Transitioning neurodiverse tamariki into school: Insights from the Acorns to Oaks project
Across Aotearoa, too many tamariki with additional needs face exclusion at the school gate. ERO finds that only 1 in 5 schools actively involve disabled learners and their whānau in transition planning. Acorns to Oaks, a research partnership between Acorn Neurodiversity and Kaitiaki Kindergartens, together with Te Rau Puāwai Education Trust,is changing that, and focused on exploring how inclusive practice can support neurodivergent and disabled tamariki as they move from early childhood into school. This webinar explored the ways in which kaiako can lead change as experts in transitions, not just facilitators of them. The conversation went beyond ‘readiness’ for school, to ensure transitions honour mana, belonging, and equity, and highlight the importance of honouring diversity as a spectrum where every learner’s pathway is unique. The kōrero also unpacked how inclusion extends beyond access and accommodations to participation and contribution in everyday life.
The key insights explored in the webinar include:
Inclusion should be seen as core practice of early childhood settings and schools, not an add-on. It is important that kaiako and leaders move beyond assumptions that inclusion is somebody else’s responsibility, belonging to the Ministry of Education, specialists, or external agencies, and instead see inclusion as education itself. In fact, kaiako already hold much of the knowledge, skill, and capability needed for inclusive education. The main focus of this pilot research was therefore aimed at fostering a renewed sense of agency, ownership, and responsibility among kaiako, recognising that their everyday decisions, rather than a particular programme or framework, determine whether inclusion becomes a lived reality instead of merely aspiration.
There is currently uneven practice for supporting transition to school for tamariki with additional needs. Planning for neurodivergent children’s transition varies widely and is shaped heavily by the culture of leadership in each setting. This is because some settings see inclusion as intrinsic to education, while others still expect specialist services to step in and provide it. Where planning is strong, children often benefit from extra visits, explicit learning plans, and additional time for transition. When this kind of planning does not take place, children can arrive at school unsupported, and whānau are often under-informed or lack confidence about how to advocate for their children’s needs. Compounding this, learning differences are not always identified early, and kaiako can be reluctant to raise concerns with whānau. Without identification, transition support is even less likely, and children, kaiako, and whānau then have to catch up with identifying needs and supports once school has already begun, when accessing support becomes considerably harder.
It is important to distinguish between access and inclusion, because a child can be enrolled (access) and still be systematically excluded. ERO’s findings on the barriers disabled learners continue to face suggest that meaningful inclusion means access to learning, relationships, participation, belonging, and achievement that not guaranteed simply by a child having a place at school. Accommodations are not special treatment but the practical mechanisms through which equity is enacted. While access is about whether tamariki can get a place at school, equity is about what happens once they do.
A ‘child-ready’ school is a more important consideration than the school-ready child. Rather than asking whether a child is ready for school, the question should be whether the school is ready for the child. This means early childhood services, schools, and specialists should collaborate well before difficulties emerge, sharing what is already known about how a child regulates, communicates, and engages, so that schools can make small, meaningful adjustments such as visual supports, flexible routines, or involving whānau in key conversations, from day one rather than in response to a crisis.
Whānau are valuable experts and advocates. Whānau are the true experts on their tamariki, and transition is a significant change for families as well as children. One of the pilot’s strongest findings was that parents came away with markedly greater confidence to advocate for their child’s needs at school. Parents often withhold information for fear of stigma, or in hope of a fresh start, so equipping them with language and tools to describe how their child learns is essential. This is particularly important because, while early childhood kaiako can play a significant role early in a child’s transition to school, whānau advocacy can continue throughout the schooling journey.
Waiting for a diagnosis, specialist input, or funding is often not an effective inclusion strategy. It is essential that kaiako act with intentionality immediately, using the expertise already present in the community, rather than waiting for perfect conditions. Specialist support that comes later can then amplify the work that kaiako already know to, and have, put into practice.
Kaiako are an important lever for change. Kaiako are uniquely positioned to lead transitions through collaboration with whānau and school staff, documenting strengths and successful strategies alongside challenges. This is not to suggest that the responsibility rests on kaiako alone. Instead, it is recognised that change needs to come with the support of policy and funding, for example, to resource kaiako with time to reflect on and pursue inclusive practice more deeply. This might include using funding to employ additional support staff to free kaiako for intentional work with tamariki with additional needs, a move which recognises the skills and relationships that kaiako have already developed in working with children. A shift is needed from intuition to intention, making the skilled, everyday practice kaiako already use more visible and deliberate.
Further resources
Read about this project on Kaitiaki Kindergartens website here.