End of School Year Transition Strategies For Kids

Renee Zilm
6 days ago
6 min read

A gentle guide to support confidence, connection & regulation as we step into the holidays.

The end of the school year is a weird little cocktail of emotions for kids.

Part excitement. Part exhaustion. Part “I’m so done.” Part “Wait… everything is changing.”

And for children who are neurodivergent, highly sensitive, anxious, dysregulated, or just plain overwhelmed after a long term… these final weeks can feel especially big.

As parents, one of the most supportive things we can do is gather the right information before the final bell rings, not academic levels or pressure-filled goals, but the kind of information that builds emotional safety, predictability, and connection.

The kind that helps our kids breathe a little easier heading into the holidays.

Here’s what that looks like, in the gentlest, most real-world way.

Start With a Heart-to-Heart With the Teacher

Before school finishes, try to have a quick check-in with your child’s teacher, not about grades, but about them.

Ask what they’ve noticed this year: the strengths, the patterns, the moments your child felt safe, and the moments they struggled. This can be done face-to-face or via email. Personally, I find email works better as it gives the teacher time to think, reflect, and respond without the pressure of having to remember everything about your child in an unplanned, on-the-spot conversation.

Teachers have such a unique lens. They’ll often see sensory needs you may not have heard about, friendships that quietly blossomed, or situations that triggered overwhelm.

This information becomes gold when planning for the holidays and next year, especially if your child thrives on predictability and emotional preparation.

Gently Ask What Next Year Might Look Like

If the school can share, even a hint of next year’s plans can make a world of difference.

Does the teacher know which class they might be in?

Will any familiar friends be staying with them?

Are changes to routines, classrooms, or staff expected?

Children who experience anxiety, sensory challenges, or dysregulation feel safer when their world is predictable. A little information now can truly soften the transition later and ease the anxiety that comes with stepping into the unknown as the school break begins.

Strengthen Social Threads Before They Drift

School holidays can feel incredibly long, especially for kids who struggle socially, find it hard to initiate friendships, or don’t get invited out much. Now is the easiest time to gather phone numbers, parent names, and possible playdate plans for the weeks ahead.

Even one safe, consistent friend can turn an anxious or lonely break into something joyful and grounding.

This is especially true in our home. My extremely social son has apraxia and dysarthria of speech, so verbally relaying our contact details has always been difficult for him. A couple of years ago, I realised that this barrier was stopping him from staying connected with the friends he genuinely cared about.

So I created our “Let’s Be Holiday Friends” cards, a simple, child-friendly way for him to share his details and receive his friend’s details in return. It’s worked beautifully. It gives him agency, reduces anxiety, and helps him maintain friendships over the break in a way that feels safe and achievable for him.

If this sounds like something your child could benefit from, too, you can download the printable here: See our 'Let's be Holiday Friends' printable.

Bring Home the Visuals, Tools, and Supports

If your child relies on visual schedules, First–Then boards, emotion charts, sensory tools, or predictable routines at school, it can help enormously to have versions of these at home as well. The consistency creates safety.

You can gently ask the teacher if they’re able to share copies of the visuals your child uses in class, or even send you photos so you can recreate them. Many teachers are more than happy to share what’s been working, especially when they know you’re trying to support the same structure and strategies at home.

Having familiar visuals or routines in place helps your child’s nervous system understand,“Oh… the world still makes sense, even though the environment just changed.”

It bridges the gap between school and home, reduces overwhelm, and helps children who thrive on predictability stay regulated during transitions like end-of-year changes, holidays, or moving between routines.

Tie Up Loose Ends

The end of the school year is chaotic for everyone. Teachers are finalising reports, organising assessments, updating plans, preparing transition notes for next year’s staff, and often juggling multiple students with complex needs. In the middle of all that, small but important details can easily get lost.

This is why it’s helpful to gently ask if there’s anything you should collect or follow up on before the year ends. Depending on your child’s needs, this might include:

Therapy recommendations: strategies that worked, goals they made progress on, or skills to practise over the break.
Behaviour support plans: any current plans, triggers, and effective regulation strategies the school used.
OT or Speech Therapy notes: updates your child’s external therapists will need to maintain continuity of care.
Literacy or numeracy supports: reading levels, intervention programs used, or resources to continue learning over the holidays.
Sensory profiles or adjustments: what helped your child stay regulated, what didn’t, and any recommendations for next year’s teacher.
Transition statements: a summary that may be passed on to your child’s new teacher, especially if your child is neurodivergent, anxious, or requires adjustments.
Assessment results: recent screening tools, standardised tests, or informal observations that will guide their learning in the new year.
Communication tools and visuals: copies or photos of charts, routines, schedules, calm-down tools, reward systems, or visual supports that were helpful.
Safety or medical plans: medication updates, allergy plans, personal care needs, or emergency responses.

Gathering this information now helps ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, especially if your child relies on multiple adults working together across home, school, and therapy settings.

It also means you’re not starting from scratch in Term 1, explaining your child’s entire support history to a new teacher while trying to remember what worked and what didn’t. Instead, you walk into the new year with clarity and confidence, and your child enters a space where adults already understand what they need to feel safe, supported, and successful.

In short, these “loose ends” become the bridge between this year and next, making the transition easier for everyone, especially your child.

Prepare for the Chaos of the Final Days

Ask what’s happening on those last few days: party days, early finishes, free-choice afternoons, empty-your-bag moments…

For many children, especially those with sensory, emotional or neurodivergent needs, “fun days” can actually feel overstimulating and unpredictable.

A quick rundown from the teacher helps you prepare them so they’re not blindsided by change.

Sort Through the Avalanche That Comes Home

You know the drill - Art. Books. Containers you thought were lost forever. Uniforms. Mystery items. A whole term’s worth of “surprise!!... this was in my bag.”

Sit with your child and make it gentle. Ask what they want to keep, what they’re proud of, and what they’re okay letting go of.

This helps them process the end of the school year instead of suddenly feeling like everything just… ended.

Create a Soft Landing Ritual

Children need closure, especially those who find transitions hard. It doesn’t need to be elaborate.

A thank-you card, a photo outside the classroom, a drawing about their favourite memory, an after-school ice cream, or a reflection on what made them proud this year.

Rituals tell their brain, “This chapter is finished. You’re safe. We’re moving forward.”

One of our favourite rituals, and something we do every single end of term, is meeting all of my son’s friends (and their parents) at McDonald’s. It has become such a comforting tradition.

And I know what you’re thinking… “McDonald’s? Really?”

Yes! - and here’s why: my kids rarely get it, so for them it’s a genuine treat.

It’s something they look forward to, something that feels special, and something they get to share with their friends.

The kids get a familiar environment to unwind, laugh, and celebrate the year ending…and the parents get a moment to debrief, reconnect, and organise holiday catch-ups while everyone is in the same spot.

It’s nothing fancy, but it’s grounding, predictable, and joyfully chaotic in the best way. A small ritual that signals: We did it. We made it through another term. And we’re doing this together.

Kids having fun outside restaurant on last day of school

Ask the Teacher What You Should Keep an Eye On

Teachers often see emotional patterns we don’t always catch at home.

As strange as this may sound, it’s worth asking if there’s anything that they are aware of that your child may struggle with over the holidays that may affect sleep, anxiety, sensory overload, frustration, friendship worries, or emotional fatigue.

Knowing what to expect helps you support your child without feeling blindsided.

And Finally… Prepare Yourself

It’s easy to forget this part. But your child will borrow your nervous system the entire holiday break.

Ask yourself quietly:

What do I need to stay regulated?

What boundaries protect my energy?

What routines help our home feel calm?

Where do I need support, too?

Your child doesn’t need a perfect holiday, they need a connected one. And connection flows so much easier when you feel steady, supported, and spacious inside yourself.