Changing schools: Special feature
THE transition from nursery into primary school or from primary to high school can be among the most testing times for any youngster.
New classrooms, teachers, subjects and friends – sometimes in a much bigger environment – can make moving schools stressful and daunting for even the most confident of children.
Many schools now employ specially trained transition workers to guide their Year 6 pupils through to the next stage in their education.
"Some of the children do find the transition extremely difficult," said Willow Lane head Linda Pye. "We have a transition worker who worked with Year 6 this year, and we also had a session to help them with what they need for their new school.
"Each child also had a day at their new high school in the summer term."
Max Greenwood, Willow Lane's transition worker, said: "Work on their transition started from May onwards when I firstly set up a worry box in the school library for the children to anonymously put any worries they might have into and I then dealt with them in class.
"A lot of the children are bothered about bullying and their uniform, so I incorporated that into lessons and we dealt with the issues they were worried about. I also did a drop-in session for children with any personal worries they wanted to talk about.
"I also gave them sample secondary school timetables to help them to get used to having all the different teachers and I did them a 'passport to high school' to help them move on from primary to high school – a passport to a new experience."
Mr Greenwood also accompanied the children on high school visits.
"Our main feeder school is Central Lancaster, and I will stay there with them until December and go to their lessons, as well as visiting the children going to other high schools. Then I'll go back to Willow Lane to start over again in Year 6.
"It's all about phasing in the transition and then phasing it out again. We try to introduce them as best we can.
"It's interesting to see what the problems are; some of them seem really bothered while others try to put on a brave face but deep down they are quite anxious."
Geraldine Pollock, teaching assistant and ICT network manager at Bowerham Primary School, has come up with a novel idea to help the youngsters get over their fears of changing schools – and it'll help future generations too.
Mrs Pollock, who specialises in working with children who have Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome, said: "I decided that we didn't have enough resources to help these children with their transition to high school, and set about trying to put something together that would make their transition easier.
"It then became apparent that these resources could help all the children who were struggling with the transition process."
The group of Year 6 children who worked on the project volunteered because they were worried about the transition to Central Lancaster High School.
"The children had as many visits to the high school as were needed," Mrs Pollock said. "They took their own digital cameras and were encouraged to take lots of photographs, and one of the children also took video footage.
"They then conducted a mock interview with a Year 8 child. He answered their questions on what it was like to attend Central Lancaster High School.
"Having had the visits, the children were no longer bothered about starting at the school, they were so excited and couldn't wait."
The photos and video footage are being used to make a visual resource for children to access via the school's website www.bowerhamschool.co.uk.
Mrs Pollock is also producing a visual story book for children to take with them to their new school, which will include information and photographs of the school which they can use as a resource to aid their induction into high school.
"As from next year a new booklet will be available to all the children," she said. "It will include everything a child will need to aid their transition. It will be a very visual and interactive booklet.
"Now we have all these resources in place we feel we can offer the children the best start to secondary education."
Major
Rennick Clark, whose son Jack, 11, took part in the project, said: "It was a nice project for Jack to get involved in. It's a major transition for him and it showed him that it wasn't as bad as it might seem.
"It has helped to build his confidence up about going into an uncertain environment. He's now completely comfortable with it because he's met the teachers and other people at the school and he knows there is support there if he needs it."
Carolyn Quail's son Kieran was also helped by the project.
"I think it always helps if you are familiar with your environment," she said. "I think it's the fact that everyone is going to be so much bigger than him that made it quite daunting – he's only just turned 11.
"But he's fine about going now, the project was a big help. He's really looking forward to it."
And Archie Bean also benefited from the initiative.
"I think he started Year 6 being quite nervous about changing schools, but he is really looking forward to going now," dad Jonathan said. "He's really relaxed and keen, and I think that's directly related to him doing this project with his friends.
"His older brother Stanley has just finished Year 7 which helps, but he still had lots of question he wanted to ask and so I think going up to the school helped enormously.
"He has gone through the whole summer now without any worries about it."
For the three youngsters, meeting the teachers and pupils at the school helped settle their nerves, and this is recognised by many heads.
Moorside head Len Guest holds meetings in school to help his Year 6 to adjust to the move.
"All the high schools provide taster days, and we also have meetings for the children, when the high schools send a member of staff into school to meet the teachers and pupils, to help them to understand some of the misconceptions about high school.
"In the past, pupils from Central Lancaster who were once Moorside pupils have come in for an afternoon answering the children's questions.
"The children feel pretty confident that they know their new schools when they leave here."
The support doesn't end once September comes around – most secondary schools have systems in place to help their new starters to settle in.
Skerton High works closely with its two main feeder schools, Ryelands and Skerton, and employs transition officers to provide continuity between the schools. The school's key stage manager also talks to the pupils in all the primary schools, and an induction day is held in July, giving the children a chance to spend a day in school with their new classmates.
"Once they come into school they come in first before the other years, and have a special timetable for the first two weeks," head Martin Burgess said. "They are also escorted to lessons and have lunch early."
The school also has a nurture group for children who are socially or emotionally at risk. The youngsters are taught together for half their curriculum.
Settle
Pupils starting in Year 7 at Ripley St Thomas start their term a day earlier than the older students, to give them the chance to settle into school life.
"We integrate the pupils very carefully," said head Liz Nicholls. "They have a session with their year head and a special worship in the chaplaincy, and they're given their timetables and a tour around the school.
"We also have a special induction programme which involves peer mentoring."
Hornby High held an induction day in June for incoming pupils, giving them the chance to follow a typical timetable.
Once they begin in September, pupils spend time doing team building exercises with their class teacher to help them settle in and make friends.
Teachers from Lancaster Girls' Grammar School visit their new intake in their primary schools during the summer term, as well as inviting the girls in to meet the current Year 7.
Once they arrive, mentors are allocated to help them settle in, and there's a social evening in the first few weeks for their parents.
A junior drama festival in the first half term also helps the children get involved in school life.
And at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, boarders have a taster day to spend time in the boarding house and see a typical day, and older boys are allocated to new pupils to act as mentors.
Meanwhile, for those children entering their school days for the very first time, their new life can be very distressing. For some it might be the first time away from their parents for longer than a few hours, while for those making the move from pre-school into reception, new routines and rules have to be learned.
Moorside Pre-School manager Caroline Gardner helps introduce the children to the changes they will face.
"We do a walk around the school so they can hear the bell and go into the big hall," she said. "We make them walk through the busy playground and towards the end of the year they join in with the reception class so they get used to the hustle and bustle.
"We'll go into the dining room and let them have their lunch, because that can be frightening for them in the noisy hall.
"The main things they worry about are the noise, the bells and the toilets.
"It's the formal side of school like lining up and listening to a whistle that they need to learn. I am a mum and I remember the difference in the routine and it helps to get the parents around that idea too."
Moorside holds meetings for both parents and children to look around the school before term starts.
"They come in for three different mornings in June so they can look around," Mr Guest said. "I think the children are pretty confident about school at the end of the three mornings.
"In September they then come for half days for about two and a half weeks and then go full-time."
Brother
Four-year-old Megan Bonnick was one of the new starters at Moorside this week, joining her brother Oliver, seven, at the school.
Megan had previously been at Bowerham nursery from the age of three.
"She went into school in June for three morning sessions to get used to it, which helped," said her mum Elsa. "The school also provided us with a really good pack and we sat down and looked at it together and talked about all the things she would be expected to do, like putting her own shoes on and using a knife and fork.
"I think it's different for a second child though, because she is used to going into the playground to pick her brother up.
"She's very confident anyway but I think that really helps.
"She has been so excited about starting school, she has had the biggest smile on her face, and she couldn't wait to wear her uniform.
"I think girls are so much more ready than boys as well. She's definitely ready to fly."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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