At The Riverview Academy, we ensure our children have an excellent transition between key stages, and between year groups. For Looked After Children (LAC), a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is drawn up in a meeting including the child, parents/carers and all relevant professionals.
At Riverview, we believe that it is important to prepare children carefully for these changes, in order that they have the best chance of making a smooth and confident transition, by focusing both on the skills sets required and the opportunities that such a change presents. We start preparing the children in Upper Key Stage 2 – the children are encouraged to become much more self-reliant in their learning, to think about how to organise their learning and manage their time, how to research, how to evaluate their work and to identify the next steps in their learning journey. This helps them to prepare for the greater demands for independent learning and juggling their time that secondary school makes.
In addition, children in years 5 and 6 take on a variety of school leadership roles, helping with a range of tasks around the school, including House Captains, Head Students, Play Leaders and a whole host of other responsibilities. As well as making a valuable contribution to school life, these roles help the children to develop commitment, organisational skills and a sense of personal responsibility that will stand them in good stead for secondary school.
PSHE
Any period of transition can be emotionally unsettling and confusing, and transition from primary school to secondary is no different. On the one hand, children may feel that they are looking forward to new opportunities, but on the other, they may feel insecure at leaving a familiar environment; they may be looking forward to meeting new friends, or worried that they may lose touch with current ones. We recognise this and, in the summer term in particular, timetable regular PSHE sessions to voice and constructively address their mixed feelings. For example, we reflect on past experiences and look forward both to opportunities and challenges; we explore ways to make new friends and who they can speak to at their new school if they are worried about anything once they start.
Year 6 to Year 7:
We work closely with our local secondary schools to ensure transition is smooth between Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 3 (KS3).
- Heads of Year 7 visit the schools, to meet with children and members of the Year 6 teaching team.
- SLT/SENCOs visit and we meet SENCOs/DSLs from secondary schools to ensure a verbal handover takes place.
- Transition week is planned for our Year 6 children – They will come off timetable, go to new classrooms for their lessons and have a taste of what it is like to be at secondary school.
- Transition work takes place to support the children with their understanding on things such as lockers, timetables, staffing, PE kits, travelling to school.
- Bikeability – These sessions run for our Year 6 children to ensure they are able to safely cycle to school. This is particularly important for our children who may be travelling to secondary school.
Between year groups/in-year transfers:
As the children move up the school, we ensure there is good transition between year groups. The children have an annual ‘Meet the Teacher’ day whereby they spend the day in their new classes, with their new teachers.
Some children have social stories to support them with this transition, and we also meet with parents/carers for any specific children with additional needs/anxiety.
If a child joins mid-year, we ensure there is a thorough induction. The Deputy Headteacher (DHT)/Assistant Headteacher (AHT) will contact the child’s previous school to discuss their file and any additional needs/concerns. The child/parent will then be offered a tour of the school, meeting with SLT/teachers if appropriate. They will also be assigned a ‘buddy’ with someone within their new class/year groups, to help them settle in.