Leaton Gray, S

Saville, K

English

UCL Discovery

1/3Year 6’s: ‘ready, strong and brave’ for the transition tosecondary in the time of Covidblogs.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/2021/06/02/year-6s-ready-strong-and-brave-for-the-transition-to-secondary-in-the-time-of-covid/Katya Saville and Sandra Leaton Gray.Since the second lockdown lifted in March and all students were able to return to school,much attention has been placed on the need for schools to help students ‘catch up’ onlost learning. However, our research this year found that the pandemic’s impact on thelearning of students in England who were moving from primary to secondary school (Year7) varied widely.While many teachers in our study reported that a reasonable degree of learningcontinued during the first lockdown, almost a third found a wide variation betweenstudents. For instance, in interview, one teacher contrasted the difficulties for students inlarge families with little technological access with the accelerated learning which occurredfor other vulnerable students who were able to access in-school provision.One of our key recommendations, therefore, is to invest heavily in technologicalinfrastructure and training, particularly as our survey findings indicate that, even betweenlockdowns, schools are now providing much more learning online. Most schools in oursurvey also relied heavily on websites, videos and learning platforms to facilitate thetransition process to secondary school.2/3Some students revelled in the freedom provided by the first lockdown to pursue projectsand their own learning interests, leading to greater autonomy. However, one teachernoted that this freedom didn’t suit everyone: “My two brightest children didn’t performparticularly well. It was almost as though they missed the stimulus of other childrenaround them, and so they were bored by home learning”. We are also aware that thestudents in our study were, inevitably, those with better access to technology andbroadband.Once back at school in Year 7, many, though not all, students reported that they felt well-prepared by their primary schools for life at secondary. They had not only provided themwith information and opportunities to research their new schools but had also set themincreasingly challenging classwork and homework. In fact, some felt that Year 7 was notas challenging as they had expected and were somewhat disappointed. Therefore, ourdata does not indicate dramatic learning loss in this cohort. However, there is evidence ofa narrower curriculum offer this year, as many teachers reported limitations to practicalactivities in science, art and PE and fewer extracurricular clubs and school trips.What is striking in our data is the flexibility and hard work of schools and remarkablestoicism of students. Schools adapted rapidly to the new situation last year, with manyproviding food packs, parent support and even trips to bring yearbooks and graduation T-shirts to Year 6 leavers’ homes. The teachers in our survey reported a huge leap in theirconfidence in working online in just a few months. Many students recognised andappreciated these efforts and, although they felt the loss of many of the end-of-yearrituals in Year 6, there was acceptance of the need for many of the restrictions imposed.As one student noted:I honestly think that this has made us even more united because all of us are goingthrough hard times, all of us may be upset, and that is good because then, we can allhelp each other to make ourselves happy, to think positive and to have fun! Many thingshave changed, like when …. We couldn’t have a school trip, all school trips werecancelled, we need to wear masks in corridors, we need to sanitise all the time, which is abit annoying, but we all need to carry on like this for a while to combat Coronavirus andYear 6s need to be ready, strong and brave for the transition next year.One of the main reasons for our study, as expressed in our previous blog, was theparticular vulnerability of transitioning secondary children who are at the cusp ofadolescence. Existing research on school transitions highlights that a child’s background,particularly peer and family relationships, has a key influence on students’ wellbeing andlearning progression in secondary school. We recognise the limitations of our studentsample, but it is worth noting that the impact of Covid-19 on many students is complicatedand, for those moving up to secondary school, perhaps the fears of mass disruption tolearning and wellbeing have not been realised.Media interest in our latest report has focused on our other key recommendation that the‘bubbles’ experienced in Year 7 this year may actually have protected these students andsheltered them during their transition. However, this too is complicated: once in Year 7,3/3students often mentioned missing different facilities, or contact with older students. Asone noted, “Something that has surprised me is that I thought we would have a lot morefreedom, but we still have to line up at the end of the day”. In our final phase of datacollection, therefore, we want to hear even more from students themselves.If you know a Year 7 child who would like to share their views, our final student survey isnow open.We are also inviting Year 6 and 7 teachers to interview here.The IOE is organising a Coffee Break on primary/secondary transition in the time of Covidon Thursday June 17.  Sign up here.   

Year 6’s: ‘ready, strong and brave’ for the transition to secondary in the time of Covid

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10130033/2/Saville_blogs.ucl.ac.uk-Year%206s%20ready%20strong%20and%20brave%20for%20the%20transition%20to%20secondary%20in%20the%20time%20of%20Covid.pdf

Year 6’s: ‘ready, strong and brave’ for the transition to secondary in the time of Covid

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