For our ELC children, entering the Lower School is a significant milestone in their growth—filled with anticipation yet inevitably accompanied by some nervousness.
To help them transition smoothly into elementary school life, we have carefully designed a series of step-by-step activities. These aim to provide children with a warm and natural introduction to primary school, ensuring every child completes this important life transition happily.
01: A Familiar Campus Environment
At Huitong, ELC and the Lower School are not two separate worlds. Just beyond the connecting corridor and the ELC activity rooms, we arrive at the Lower and Middle building.
What's delightful is that our ELC children are already very familiar with this area. Over the past year, they have often participated in large cross-grade school events, such as the Lantern Lighting Ceremony and Graduation Ceremony. Every week, they also enjoy watching their older peers perform at the Morning Music Assemblies.
This routine exposure ensures the term 'Lower School' feels neither distant nor unfamiliar to our children.
The campus architect's thoughtful design creates natural transitions between ELC and the Lower School buildings - through shared central courtyards, interconnected outdoor play areas, and consistently themed display walls. These elements allow children to organically familiarise themselves with their future learning environment.
As one K-class child put it: 'Elementary school is just where the big kids learn - I already know that place!'
02: Immersive Classroom Experiences
Throughout April-June, we've arranged diverse activities to support K-class children's transition. The most popular remains our "Elementary Classroom Experience Day," where K-class children join first-grade English, Science, Maths, and Chinese classes.
In English, they analysed story elements through discussing The Three Little Pigs. Science sessions had them wearing lab coats while learning to document experiments. Maths transformed into number games, while Chinese introduced oracle bone script.
These lessons maintain Huituan's elementary pedagogy while incorporating kindergarten playfulness, ensuring complete engagement.
03: Fostering Friendships
Our transition programme addresses both environmental adaptation and social development. Creative initiatives like Teddy Bear Reading Days, Campus Scavenger Hunts, and Lower School Sharing Sessions promote cross-age connections.
04: Sustained Interactions Strengthening Bonds
From May-June, additional activities include:
Pen Pal Program: Weekly letter exchanges between K-class and first-grade students, using drawings and simple text, culminating in a grand "Meet Your Pen Pal" event.
Collaborative Projects: Joint mural creation for "Our Community" theme and cooperative nature observation for "Seasonal Changes" study.
Children's Day Celebration: First graders participate in kindergarten festivities, fostering mentorship relationships.
The outcomes have been remarkable: our ELC young learners develop concrete, positive perceptions of Lower School life; first graders strengthen leadership skills through mentoring; and cross-grade friendships form organically, establishing strong social foundations.
At Huitong, the ELC-to-LS transition isn't an abrupt change, but a natural progression cultivated through daily experiences. When our children finally enter elementary school, their eyes shine not just with recognition of familiar surroundings, but with budding friendships from cross-grade interactions and boundless anticipation for their learning journey. This represents education's most beautiful beginning.
