Another guest post on a pastoral issue about which I don’t know enough…

If your child’s time at junior/primary school comes to an end this summer, then you need to start preparing them (and the rest of the family) for the move to secondary school.

Moving from primary to secondary school can be a particularly stressful and a worrying time for any child, more so for one with special educational needs.

Concerns all parents have

Both you and your child are likely to worry about the provisions the secondary school will make for them and whether staff will understand your child’s needs. You may also be concerned whether they will cope with the size and complexity of the school and most likely whether they will be able to cope with the social pressures from the other pupils. Many parents of special needs children fear bullying and fret about their child being unable to forge new friendships and relationships.

Complex issues such as this benefit from proper planning, what I refer to as transition management. In the months before the change ensure you liaise closely with your child’s current and new SENCO / Head of Special Needs. Arrange transition meetings, these are vital to share information collectively amongst the family, with the existing and the new support teachers. The aim of transition management is to build the child’s confidence in the secondary school and prepare them, and of course you, for the expectations of the new school. It’s a time to raise all your concerns and questions and get them addressed.

Being organised

Special needs children can find it hard to express their feelings and it can be helpful to provide emotion cards for these meetings and in general for your son or daughter to use to show how they are feeling. It’s a huge step going from being the eldest in a school to being the youngest after all.

Ensuring you have copies of timetables, route maps and the school layout before hand, and by going through these together can really help your familiarise your child with the new school and help them adapt quicker.

Experience has shown me that it can be helpful to make a visual plan/checklist in school and at home detailing the transition – dates of an meetings, new school visits, term start and end dates, transport arrangements and maps to and from the new school, ‘a safe place’ at the new school and key contacts.

School support system

Some schools also offer a buddying system to help more uncertain special needs children by providing one-to-one support as they ease into the new environment and learning styles.

I have also found a number of helpful special needs resources online to help parents, teachers and SENCO’s during this time, to make the transition smoother. Including books, activity sheets and planning documents.

However you choose to ease your child into high school, always encourage them to relax and think positively. With caring support, you can help to make the transition a happy one.

Author:
Carlo Pandian (@carlopandian) is a freelance writer based in London and blogs about teaching, parenting and design covering everything from special needs teaching resources to dyslexia learning aids. When he’s not online, Carlo enjoys swimming, cycling and travelling around the many sights of Europe.