders, Heads of Individual Needs, Faculty Heads, School Leadership, teachers

Cost

• Course Fees: Fully Funded. We have secured a grant to ensure the program is available to you at no cost
• Admin Fee: $50. A small contribution that helps us cover the "basics" like catering and logistics, and ensures that limited places are utilized by those who can attend

Description

This session explores both micro-transitions - the small, frequent shifts students make throughout the school day - and macro-transitions - the larger structural and developmental shifts across classes, year levels and schooling stages.

While often treated separately, both forms of transition place significant demands on students’ executive functioning, emotional regulation and sense of safety. For many learners - particularly those with disability, trauma backgrounds, neurodivergence, anxiety or reduced executive function capacity - transitions can become critical points of stress, disengagement or breakdown.

Participants will be introduced to evidence-informed models for understanding transitions across the full school experience, drawing on executive function research, trauma-informed practice and inclusive education principles. The session will support educators to identify high-impact transition points: from moment-to-moment classroom shifts through to key schooling transitions such as starting school, moving year levels or transitioning into secondary settings.

Throughout the day, participants will explore practical strategies to reduce friction and increase predictability across both micro and macro contexts. The focus is not just on awareness, but on redesign, supporting schools to create smoother, more inclusive transitions that improve engagement, behaviour, wellbeing and long-term learning outcomes.

Key takeaways

• A clear understanding of micro and macro transitions and their impact on learning, behaviour and wellbeing
  
• Insight into how executive function, trauma and neurodivergence shape students' experience of change
  
• Practical strategies to reduce cognitive load and increase predictability in classrooms and across school structures
  
• Tools to identify and redesign high-impact “hot spot” transitions across the student journey
  
• Approaches to aligning staff practice, systems and communication, and collaboration to create consistency for students and families

Presenter information

https://www.theinclusiveschool.com/