Transition years and the lockdown
Evidence based policy, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Education, Emergency response
Charlotte Bagnall asks what impact a prolonged school closure due to the pandemic might have on children transitioning from primary to secondary school?
The transition from primary to secondary school is a major life event for eleven-year-old children in the UK, and one of the most difficult transitions faced within education. During this time, children face simultaneous psychosocial, environmental and academic discontinuity, alongside negotiating the onset of puberty and national Standard Assessment Tests (SATs).
Primary-secondary school transition is repeatedly outlined in DfE government reports as a period ‘not handled well’ (Ofsted, 2015, March, p. 65) where the quality of transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 is ‘much too variable’ (Ofsted, 2015, September, p. 21) and arrangements for transfer as a result ‘weak in over a quarter of the schools visited’ (Ofsted, 2014, p. 21). This is despite students’ needs to access timely and sensitive emotional centred support in the lead up to and over this period.
More recently, following the international outbreak of Covid-19, which has resulted in the abrupt closure of schools for at least the next few months, Year 6 pupils face additional uncertainty. This means cancelled school trips, leaving assemblies not taking place, missed opportunities to say goodbye to teachers and classmates, and pupils not taking SATs, which all involved have worked tirelessly for. Transition preparations, including visits to prospective secondary schools and much needed classroom discussions, may also no longer take place.
Negotiating multiple changes or ‘stressors’ within a relatively short period of time can have a significant negative impact on our ability to cope, especially if concerns accumulate, co-exist and persist, and are not addressed at significant time points by well-equipped supportive figures. Primary-secondary school transition is no exception. It is a critical time period for children, that can have both short-and long-term implications for their adjustment. Covid-19, an additional stressor, is likely to heighten the impact, and lead to many Year 6 children feeling anxious and apprehensive about the here-and-now, in addition to their next chapter. So, what can we do on both a small and large scale to support children during this period of time?
We know children’s mental health and wellbeing is also largely shaped by their feelings of control, safety, and emotional resilience; increasing children’s resilience and ability to cope is one way to approach school transition, in addition to school-wide and wider systemic level interventions. In the context of primary-secondary school transition provision, against the backdrop of Covid-19, supporting children to develop emotional competence and psychological resilience will not only help children cope with the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus in the short term, but could also feed-forward to primary-secondary school transition in September.
Since the publication of the Green Paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’ (2018), there has been a concentrated focus on supporting children’s emotional well-being within the school environment; however, what is to say that ‘the school environment’ only constitutes the physical stature of the school building? During this time of crisis, the internet can step in to support children, their families and teachers. Virtual transition work from live tours of the secondary school and interactive maps of the building, to moderated discussions between pupils and primary and secondary school staff, could provide much needed transition exposure, and reassure all involved for when schools restart (hopefully) in September. The internet could also be used as a vehicle to share resources to enable communication about the present and the future within families.
Research has shown that for Year 6 and 7 children, the people who helped the most to prepare them for secondary school transition were their parents/guardians. In addition, children who perceive parents/guardians as available, open to communication and involved, show better adjustment. Thus, discussions between Year 6 children and parents, adults and older children who have already made the transition from primary to secondary school about their experiences, can help prepare Year 6 children for their move ahead. However, it is important to ensure that these discussions are sensitive, and child led as too much discussion can also be harmful (see Bagnall, Skipper and Fox, 2019, for discussion of the importance of gradual and sensitive transition exposure).
Primary-secondary school transition also needs to be positioned as a continuation and progression, as opposed to a loss; children who miss primary school are shown to report greater transition problems. Supporting children manage anxieties is even more important now given the sadness that will be associated with the missed opportunities Year 6 children will be experiencing in the coming weeks. Thus, discussions focussed on moving on can help children come to terms with the loss, but also look ahead to new and exciting opportunities.
To summarise, poor adjustment over primary-secondary school transition may in part be shaped by a mismatch between children’s concerns regarding secondary school and the repertoire of skills they can draw on to address them. Activities that focus on improving children’s confidence, self-esteem and feelings of control, in addition to developing awareness of their self-influence – in other words, how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interlinked – play a key role in supporting children’s short- and long-term adjustment, and are vital during this time to provide much needed hope. See Bagnall (2020) for a full outline of the Talking about School Transition (TaST) emotional-centred intervention.
Whilst the recommendations discussed above, which have been informed by a rigorous literature review in addition to preliminary research conducted with key stakeholders in the UK and US, have more immediate implications for transfer parents and children, they also have key implications for policymakers. There is need for the DfE to raise the profile and draw schools’ attention to the significance for children’s adjustment in them negotiating two major changes (covid-19 and school transition). Whilst the former is to some extent out of our control, I would argue that there is much that can be done by policymakers to support current transfer children. In the short term, this may be providing key stakeholders access to wider evidence-informed approaches in order to support children’s emotional resilience and coping skills. Whereas, when it is safe for schools to reopen, perhaps we should delay children’s transition to secondary school and instead allow them to start back at primary school for a few weeks to gain some of the knowledge and skills discussed above, as well as to say their proper goodbyes and obtain closure, before moving on to secondary school.
Charlotte is researching for a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, after completing her BSc Dual Honours Degree in English and Psychology in 2016 and Masters Degree in Child Development. She has a keen interest in child development, particularly primary-secondary school transition and how to improve this apprehensive and stressful period of time.
For more support in the area of school transitions, or for the TaST resources please contact Charlotte Bagnall: charlotte.bagnall2@stu.mmu.ac.uk
The following websites may also be useful to support children and families manage anxiety during this time: