SEND Students Suffer In The Secondary School Transition
Making the move to ‘big school’ is tough enough as it is, but for this group of children the challenges can be more significant, and the consequences of getting it wrong are stark
- by Anne Heavey
For many children, this summer marks an exciting time – the transition from primary to secondary school, but for some children with SEND this excitement is dampened by anxiety about how well their needs will be recognised and supported.
Making the move to ‘big school’ is tough enough as it is, but for this group of children the challenges can be more significant, and the consequences of getting it wrong are stark.
I’m focusing on children with SEND who don’t have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), because EHCPs should give attention to transition planning, and ATL members often report that children without EHCPs have some of the most difficult experiences at the start of secondary school.
Every child starting secondary school must get used to learning in a new environment.
Changes from primary school probably include taking personal responsibility for a timetable, finding different classrooms for each subject, meeting different and more demanding expectations on the presentation of work, organisation of books and equipment for different days and lessons, a new routine with different break times and lunchtimes, having lots of different teachers, wearing a new uniform and new rules around behaviour.
For a child who requires a stable routine and struggles with personal organisation there are a lot of things going on here that could cause problems. How many children have ended up in detention or kept behind at the end of a lesson early on in year seven because they weren’t able to cope with all of these new demands alone? How many of these children have racked up behaviour points because they are struggling with so much change? For many children with SEND going through a period of such change can be difficult and the start of secondary school may be overwhelming and negative. The risk of things not going well is exacerbated by a number of factors, such as:
- The reduction to support staff in secondary schools
- Workload pressures that make it difficult to plan for individual pupils
- Teachers who have to teach outside of their specialism may lack confidence in supporting pupils with SEND in an unfamiliar subject
Harry’s story
I remember teaching one student with SEND who struggled with the transition into secondary school. I’m going to call him Harry.
Harry was terrified about the chemicals in the science department and went out of his way to avoid science classes. We didn’t know anything was wrong because he was extremely well behaved, quiet, performing well in other subjects, and a very good liar.
When quizzed about why he had missed these lessons Harry claimed he had got lost, confused the day on the timetable or sworn he had actually attended and the register must be wrong – the fact he managed to get hold of the right colour exercise book and copy work from other students to support his story was pretty impressive.
Harry bottled up his fear and frustrations whilst at school, and broke down in tears with exhaustion at home. To us his transition into secondary school was going great – for Harry it was a disaster and he was finding maintaining the lies increasingly difficult.
It was only when his mum reported this specific anxiety to us several weeks into the term after a “particularly difficult meltdown”, that we found out the real problem and could help Harry address it.
A superb science technician spent an afternoon with him explaining all the ways in which chemicals were stored and kept safe, as well as how the gas taps worked and fire safety procedures. Every question Harry could think of, and his list of questions was extremely thorough, was answered.
This technician went out of her way to reassure him and watch out for him around the school. In the end, he began to enjoy science lessons and complete, rather than copy, really excellent work.
Even though we got there in the end I think we really let Harry down, and should have done more to create a space where this problem could have been sorted out before he started in year 7.
If Harry had his “particularly difficult meltdown” at school rather than at home I fear that he would have ended up with a fixed term exclusion, a ’naughty’ label and no recognition of his individual needs. I almost forgot to mention that Harry is studying biology and chemistry at A level now, sadly he didn’t opt for drama and theatre studies, despite some extraordinary acting and improvisation skills!
I’ll be honest, I’m worried; many schools are struggling to meet the needs of their pupils with SEND.
I worry that the ever-diminishing resources are increasingly focused on pupils with EHCPs, I worry that essential support staff, such as learning mentors, are disappearing from secondary schools, and I worry that the pressures of Progress 8 and the EBacc are a disincentive for inclusion. Throw in the teacher recruitment and retention crisis and things are even harder.
That said we can get it right, as one ATL member outlines here:
From ADHD to NQT
My name is James Stringer and, having graduated from University in July 2016, I am a newly qualified teacher currently teaching in a Year 1/2 class in North London.
If anyone was to say to me during my primary education years that I would grow up to be a primary school teacher myself, I would have called you crazy.
Why? Because I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 2003 (in Year 3/4) and I found it extremely difficult to control my behaviour, feelings and quietness in social situations; all of which resulted in a rapid decline in my education to an extremely dangerous level!
As I was growing up, I was very close to my cousin who was diagnosed with ADHD when he was younger. As a result, a lot of members of my family were concerned about my behaviour and commented how I was showing certain behaviours which replicated those of my cousin.
However, I was at an age where I thought nothing of this. Even after my diagnosis, I was still at an age where I was not fully aware of what this ‘syndrome’ was and I did not feel any different whatsoever (though my behaviour continued to go downhill).
Perhaps at the time I thought this decline in behaviour was the result of things not being structured enough or being given tasks that may not have been explained clearly enough (two common traits of Asperger syndrome).
Fast forward two years and things became even more interesting – the stress and challenges of Year 6.
Learning and knowledge expectations. SATs. Secondary applications and eventual transitions! I moved schools during this time and, though I enjoyed a settled start, my behaviour soon deteriorated to a point where my education was really suffering and my time in a structured classroom environment was rapidly in decline because of all of the reasons above.
The thing that concerned and scared me the most? The same as the majority of Year 6 children around the country – the imminent and fast-approaching transition to secondary school!
My experience of Year 6 was, and still is, a blur; one minute it was September and the next minute, July and it was time to face reality – my primary days were numbered and secondary ones imminent!
When I quietly walked through the doors on day one of my secondary school career, I was extremely nervous and immediately felt sick. Was it the fact that it was a new experience? Was it the fact that I was given no additional support whatsoever for such a monumental change? Or both? I am still not certain, but I now feel that the lack of additional support given to me was at least a contributing factor towards these feelings.
My form tutor from the beginning was fantastic and really supportive, but I felt nervous and embarrassed about approaching her to say I was not enjoying the experience, and unfortunately I never found the confidence to do it. And so I quickly found my behaviour was in rapid decline once more, getting to a point where I was threatened with part-exclusion and spending a considerable amount of time in isolation away from my fellow peers.
Then the day came that changed my life completely!
As I entered Year 8, it was obvious to staff that I could not cope. Therefore, my maths teacher worked alongside me as I engaged with a SEAL group which focused on social and emotional skills and how these can be built into my learning in a mainstream setting.
Despite my finding the programme difficult at times and wanting to leave it, she consistently said that I was doing well and that she believed in me. She is my inspirational teacher!
SEAL worked and I turned my life around. I came out of school with 12 GCSEs (the lowest being a D), which included 5 As and Distinctions.
We still keep in contact to this day; and she’s still telling me how proud she is of me and how proud I should be of myself. And I am, thanks to her!
She has even taken role of the SENCo at my old secondary school. And although SEAL worked perfectly for me, she has reviewed the primary/secondary transition process and commented that this support should have been offered much earlier than Year 8.
In short, she is working miracles in her role, and I’m developing an even greater sense of respect for her. She involves the SENCo, head of year and form tutors during transitions, and they have a SEND support worker who visits families and schools a couple of times to really get a to know the children.
She also liaises with primary SENCo from year 5, so she usually knows a lot about the children and their specific needs. They also have an ‘additional access day’ that they do the week before the whole-school transition day. This means that the more-vulnerable students get some practice and familiarity prior to the main transition day, and in some cases (such as autistic children) they have more transition days and activities where they have a picture diary of the school, their classes and their day to help children get used to the building and routines during the holidays.
Children who are going to my old secondary school will be much more prepared for this transition than I was, with their needs being identified and worked on earlier.
This is why this teacher is my inspiration. This is why I want to study a masters degree in an area involving Special Educational Needs.
Though this will be years down the line my determination, and her belief in me, will one day make this a certainty! And I am eternally grateful to her.
Anne Heavey is education policy advisor for the ATL and is especially interested in curriculum, assessment, SEND, EAL, school places and admissions. Find out more about her work at acurriculumthatcounts.org.uk and follow her on Twitter at @ATLAnneH.
You can also follow James on twitter at @JamesStringer94.
