ABSTRACT
A transition to a new stage of education can happen at many points in a child's life; for example, when moving to a new class or phase at the end of the school year. This chapter focuses on the transfer from primary school to secondary at around the age of 11 or 12, since this is a transition around which there is much discourse. Valuing what comes before as a foundation to build upon, rather than ‘starting from scratch’, could help to solve one of the key issues with transition, thus avoiding needless and boring repetition. Learning to name, describe and test the properties of materials like plastic, fabric and paper requires the experience of the physical materials. These resources could be used to develop scientific vocabulary through talk, or develop scientific methods through observation and measuring.
