Written by Lynda Fisher, Head of Primary School

The commencement of the 2025 Academic School Year brought with it evidence of several transitional experiences. Every student across Moriah College Primary School transitioned to a new Year level. The captivating Year K students transitioned into their first year of Primary School, and the Year 6 Students transitioned into their final year of Primary School. The Year 6 student movement included an orientation towards becoming bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah. It also involved leadership expectations and personal responsibilities of being senior members of the campus.

Adam Fraser is a leader in the psychology of change, which is inevitable as children progress through their respective life phases. Through his work, Fraser identified what he calls the ‘Third Space’—the moments that occur between any two events in a day, and also between the phases of life and education. The key idea in this philosophy is that what we do in that Third Space determines success or failure. It leads to the achievement of positive or negative outcomes.

To achieve success during our students’ transitions, the educators teach them to be aware of the stories they tell themselves. They help students recognise these narratives and encourage them not to believe everything they think. We teach students to take small, manageable actions, helping them to move out of negative thinking cycles and into positive action progression.

The above philosophy is embedded in the Year level and class transition program. The program gives students (and parents) all the information they need about a forthcoming event. This allows everyone time to manage obstacles, overcome challenges, and build success. The routines and rehearsals, along with the feelings of love, welcome, and security, map neural pathways in our Year K students. These pathways allay typical fears linked with moving into greater independence and empower students towards self-reliance and good self-management skills. Their self-talk has changed after just a few weeks of formal schooling. They have gained knowledge of their safe, welcoming environment and understand how to move between learning experiences, communicating their needs clearly.

The Year 5 with Year K Buddy program is a valuable vehicle. It teaches Year 5 students about how to regulate themselves as they move into puberty. It also assists them in making sense of the world and the requirements of community. They engage in deep analytical thinking and undergo self-reflection as they prepare to guide the Year K students. They instruct them on what to do if they can’t find a friend, feel upset or offended, or need to understand a narrative or content that is offered for learning. This strategy helps them stop believing every idea they think. They question thoughts like “I can’t do this” or “Nobody likes me”, and move towards the powerful thinking of, “Not yet, but this is what I will do to change things…”

The greatest transition, and possibly the most challenging to manage successfully, is the transition into and through puberty. This includes the Year 6 into High School transition. Our recent Canberra Camp provided the perfect Third Space for our Year 6 students to explore these ideas. They entered a new phase in their development where their brains are reshaping at a rapid rate, which often compromises their wise judgment. The students sat in Parliament House and the Electoral Commission, gaining a deep understanding of how our country works. They learned what ideas are important to individuals and communities and were able to see how they, as members of this community, can influence change and make a difference.

They visited the war memorial and explored consequences of negative ideology and leadership and the devastation that can occur. They also connected with the power of the people who can stop hate and destruction and enable peaceful co-existence. Their interaction with the educators during this journey revealed their core values: respect, a commitment to learning as critical and curious thinkers, and their responsibility to do more and be more. These values were evident through every experience.

What was most impactful was the kind, compassionate interaction students offered as they commenced this journey at a grass roots level. They shared a cabin with their peers and navigated a final orienteering course through the Canberra Arboretum. They worked collaboratively, strategically, and insightfully to achieve a positive outcome for all. In small groups, they had to navigate a very broad coarse to locate specific trees and achieve success. They showed maturity, focusing on key anchor points in the course synonymous with their core values and main goals. They collaborated respectfully and were kind to one another, relying on team member strengths. As the groups believed in themselves and their pathway, they achieved a great collective outcome. Each group retained focus, maintained high energy, and paced themselves smartly. The joy of success was uplifting to behold as they completed their courses with varying point scores. A key leadership skill also became apparent: students identified other groups who were achieving success, then followed their example. They had learned to not reinvent the wheel. Instead, they looked for successful trends and did more of that while merging their own great initiatives.

As our Year 6 students returned to school on Friday, they started their pre-bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah program. The program includes deep learning about their core values and involves the exploration of exemplary role models they can follow. They learn self-regulation skills they can use to be better and do better as the next generation of Jewish leaders.

The journey through Moriah Primary School is indeed about positioning students for success in transitions. The dots that need to be connected are clear. Each little step empowers our little people to position themselves in the best possible way as bigger people. As parents and educators, it is important that we be actively involved in the third spaces between transitions, big and small. We need to engage meaningfully with our children and our students. This will empower them with the academic, spiritual, physical, and socio-emotional actions that will build their success. A key growth process is happening effectively in our most treasured community, and hope and promise shine brightly in our future leaders.