Preparing Children with Selective Mutism for a New School Year
Live Webinar
$80
14 October 2026
5pm-6:45pm
Curious about our webinar?
Take a quick look at this preview for a glimpse of Dr Elizabeth Woodcock’s insights and the practical strategies you can expect to learn.
For many children with Selective Mutism, changing classes can undo months of hard-earned progress. A new teacher, unfamiliar classmates and different routines can lead to a temporary loss of communication—but it doesn’t have to.
In this practical webinar, Dr Elizabeth Woodcock shares the step-by-step transition framework used at the Selective Mutism Clinic to help teachers, school staff and parents support children as they move into a new school year with greater confidence and continuity.
Rather than focusing on just one aspect of the transition, this webinar provides a complete, evidence-informed framework covering every stage of preparing the child, family and school for a successful new school year. You’ll learn how to reduce anxiety, support communication across different environments and help children maintain the progress they’ve already worked so hard to achieve.
The most successful school transitions begin well before the first day of school. Many of these strategies should be introduced during Term 3 or Term 4 while the child is still working with their current teacher, giving everyone time to prepare and build confidence before the new school year begins.
A complete transition framework
Unlike approaches that focus on only one part of the transition, this webinar guides you through every stage of preparing for a successful new school year, including:
- Preparing the child emotionally for change
- Supporting families throughout the transition process
- Working with current and new classroom teachers
- Preparing specialist teachers and other school staff
- Building familiarity with new classrooms, routines and peers
- Planning communication goals across different environments
- Generalising communication from the current teacher to the new teacher
- Creating an effective teacher handover to reduce the risk of regression
Includes transition planning strategies, teacher handover tools, familiarisation activities and practical examples that can be implemented immediately.
what you'll
learn...
- Assess a child’s current stage of communication before beginning the transition
- Reduce anxiety before the first day of school through gradual preparation.
- Prepare teachers and school staff to confidently support communication from the beginning of the school yearÂ
- Build familiarity with new classrooms, teachers, specialist staff, peers and daily routines
- Help children generalise communication from their current teacher to their new teacher so valuable progress isn’t lost
- Develop an individualised transition plan that supports communication across home and school
- Conduct an effective teacher handover using observations, questionnaires, meetings and communication goals
- Identify common transition challenges early and respond with practical, evidence-informed strategies
Why teacher handover matters
One of the biggest challenges during a school transition is ensuring that the new teacher understands the child’s current communication stage and the strategies that are already working.
This webinar explains how to create an effective teacher handover, including:
- What information should be shared with the new teacher
- Which observations and questionnaires are most helpful
- How to communicate the child’s current communication goals
- Planning meetings between families and school staff
- Preparing teachers before the child enters their new classroom
A well-planned handover helps reduce uncertainty for everyone involved and allows children to continue building communication from the very beginning of the new school year.
best suited for...
- Teachers and learning support teams wanting to help students with Selective Mutism or extremely reluctant talkers
- Speech Pathologists
- School Psychologists
- Parents and carers of children with Selective Mutism in Kindergarten to Year 5 (for students in Year 6, please see the Transitioning to high school webinar here)
Maintain communication progress
One of the biggest concerns during a school transition is that a child who has finally begun communicating with their current teacher may stop talking again after changing classes.
This webinar focuses on practical strategies to help children generalise communication to new teachers, classmates and environments, reducing the likelihood of regression and supporting continued progress throughout the new school year.
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Watch the 1.5-hour webinar online at a time that suits you. Includes 4 weeks of access through our online learning platform, downloadable handouts and additional learning resources. Price: $80.
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