The move to secondary school means a number of major changes for all children; it can be especially difficult for people with Physical Disabilities or people with Special Educational Needs (SEN)/Additional Learning Needs (ALN).
Most children will cope with these and feel accustomed to the changes by the end of the first couple of weeks. In contrast children with Additional Learning Needs may take 2-3 terms to learn to navigate their way around the school and may require ongoing support throughout their school days to allow them to fully access the curriculum.
This is because primary schools offer more predictability, usually with the same teacher and classroom throughout the year. The move to secondary school brings a lot of changes - different classrooms and different teachers for each subject, larger buildings spread over a campus, new travel arrangements and coping with support from unfamiliar teaching assistants.
If the transition between primary school and secondary school is not well-managed, children with Physical Disabilities or SEN/ALN can end up feeling isolated and vulnerable. Their emotional health suffers and so does their academic performance. A well-planned transition between primary and secondary phases will help remove any barriers to learning and enable them to reach their full academic potential as well as feeling less isolated.