It is at this time of the academic year when we often see secondary school staff visiting primary schools in their local area. These visits are typically part of a broader programme aimed at supporting Year 6 (final year of primary school in England) children as they prepare for secondary life. They play an essential role in supporting children to meet secondary school staff and pose common questions about the forthcoming move. They also provide that key opportunity to discuss those pressing issues: the menu, the homework timetable and whether it’s really that scary to name but a few.
As with many other aspects of our lives, the impact of COVID-19 has brought severe disruption to the well-rehearsed programmes that we deliver. Visits have been cancelled and tours postponed. Face-to-face contact has been withdrawn and group activities disbanded. Secondary schools up and down the country have had to rethink these programmes and at only a moment’s notice. It is not new that moving from a primary to a secondary school has always resulted in multiple transitions for our children and young people. However, this year, children also face the unique challenge of engaging with transition programmes remotely, with postal and virtual communication becoming the accepted norm. This adaptation and re-design will provide some reassurance to children. As with most changes, it also offers an important opportunity to revisit our approach and reflect on our understanding of what transitions mean.
It is accepted that the move from one school setting to another results in children experiencing transitions (Topping, 2011; West et al., 2010). However, transitions not only impact children, but also their families (Jindal-Snape & Ingram, 2013), friends (Rienties & Nolan, 2014) and others that they are connected to. Therefore, everyone experiences transitions, all of the time, including children’s teachers and significant others (Jindal-Snape, 2016). This suggests that transitions are complex and synchronous. We cannot see the move from one school setting to another as a single transition. When we think about movement from one school setting to another, we need to consider that transitions cannot be conceptualised as straightforward and linear experiences, nor as those which only affect children.
When a child starts secondary school, they may also be experiencing multiple transitions including, for example, moving house or the birth of a sibling (Jindal-Snape, 2018), as well as changes to friendship groups and home and transport routines and other age-specific experiences. On top of this, COVID-19 has reshaped transitions programmes which has resulted in additional transitions for children. The cancellation of secondary school tours may lead to concerns about navigating a bigger and unknown school. Secondary staff are no longer visiting primary schools to offer face-to-face support which may cause children to feel anxious about whether they will still establish relationships with secondary school staff. Children may not have had an opportunity to ask face-to-face questions about timetabling and homework and these questions may remain unanswered, or perhaps only partially answered. They may be concerned that they haven’t seen the school in person or that they will not recognise their head of year. Children may have missed out on opportunities to access subject-specific learning at a secondary level and so they may also be concerned about their academic transitions.
These multiple transitions will result in significant others experiencing transitions, including family members and teachers. Parents need to respond to children’s anxieties and any concerns about this lack of face-to-face contact with secondary school staff. They may need to support children to engage in remote transitions activities and they may be asked questions about secondary school policies. Teachers also need to adjust well-practised routines to reach out to children remotely and provide virtual and interactive tours as well as provide curriculum and bridging resources digitally. Parents and teachers will also be experiencing their own transitions as they work from home and face new circumstances linked to their own childcare and caring responsibilities. These are in addition to the transitions which they experience as a result of children’s transitions as well as those that follow the impact of COVID-19. Children are affected by changes in the lives of parents and teachers, and parents and teachers are affected by changes in the lives of children. Therefore, children, parents and teachers will all experience transitions as a result of each other’s transitions as well as their own transitions and those related to COVID-19. This complex and inseparable relationship has been conceptualised by Jindal-Snape (2016) as Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions (MMT) Theory.
As practitioners, this conceptualisation prompts us to challenge our current understanding of what transitions mean. It has clear implications for the way that we think about, construct and deliver primary to secondary transitions programmes. When we think about the remote programmes that we are currently offering, we need to consider carefully what it is we are trying to achieve. We should not necessarily attempt to simply ‘convert’ a face-to-face programme into the remote equivalent. To do so would be to ignore the multiple and multi-dimensional transitions that have arisen as a result of COVID-19. Similarly, when we think about what our programmes might look like in the future, we need to consider how we can support teachers and parents to the extent that we support children.
When children move from primary to secondary school, their Year 6 teachers will also experience transitions. Teachers may be concerned about saying goodbye to children that they have worked so closely with for several years. These teachers may be concerned that they will no longer have opportunities to communicate with or speak to these children. This may trigger transitions for children who develop anxieties about separation or the breakdown of this relationship. These emotions may be exacerbated in the current climate if Year 6 children and their teachers have not had an opportunity to celebrate and say goodbye to one another in the way that had been anticipated. It is our understanding of MMT Theory (Jindal-Snape, 2016) that prompts us to start considering these dimensions more closely. Both now and in the future, we play an important role as secondary school practitioners to support these multi-dimensional transitions. A short example of one such approach is presented below.
Secondary schools should be acknowledging to Year 6 children, their parents and teachers that we recognise that it can be emotionally challenging when children leave primary, and especially given the current circumstances. We can ask Year 6 children to write short reflective pieces about what they are looking forward to as well as what their current concerns are. Secondary staff can respond to these concerns both to the child and their parent(s). Year 6 teachers can encourage children to write these pieces either during school time or independently at home. It is the role of the transition programme to highlight the value of this activity. Year 6 children and their teachers and parents can be made aware that these written pieces can be brought into secondary school when they re-open more widely in the new academic year. At this point, children can update their written pieces to reflect on their experiences of secondary school so far. These can then be shared back with Year 6 teachers to offer some contact and communication between the two settings. Year 6 teachers can use these letters to support next year’s cohort to prepare for the move to secondary. At the same time, this activity offers some communication between Year 6 teachers and their previous cohorts which may reduce feelings of separation and anxiety.
Similarly, the transition programme also plays a crucial role in supporting parents’ transitions. A short example of one such approach is presented below.
The transitions programme should also support parents to understand how their own transitions may be affected by their child’s. Providing detailed information in relation to school transport and homework requirements can support parents as it allows them to consider how changes to their child’s routine may influence routines in the home environment. This explicit approach prepares parents to reflect on and acknowledge the relationship between their child’s transitions and their own within the ecosystem of the home.
When we are planning transitions programmes, it is common to ask children and young people about their needs and emotions. As practitioners, this helps us to consider how best to support those in our care. Speaking to children helps us to ensure that their voice remains central to our transitions planning and preparation. However, it is also important to consider extending this discussion. Colleagues across the primary and secondary setting must also be given a voice. Teachers need to be able to share their own feelings and these should also inform the planning and preparation of transitions programmes. Secondary schools have an important role to play here in reaching out to primary colleagues and collecting this feedback. Using a suggestion box or survey can be helpful. Sending an email or letter to provide contact details and invite questions and comments can also promote this discussion. One example of this collaborative approach is outlined below.
The member of secondary school staff with responsibility for transitions should communicate regularly with all Year 6 teachers to ask them to share their concerns about the transitions that their children will experience in the coming months. These teachers should also be encouraged to consider their own transitions and how the secondary school can support these. In doing so, information can be collected to ensure that the transitions programme responds to the needs of teachers as well as children. It is common to situate the child’s needs at the centre of the transitions programme. However, this collaborative approach goes one step further as it acknowledges and recognises teacher’s transitions, too.
When we consider Jindal-Snape’s (2016) MMT Theory, it is essential that as practitioners we remember that transitions are ongoing. It therefore follows that our policies and approaches to prepare children and young people must also be ongoing. Equally, we need to acknowledge the need to provide ongoing support for children’s significant others as well as our colleagues across primary and secondary settings. This demonstrates that it is essential to review transitions programmes, both now and in the future, through this lens of multiple and multi-dimensional transitions. Many secondary schools are already in the process of reviewing and adapting these programmes to respond to the challenges of COVID-19. This time of change provides an exciting opportunity to reflect on our understanding of transitions and to ensure that the programmes we offer are meaningful, impactful and research informed.
Samuel Stones is an Associate Leader and Head of Year 7 at a secondary school and sixth form college in North Yorkshire. He leads the primary transition programme and works closely with colleagues across the primary sector. He is also a lecturer and doctoral researcher in the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University and he works in partnership with the Centre for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Education to explore and research the role of schools in advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Image copyright: Divya Jindal-Snape
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