Educational Psychology Support

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting transition to school following Covid-19

Introduction: emotional wellbeing

It is entirely understandable to feel anxious

It is natural to feel apprehensive, but we would not want children or young people to feel anxious all the time. Even though it is not possible to predict when and how schools and colleges will partly or wholly reopen, we recognise that some transition planning can help to alleviate anxiety, especially for our more vulnerable children, young people and families. It also helps to plan practical issues too, such as identifying staff for CYP with an EHCP plan who may require a high level of individual assistance.

Prioritise emotional wellbeing over the more task-specific aspects of orientation.

The most potent and protective factor that will make the difference is the quality of relationships between people. Initially, you must take care of how you and others are feeling. How you respond will influence the process. Try to stay calm and reassure children that you can manage this situation together. They will benefit from being with people they trust to turn to, to feel safe.

 Be curious

Be curious about the things that parents, children and colleagues say that cause them anxiety. It may be something quite specific rather than about the coronavirus itself, for example, about examinations being cancelled, or about missing their friends. We cannot stress this enough; relationships are vital and so try to find ways that people can be in touch and interact while staying safe.

Try to maintain a routine and be organised.

Maintaining routine or having familiar rituals such as assemblies is reassuring for everybody. It may be difficult in such uncertain times but work together to find creative ways to support learning and self-care together.

Staff wellbeing

Most schools have remained open with staff continuing to work in some capacity. Many teams have worked through the ‘school holidays’ while also juggling the demands of home-educating, managing role changes, and uncertain financial situations. Consequently, school staff are likely to “start feeling physically and emotionally tired, and this will impact on their ability to lead, manage and respond to change”.

To support staff emotional wellbeing consider:

• Opportunities for staff to socialise to share experiences over the lockdown period and to talk about how they are feeling
• Communicating what is happening to ensure that teams are ‘kept in the loop’ with plans and ideas
• Re-establishing peer and management supervision systems so that staff have opportunities to share/discuss issues through informal and formal processes
• Hosting a whole school meeting to ensure that the work that teams have been doing through the Covid-19 pandemic is recognised and valued

Transferring from pre-school to infants

Avoid duplication

Check whether transition planning has been started (e.g. by the Advisory Teaching Service).

Place a stronger emphasis on consulting with parents/carers

this will help to reduce their stress which can otherwise transmit to their child.

Encourage strong relationships

Strong, supportive links help the child with the vital task of holding their important people in mind when they are apart from them. It supports attachments in the home and care setting.

Resources

Guide parents/carers to useful resources (e.g. Family Information Service or for SEND).

Parents meeting for new starters

Many schools invite the parents of new starters into school for ‘move-up’ meetings to share essential information and to answer questions. Alternatives include:

• a voice-over PowerPoint presentation that shares vital information with parents
• a transition booklet or pack that covers key information for students
• a Reception Year email address so prospective parents can ask specific questions
• amending the school website to answer Frequently Asked Questions
• personal video profiles of staff so parents/pupils can ‘meet them’ virtually.

 Transition planning and meetings with Pre-School settings

Gathering Early Years progress data and discussing pupils with pre-school setting staff are critical for facilitating a smooth transition. Pre-School settings must complete the Transition Record on the EY Service website. As face-to-face meetings are not possible:

• Have telephone conversations with settings and parents and ask them to send (via a secure means) progress data electronically to the school.
• Ask about sleep and energy patterns; how the child usually shows anxiety or distress and what helps their child to soothe and comfort themselves.
• Be mindful that lockdown and time away from settings will have a disproportionate impact on families, e.g. those with Communication and Interaction needs or challenging home circumstances. Try to elicit this information from settings/parents/ carers/childminders, so that transition planning is enhanced considering the impact of Covid-19.

 Home Visits

Home visits provide children, and their parents, with a valuable opportunity to meet Reception staff. With social distancing, this is not able to happen, therefore consider:

• Delaying the start of school for Reception aged children during the first week back, to enable Reception staff to complete home visits.
• Inviting Reception aged children to come in for part of the day (for example, a cohort in the morning and a cohort in the afternoon) to provide them with time to form relationships with staff.

Help children to become familiar with the setting

You can support this by providing a virtual photo book and a video tour of the environment. These could be hosted on the school website.

Have friends in the same class

This will help children adjust to the demands of the new setting, especially for vulnerable children. Make sure you ask parents/carers about their child’s friendships. Schools need this information as soon as possible to enable planning.

Transition objects

These special objects have an important role as comforters. If it is important to a child’s sense of security, then it needs to be somewhere visible until it is no longer needed. Sometimes a virtual message can help, e.g. a parent’s kiss they can keep in the child’s pocket or an imaginary heartstring that can’t be broken by distance.

Hellos and good-byes

The time when parents/carers will need to feel most connected with and supported by practitioners, are the beginning and end of sessions. Parents/carers and children will need the soothing presence of a sensitive practitioner who understands and empathises with them at handover and does not try to dismiss their anxiety or briskly ‘fix’ the child’s distress.

The temporary changes in societal behaviour will have affected us all in ways we are only just beginning to understand, so flexibility and sensitivity are crucial. Consider typical ‘nurturing’ practice, e.g. avoid lining up, children are greeted and come in to settle to a task, others may need longer cuddles or more time to settle.

 

Transferring from primary to secondary school

Avoid duplication

Check if transition planning has been undertaken, e.g. by the Advisory Teacher, to avoid duplication.

Transition days for Year 6 pupils

Pupils starting a new school would typically have had several visits and sessions in their new setting before starting in September, alternatives to these could include:

• Photos on the school website of key areas within the school and a guided online video tour around the school.
• Pupils may have a transition booklet to help them explore key information and will be useful to send out to pupils in advance, to reduce potential anxiety.
• Answers to key questions that pupils might usually be told at a transition event would be helpful, e.g. ‘whom to go to when you’re upset or ill?’, ‘where is the canteen?’, ‘where can I have my break?’, ‘where are the toilets?’ along with maps/visuals.
• Some small activities sent home will help parents to become a part of the induction back into the school as well as help them understand the changes and feel reassured.
• There should be opportunities for children and young people to talk through concerns both during and after the transition.
• Online information with a ‘pen portrait’ of staff introducing themselves, the area they teach and telling the new pupils something about themselves.
• Staff will need to be mindful of ensuring accessibility of access for pupils with specific communication needs, e.g. HI, VI or other SEND, and fair accessibility for pupils with limited ICT/internet access.

 Summer school sessions

Many schools arrange some small groups or sessions over the school holidays for some pupils to attend a summer school or small group before school starts to build up familiarity with the school and staff. If this is possible to continue, this can help pupils to ‘find their feet’ in the new setting. If it is not possible, it may be helpful for some pupils to visit the school when other pupils are not in to become familiar with the school before the return.

Opportunities to make friendships

Friendships are a vital predictor of success with transition and transition days are an excellent opportunity for pupils to meet and socialise. Without these being able to occur, consider:

• Plan for students to have tutor and year group ‘bonding activities’ in the first few weeks so they can get to know their peers and form positive relationships.
• Mix groups up so that students do not quickly form niches but use the time to mingle with as many different students as possible.
• Use peer mentors from older year groups to informally support potentially vulnerable students, with oversight from Pastoral Team.

School Uniforms

Uniforms can be expensive, and post Covid-19 many families may be experiencing economic hardship as well as logistical factors around purchasing uniforms. Consider the following:

• Enable parents to purchase uniforms online.
• Have a day, before students attend when the school is open to enable parents to purchase uniform on site.
• Have a period of flexibility over uniform during the first week/month.

 Transference of information and data

Sharing this information is vital as it enables schools to allocate resources/staff. To support this, consider:

• Electronic sharing of SEN Passport/profiles and ensuing there are ‘virtual opportunities’ for key staff to meet while being mindful of data sharing over non-secure platforms.
• Arranging transition meetings for the first week(s) with the previous setting so that, where possible, a salient representative from the previous setting can attend.

 

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