The students of Year 6 are already half way out of the school from the moment they close their last test paper. They believe, and their teachers agree, that they are ready to leave.

Except some of them aren’t. Some of them, the closer they get to the end of term, they begin to cling; they hold on because they fear what is to come. The Unknown.

This fear is almost always focused on the Year 6 to Year 7 transition. But for those children with SEND, it can be a feeling that they have experienced - and will experience - frequently: making the big move up from early years to Year 1; moving from a mainstream setting to a special one; or leaving school altogether and heading on out into the adult world. Whatever the transition, there is likely to be anxiety, and some children with SEND will feel it more than most.

So, what can we do to help?

First, we need to talk about it - and well in advance of the event. The future need not necessarily be a scary place if we can acknowledge that it is going to happen and take some time to debunk some myths.

For many Year 6 children, for example, this seems to involve concerns about whether or not their head will be flushed down the loo, but for others, in particular those who come under the banner of SEMH (that’s social, emotional and mental health), it is likely that they will need reassuring that they will have a teacher who will like them and care about them as much as their current one; someone who is on their side.

Explaining the change

Next, we need to plan. Now, it might be that you have a child with, say, ASD (autism spectrum disorder) in your class, who struggles with flexible thinking and changes to routine. Taking some time to create a timetable or explaining what the changes will be, perhaps with photos of the new classroom/setting and visits, is time well spent.

We need to make introductions. It may be that the child in your class needs to visit their new place of learning more times than their typically developing peers. They might need to practise the route - either the route to school or the way between classes. If there are changes to meal times and break times, these will need to be practised, too.

And finally, you will need to say your goodbyes. Many children may have already lost more in their short lives than we can begin to comprehend. It might be the case that it is you who is leaving, and so they won’t have a chance to check in with you for a quick hug and a chat when you are on playground duty.

We need to make sure that goodbye doesn’t mean abandonment, but is instead an acknowledgement that we have been part of their journey.

This is an article from the 1 July edition of TES. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To subscribe, click here. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here.

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