Beyond Transition

An Intervention Programme to Support Vunerable Students at KS3

Linda Bell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351687294
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

"Beyond Transition" aims to support vulnerable pupils who, despite supportive transition programmes, struggle to adjust to secondary school. They can find the size, structure, procedures and work overwhelming and threatening, and this can culminate in failure and disaffection. This resource provides an easy to use intervention programme which can be used throughout Key Stage 3. It includes: identification and monitoring of vulnerable pupils; a flexible programme with comprehensive facilitator notes and resources; evaluation of pupil progress; and, PowerPoint for staff development. The Survival Skills Programme can be used with individuals or small groups and provides a variety of activities including discussions, tasks, role-play and games that build and develop organisational and social skills. The programme covers the key areas of: friendship; organisational skills; dealing with feelings; problem-solving; and, moving forward. This practical resource offers staff a series of lessons that will help pupils to better understand their secondary environment and how to function more successfully in school. It also offers evidence of supporting and working with vulnerable and at risk groups of children. The publication includes a CD-ROM with all copiable resources and the staff training PowerPoint.

Part One:

Setting the Scene

Chapter 1: The Aims of the Survival Skills Programme

Chapter 2: Supporting Transition – Good Practice

Chapter 3: Identification and Monitoring Pupil Progress

Chapter 4: The Survival Skills Programme PowerPoint Presentation

Bibliography

Chapter 1

The Aims of the Survival Skills Programme

Successful transitions can lead to a positive self-identity…and emotionally healthy and resilient children, young people and adults.

(Dr Annmarie Turnbull, 2006)

Understanding Transition

Transition at Key Stage 2 is often seen as a rite of passage. Although it is the young people who are at the heart of the process, they may not be the only people experiencing unease. Consideration must also be given to parents or carers and the schools themselves. Before transition plans can be put into effective practice it is important to understand the causes of the anxieties felt by all those involved; pupils, parents or carers and school staff. At the end of Key Stage 2, the pupils in Year 6 are the eldest in the school. They may hold positions of responsibilities for their younger peers and be seen as positive role-models by both staff and peers. They are familiar with the school, the procedures and systems. They are comfortable with members of staff, some of whom they may have known and trusted for many years, and often have younger siblings within the school for whom they have a responsibility and an obligation.

Maslow (1943) believes that there is a universal hierarchy of need that must be met before successful learning can take place. Each level; physiological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem and self-actualisation must be in place and established for the next level to be realised. At transition some of these human needs may not be secure and pupils may experience self-doubt leading to a lack of motivation. On transfer they become the youngest in the school. Plunged into an alien environment, they no longer have positions of responsibility and have lost that sense of familiarity that comes with experience, all of which may impede their ability to function at their full potential. This was recognised by the Department for Education and Skills in their 2005b document:

Children’s behaviour is underpinned by the stage they have reached in social and emotional development, the level of skills they have in this area and their emotional health and well-being, in interaction with the social, emotional and physical environment.

Their new school environment has become larger and more complicated. There is often upwards of a thousand people in a secondary school. The physical impact, smells and noise of so many people moving around the building can be overwhelming. Instead of one class or a variety of small groups, the new entrants are faced with a complex of buildings and specialist rooms such as science or language laboratories, drama studios, changing rooms and sports halls, daunting playground areas and, for some, intimidating toilets. Many secondary schools operate a choice of dining halls, often a cafeteria, which will mean that pupils will have a greater choice at break and lunch times as well as having to become familiar with managing their money or using a swipe or Smart card system. There is a different teacher every hour or so, each with their own rules and nuances within their teaching rooms as well as their form tutor, pastoral and senior staff and a host of teaching or support assistants and mentors available to advise or support their learning. Dorothy Smith (2000) elaborates on this by reminding us that pupils also struggle to remember the names, faces and personalities of staff and that they are:

…no longer in one classroom area, with a base in which they feel secure, where they have a desk or some kind of storage container for their books and belongings… generally they carry their daily or even weekly belongings from room to room.

Offices are larger and administrative or medical staff not so easily available or, in some instances, not as sympathetic when they need help.

Teaching and learning approaches are different with secondary staff taking a more subject focused approach to learning. The classroom often becomes less multi-sensory and there is an expectation that children are independent learners on arrival, complete with the emotional and social maturity that enables them to adapt to their new environment and invest in their learning. Many vulnerable pupils do not have the study and organisational skills or the social and emotional maturity required and expected of them in the first few months.

Homework becomes more complex, bringing with it the need for increased organisation relating to the number of subjects given each evening and the time that is taken not only to understand and complete the tasks in a manner that will be acceptable for differing members of staff, but also ensuring that it is handed in at the required time and place.

The journey to and from school is likely to be different. This may now involve the complexities of taking buses or trains, perhaps independently for the first time. The journey may entail travelling greater distances, reading timetables, managing time and money as well as learning how to behave appropriately on public transport.

Transition is happening to the young person at a time when they are beginning puberty, when they are learning to adapt to the changes in their own bodies and emotions as well as developing an increased awareness of their sexuality. Sarah Attwood (2008) describes adolescence as a, ‘…time of intense feelings, with most boys and girls experiencing mood swings, feelings of uncertainty and insecurity and changes in the way that they feel’.

Some young people may have been catapulted into a new environment on their own without the support of familiar friends, having transferred without knowing anyone or placed in a tutor or teaching group removed from the comfort of a welcoming face and are feeling self-conscious about themselves and awkward when making new friendships.

Anxieties and Concerns

Dr Annmarie Turnbull (2006) in her review of the 2002 research project by the Department for Education and Skills on ‘The Impact of School Transitions and Transfers on Pupil Progress and Attainment’ discussed several main areas concerning pupils, parents and staff on transition.

Pupil Concerns

High on the list of concerns expressed by pupils was the possibility that they would easily get lost in an extensive and more complex building. Pupils voiced apprehension with regard to their abilities to navigate their way around a school that is considerably larger, often over several floors and frequently over several buildings. They were also anxious that the time it would take them to travel between classrooms could mean that they would be late for lessons for which they would receive sanctions.

Another concern voiced by these young people was with regard to loneliness. Their friendship groups may have changed and they are, to some extent, no longer within their control. A typical comment from a Year 6 child at this time was, ‘Not many of my friends are in my tutor group. What if no-one wants to sit next to me in class or hang out at break?’ Pupils may be uneasy about their abilities to make and maintain new friendships as well as keep existing relationships with those friends who may have been placed in a different tutor group or may not be attending the same school.

Nine out of ten children surveyed in Scotland for Turnbull’s review said that they had concerns about moving to secondary school. Many of those interviewed for the project were worried about being bullied. 53% expressed concerns about ‘getting picked on’ particularly by older students in specific areas of the school such as the changing rooms, dining hall or in toilets. In Jane McSherry’s (2001) discussions with young people, she found that their worries on transfer were that:

‘Older kids will put your head down the toilet.’

‘Other kids will know I have been naughty before and see if they can make me lose it.’

‘Some teachers are mean. What will I do if they pick on me?’

Stories around initiation and intimidation are common in most primary and secondary schools and increases anxiety and uncertainty in many children.

Other concerns expressed in Dr Turnbull’s (2006) report relate to the issue of homework such as understanding the task, being able to complete the task outside school without support and also the administration and organisation of homework, for example, keeping the homework diary, writing the homework down, understanding and completing the homework as well as remembering to bring in the completed task at the required time.

Parental Concerns

Ultimately all parents or carers want their child to be happy at school. They want them to be successful and to have a good educational grounding that will enable them to better access later life choices. For many parents and carers the anxiety of secondary transition begins long before the actual year of transfer. There are the rounds of school visits and application forms to be completed as well as the apprehensive wait for the letter which informs them which school their child will be attending later in the year. Some parents may be concerned about the maturity of their child and whether they may be bullied or may not adapt readily to their new school. For others, it may be anxieties regarding their own ability to support their child emotionally, practically or academically. It may be difficult for some parents not to convey this anxiety onto their child especially if he is more vulnerable or may require specialist intervention and support. Where parental choice has not been upheld these anxieties are compounded and when the pupils arrive in September there may be added complications to consider. ‘Parents will be better able to support their child if they understand what is expected within the secondary sector,’ (Smith, 2000). She believes that parents miss the regular contact which is more often available in the primary sector and that the needs of parents are, ‘…often not so much neglected as sidelined.’ It is therefore important that any issues are dealt with at an early stage and that parents are confident that their child will be safe, where any issues relating to bullying are addressed and that the needs of their child will be met quickly and in a sensitive, yet effective manner.

Staff Concerns

There are increasing smaller numbers of children transferring from multiple feeder schools. This impacts on any transfer preparation in primary schools and adds complexity to transfer programmes that secondary schools may wish to put into place. With numerous feeder primary schools, it is becoming progressively more difficult to organise transfer programmes for Year 6 children before transfer resulting in the receiving secondary schools having to wait until the children enter in Year 7 to begin their support. These difficulties may intensify the uncertainty for the children who are emotionally less secure. Secondary teaching and support staff may be unfamiliar or inexperienced with the primary curriculum or teaching pupils who may be working below the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part One: Setting the Scene
• Part Two: The Survival Skills Programme