With the cancellation of what some in the press termed “freedom day” comes the news that secondary schools may need to cancel or rejig their plans for transition days for the incoming Year 7s. 

Like most school leaders, I already had back-up plans in place. If nothing else, these past 15 months have taught us to have at least three different options ready to go for any event.

But transition to secondary school is a particularly important time for children. It is often a huge culture change for pupils, and a culture shock for their parents, who are used to primaries, where teachers and senior leaders are fewer and far more accessible. 

But, in my opinion, the loss of a transition day - while not ideal - is not something for parents and pupils to worry about too much.

The transition from primary to secondary school: a process, not a day

Transition is a process rather than a day, and it has been happening for a while for these current Year 6s. It is not a tick-box exercise, but at its heart is the journey towards belonging to another community.

Transition happens in the obvious ways: parents researching different school options; the school tours (virtual or not); the application form; offers day and, for some, appeals; uniform lists; multiple forms filled in; working out transport routes; and so on. 

But it also happens in ways that are not so obvious to pupils and their families. Primary practitioners have had the long-term interests of pupils at heart throughout their time at school. We desperately want them to succeed in their secondary education, and have been building up their emotional resilience as well as their academic preparedness for the moment they fly the nest. 

Most of my pupils go to the attached secondary school (we are all-through), meaning that there is a strong sense of being part of the community already. The key part I’m involved in is the transition meetings - detailed discussion of the pastoral and academic profiles of the pupils. This is knowledge that the secondary teachers are eager to have, so that they can quickly build trusting and lasting relationships with the pupils and their families. 

I have mixed experiences of pupils who go to other secondaries. It is undoubtedly a monumental task for secondaries with large numbers of feeder schools to gain all the required information from primary schools - let alone the more nuanced stuff. But most secondaries do this well. (Though can we please standardise the process? The multiple formats of forms can be very draining on the primary teams.) 

Year 6: Worries about friendship and FOMO

A study of pupils in Year 6 in South London showed that many of their worries around transition were linked to friendship. Most of the time, I assume, this is about making new friends, but I was interested to see that these pupils were also concerned about the loss of their current friends. 

Transition meetings between schools where pupils are going to the same setting often include the conversations “Put these children together, please,” or “I strongly advise you not to put these together”. But perhaps there is work to be done in our transition planning about maintaining friendships? 

The current Year 6 may experience some FOMO (fear of missing out) about not having a transition day, but everyone is in the same boat, and the secondary schools will make it work. We can remind pupils that it is normal to be nervous and to feel overwhelmed - these are feelings that continue into adulthood, when you go to college or get a new job, or meet a new partner. 

We can remind our pupils that we have been preparing them for this for years. The loss of a day in the new setting may be disappointing, but it is not a rite of passage to be mourned. 

A good friend of mine recently bought a flat and moved from London to Glasgow to set up a business - having never visited before, because of the pandemic. Some might question the wisdom of this, but thanks to her meticulous approach to research and networking, it has been a success. For me, this illustrates the fact that all manner of transitions can be successful if we approach them with two things: planning and - perhaps more importantly - hope. 

The current Year 6 pupils have already demonstrated that they are more than capable of adaptation at short notice. And our secondary colleagues will look after them brilliantly, no matter what. 

Ruth Luzmore is headteacher at St Mary Magdalene Academy, in North London. She tweets @RLuzmore