Ideas Sparked by ThingLink! Discover how to manage school transitions with virtual tours
✨ ThingLink Idea Spark: School Transitions
Starting a new school can be exciting but also daunting for young people and their families. This immersive experience helps reduce anxiety by allowing students to explore their new environment virtually before stepping through the gates. From interactive hotspots showing entrances, playgrounds, and quiet spaces, to personalised welcome messages, learners gain familiarity and confidence.
By combining VR or 360° tours with guided reflection, schools can support wellbeing, strengthen community connections, and ensure student voice is valued in the transition process.
Experience Title: School Transitions: Supporting Transition to New Centres of Learning
Theme or Subject: Transition, Moving On, Wellbeing, Community, PSHE, Student Voice
Age or Stage: Through School (ages 3–18)
Experience Length: Medium (<1 hour in 5–10 minute intervals)
Keywords / Tags: communication, ICT for learning, relationships, community, inclusion, transition, wellbeing, student voice
Experience Flow
Hook / Entry Point
Learners begin with an outside view of their new school, nursery, or college. A 360° image taken at eye-level provides a realistic sense of scale and space. A personalised audio or video welcome message, ideally using the student’s name, helps set a reassuring tone. For relocating families, an aerial street map may also be included to place the school within its wider neighbourhood.
Exploration (Hotspot Placements)
Hotspots guide students to key features such as the playground, quiet seating areas, and entrances. If a quieter, alternative entrance exists, this should be made clear. Audio hotspots can capture the authentic sounds of the environment, from morning arrivals to nearby traffic, helping learners prepare for real-world sensory experiences.
Challenge / Deepening
Students select the entrance hotspot and explore their new school through a basic 360° tour. Alongside the virtual tour, they are provided with a 2D site map to tick off areas they visit, ensuring they never feel lost. Parents, carers, or staff encourage the learner to articulate their feelings as they navigate: What do you like? What worries you? What do you want to know more about? Responses are recorded and shared with the school so that queries or concerns can be addressed before the student starts.
Reflection / Exit Point
After exploring, learners review their questions and feelings with a trusted adult. Concerns can be discussed with staff or existing students, offering reassurance and reducing anxiety. A second “visit” of the immersive scenes can be encouraged, helping to build familiarity over time. Schools should ensure student feedback is acknowledged and responded to, reinforcing the value of student voice in the transition process.
Support & Flexibility
Resources Needed: Tablet, laptop, or phone (VR headset optional). A means of recording the learner’s thoughts and feedback (digital or handwritten).
Support: Step-by-step prompts to guide verbal responses and provide reassurance. Trusted adults validate and share these reflections with the school.
Extension: Students independently note their own feedback for sharing. Families may also compare the virtual tour with a real-world walk to the school gates.
Experience Extensions
In-person visit arranged after the virtual tour to meet teachers, guidance staff, or classmates.
Students create their own immersive content for peers, fostering empathy and perspective-taking.
Outcomes
Learning Focus:
Communication – validating and sharing a young person’s thoughts and ideas
Collaboration – working with schools to improve transition experiences
Self-Regulation – recognising and managing feelings of anxiety
ICT for Learning – using immersive tools to support confidence and wellbeing
Real-World Problem-Solving & Innovation – developing strategies to ease transitions
Experience Outcome:
Students feel more confident and included in their transition to a new learning environment. They establish a sense of familiarity and may even build rapport with staff or peers before arrival. Anxiety is reduced for both the young person and their family, while schools gain valuable feedback to improve their practice and support inclusion.
Acknowledgements
With our thanks and hat-tip to Simon Luxford-Moore of LuxfordEdu!
