Seamless Shifts: Transition - Part Two - Beyond Curriculum & Continuity

Welcome to our educational blog. Here we explore all things pertinent to education, discuss current topics and provide tips, from research and educational experts, to aid practice.

You've read our first blog on Transition, available here so here's part 2, covering 'Beyond Curriculum and Continuity'. Once again, created by Julian Axford, Director of School Improvement for Chiltern Learning Trusts. With over 34 years of teaching experience, there's no better person to provide a wealth of knowledge surrounding this topic, pertinent to all. 

 Co-ordination from KS2 to 3

Making a concerted effort to seamlessly transition pupils from KS2 in primary school to KS3 in secondary school is crucial for their academic and personal development. Whilst it certainly has its logistical challenges, this transition can be facilitated through a series of coordinated efforts focusing on curriculum continuity, pastoral care, and communication between primary and secondary schools. Some of this facilitation revolves around familiar practices, but some schools have gone a stage further in their efforts to ensure that transition does not equate to learning that has plateaued, or starting points which lack the necessary challenge to fully engage pupils.  

Curriculum Collaboration 

It should go without saying that both phases need to ensure that their KS3 curriculum builds directly on the KS2 curriculum offer, both in terms of sequencing knowledge and addressing any gaps that emerge. However, this is often in the hands of the secondary schools to initiate, and has its challenges when feeder primaries are numerous and have a variety of curriculum models. This alignment can only be achieved through close collaboration between primary and secondary school teachers as equal partners, and leaders who see it as a priority. Meaningful transition work is an investment.

Continuity and Extension of Skills

Primary schools will, quite rightly, have had an unrelenting focus on the fundamental skills in English and Maths – the keys for pupils to unlock the increasingly challenging disciplinary knowledge and vocabulary of a high quality KS3 curriculum. Despite this drive for literacy and numeracy, over 41% of primary pupils nationally do not reach the required ‘secondary ready’ standard in Reading, Writing and Maths at the time of transition. Clearly it is paramount that secondary schools should start KS3 by continuing to build on these skills in a deliberate, systematic and targeted way before gradually introducing more complex concepts. KS3 has the flexibility to deliver on this.

There are a number of examples of where secondary schools have been prepared to be creative with their Yr7 curriculum, ensuring sufficient curriculum time is committed to not only building on previous subject knowledge but also ensuring that by the end of the first year in secondary school pupils are sufficiently equipped to access curriculum content, both in levels of literacy, and the softer skills they will undoubtedly need. Organisational skills, oracy, critical thinking and time management, confidence and adaptability to name but only a few. The advantages of having key elements of such a curriculum being delivered through the teaching and support of a significant adult who can maintain a holistic view of the pupil, are significant, and would have been very familiar to pupils in their last year of a primary setting. 

Bridging the Transition

Introducing bridging units in Year 7 can help. These units, designed collaboratively by KS2 and KS3 teachers, provide a smooth transition by revisiting key concepts learned in primary school while gradually introducing secondary school topics. However, in only a few instances is the deeper understanding of the children’s previous experiences deliberately catered for in the pedagogy adopted for Yr7. In an ideal world, KS3 staff would spend significant time in Yr6 classrooms, focusing on the most effective elements of primary pedagogy to build on in transition. A completely unrealistic intention to have, considering readily available capacity, but examples of best practice in this respect do exist. 

Many of these elements of primary pedagogy however, are reflected in the pupils’ books. How often is the primary / secondary transition bridged not by planned projects, which can sometimes be left to gather dust after the initial investment of time, but more effectively, by the seamless use of work books in the latter stages of Yr6, which have been supplied by the receiving school. Pupils picking up their books in the first year of secondary school, with the standard of previous work already evidenced so that Yr7 teachers can develop and build on it, can have a real impact in ensuring that work expectations and curriculum coverage do not plateau. There is a clear benchmark on which teachers can base their future planning. This approach can help teachers tailor their teaching, with immediacy, to meet the diverse needs of incoming students. Based on both previous work scrutiny and early diagnostic assessments, targeted interventions can rapidly be put in place. Pupils who may need extra help in certain areas can receive additional support through tutoring, intervention programmes, and well-informed planning leading to effective adaptive teaching approaches for individuals.

To Conclude

Once again, it's clear that transition from KS2 to 3 is a fundamentally important phase for every child. Research repeatedly shows that students who undergo successful transitions are more likely to achieve higher levels of academic attainment, pursue further education, and secure meaningful employment opportunities. As a result, it is our duty, as teachers, educators and leaders to ensure this process is as seamless as possible and builds, develops and challenges prior learning. Secondary schools that takethe time to effectively collaborate with their primary school peers ensure that transition is meaningful, challenging and effective for students building, developing and extending prior knowledge and skilsets.