How to Prepare for a Successful Transition Meeting: A Parent’s Guide for Grade One and Beyond (YCDSB)

Transition planning helps a student move between grades, classrooms, schools, programs or postsecondary pathways with fewer preventable disruptions. It is especially important when the student depends on accommodations, communication supports, familiar routines, specialized equipment or coordinated services.

Prepare before the meeting

• Review the current IEP, recent reports and successful classroom strategies.
• Ask the student what helps, what worries them and what they want the new team to know.
• List essential accommodations, safety information, communication methods and equipment.
• Separate confirmed facts from questions that the receiving team must answer.
• Send documents early enough for participants to review them.

Questions for the transition meeting

1. Who is responsible for each action, and by what date?
2. What information will be shared with the receiving teacher or school?
3. Will the student visit the new setting or meet key staff in advance?
4. How will routines, transportation, medication or equipment be managed?
5. What is the plan if the student has difficulty during the first weeks?
6. When will the team meet again to review the transition?

After the meeting

Ask for the agreed actions in writing. Share updates if circumstances change, help the child rehearse the new routine without creating unnecessary anxiety, and schedule an early review. A transition plan is useful only when responsibilities and timelines are clear.

Official sources and current information

Procedures and available services can change. Confirm the current process with the school and rely on the latest Ontario and YCDSB documents.

• Ontario special education and transition planning
• Ontario IEP requirements
• Ontario IEP process

Last reviewed: July 20, 2026. This is an independent parent guide, not legal, medical or psychological advice and not an official YCDSB publication.