Transition to Secondary School

Transitioning from a primary school to secondary can for many children be an exciting but daunting prospect. Our aim is at all times to protect the children’s wellbeing and to ensure that learning is maintained. Transition can be complicated by the social, emotional and physiological changes that children experience and which can negatively impact on their learning. By working closely with the secondary schools we can minimise the children’s anxiety and help to make their move to Key Stage 3 an exciting and happy one.

Most pupils make several transitions in their school lives, for example, when they:

• go to nursery
• start in Reception
• change year groups within a school
• transfer from one school to another
• move from secondary school to further education, training and employment

These transitions inevitably mean an adjustment to new surroundings, new faces, new relationships, new ways of working and possibly new rules and routines as well. Some of our pupils have been with us for seven years as they make the move to secondary and this might seem the biggest transition so far and one which coincides with important social, emotional and physiological changes in their lives.

We work closely with the local secondary schools that will welcome our Year 6 pupils as they reach the end of the school year. We have close links with Blenheim High School, Epsom & Ewell High School, Glyn School, Rosebery School and Tolworth Girls’ School and will work with any other secondary schools to which our children will move, be they specialist or mainstream providers.

We have a transition programme with each of the schools which will involve our Year 6 teachers working with the Year 7 teachers at the secondaries. Each programme is slightly different but all are with one purpose: to ensure the smoothest transition for our children. In normal times it would mean our children visiting their new schools and the Year 7 teachers visiting us. In these COVID times much of this is likely to be undertaken remotely. Educational data will be shared so that their new teachers are fully aware of the children’s attainment, their strengths and areas for development. Those children who are highly anxious or who have special educational needs are likely to have further arrangements made to ease their passage to Key Stage 3.

For questions or queries, please contact Miss Maryaam Jamalzadeh, Year 6 lead at jamalzadehm@west-ewell.surrey.sch.uk