Transitions
Supporting children and young people through the many transitions they face is vital to their health and development. Helping them towards improved emotional and social well-being can play a key part in this.
Common transitions include:
- starting school
- moving from primary to secondary school
- leaving school and moving into young adulthood
- entering further and higher education
- starting work.
Times of transition and change mark important beginnings and endings and can generate feelings of uncertainty, vulnerability and fear. For particularly vulnerable children and young people, uncertainty may be combined with feelings of abandonment and loss.
Primary to secondary school
Children who have progressed confidently through their primary school education often experience setbacks when they move on to secondary school, which:
- is much bigger
- has a larger number of staff
- requires children to work with many different teachers
- includes fewer familiar faces and friends
- has a different culture and ethos
- puts more emphasis on attainment and less on the individual – this can cause young people to withdraw and become 'invisible', or to adopt behaviours that ensure they are noticed.
What can schools do to help?
Help and support can be given to children and young people by providing them with every opportunity to:
- strengthen self-esteem
- develop emotional literacy
- increase resilience
- develop confidence
- express feelings and views
- develop problem solving skills
- develop listening skills
- understand more about the things they might experience
- find out where to get help and support
- access guidance and specialist advice.
Providing routines and rituals that ease, mark and even celebrate transitions can help create a more positive experience and assist with preparation for moving on. Opportunities to reflect on what has happened and what can be taken forward can also be helpful.
Useful resources
Implementing Inclusiveness Realising Potential
Section 6 of this report looks at transitions out of school into adulthood and college or work.
'Moving on to Primary 1: an exploratory study of the experience of transition', Insight 3
The findings of a study that investigated the transition experiences of children, parents and teachers, covering their reactions and care arrangements.
'Transitions in the lives of children and young people: resilience factors', Interchange 78
A Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) report describing effective strategies for helping children cope with periods of transition and change through the promotion of resilience.
A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5
Advice and guidance on the learning and development needs of young children aimed at centres providing education for children aged between three and five years.
Peer education page
Information and resources to support peer education.
Weare, K, 'Promoting Mental, Emotional and Social Health – A Whole School Approach', London: Routledge, 2000
Weare, K, 'Developing the Emotionally Literate School', London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2004
