Moving on Up

We both spent some time in a High School last week, and it made me think about the Year 6 children who will be starting to get ready for their move to Year 7 in September. I remember my first day at secondary school as if it was yesterday (it wasn’t!). I walked to school with two friends,and when we arrived, we were asked to stand in a large school hall. We waited nervously with all the other year 7 children. A teacher walked into the hall, and our names were called out in groups. I was not with anyone I knew and was terrified as we were led into an empty classroom. This was our form group, and it was the first time we had met each other. I had looked around the school at the open evening with my mum and dad and had not been inside it since then. I think I can remember the day so vividly because it was such a scary experience. There really had been no support and no preparation for my move to my new school.

Hopefully things have changed since those days, but could we do more?

Change is difficult for anyone, and it is the same for those children leaving the familiarity of their primary school to move on to a bigger, unfamiliar secondary school.  To help with this process, make the unfamiliar become familiar.  Let the children learn as much as they can about their new schoolbefore they start.  What will the uniform look like?  What will the day be like?  What will be the same and what will be different?  How will each child get to their new school?  What will they need to take with them?  All children will have their ‘Taster Day’ and many will also have meetings in the evening with their parents.  Many High Schools liaise with their local primary schools and children attend sessions there with their class during the summer term.

For some children, this will still not be enough.  Some children will need extra visits.  Some children will need to visit the school when the children are not there so they can get used to the feel of the building.  Some children will need to meet key members of staff and will need to start to build a relationship with them, so they learn to trust them and let them help if it is needed.  Some children need to practise the systems that will be accepted in their new school e.g., exit cards from a class, and doing this in their primary school during the summer term helps.

Talk to the children – what are they excited about?  What are they nervous about?  Look at the behaviour policy of their new school and think about what they need to work on during the summer term to help them be successful in September.  Really focus on changing behaviours that will not be acceptable in a secondary environment and help find strategies for the child to trial instead.  

So much has changed since I started in Year 7, but this transition period is still not as good as it could be for some children. Preparation for the move needs to start early enough without making the children too anxious or nervous (particularly as they have SATs to contend with too). Encourage independence and help children take responsibility for themselves. Prepare them so they know what to expect and prepare them with responses that will be acceptable if things go wrong. Liaise with key members of staff. Help build the excitement that should come as a new chapter starts in their life.