HEALTH PROMOTION

Dead good transitions

hether or not they have communication difficulties, many children find moving from primary to secondary school difficult. Anderson et al. (2000) found that when children make this transition they have considerable anxieties but positive anticipations about the new opportunities. The move is also commonly accompanied by a dip in attainment as some children engage less well with class teaching and school work (Galton & Morrison, 2000). A study undertaken by Graham & Hill (2003) looked at the transition process. It took the form of a questionnaire survey in Glasgow in May / June 2002, supplemented by focus group discussions with children and data from teachers. Nearly all children reported looking forward to making new friends (89%), learning new things (82%) and doing practical subjects (79%). Their concerns included getting lost (77%), not knowing anyone (55%), getting picked on (53%) and more homework (53%). Most children had taken part in some sort of induction to their new school through visits or meetings. The nature of language and communication difficulties means that affected children need extra support and preparation to enable a smooth transfer to secondary school. As a result of looking at the needs of Year 6 children and talking to colleagues in neighbouring speech and language therapy departments, we decided to set up a transition group and programme for children in their final year at primary school (Year 6). Before the transition group was established we kept children on speech and language therapy caseloads, with the anticipation that they would need more intervention at secondary school. When we set up the group we hoped it would act as a preventative therapy which would enable many pupils to be discharged. The group has been running since 2003. All the invited children are on community clinic, specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, special school or mainstream school caseloads in Trafford. We ask speech and language therapists in the department for names in the November and invite pupils in the Easter. The group is held over three days in a secondary school during the summer holidays. We have a ratio of two adults to eight pupils. We are often supported by speech and language 14

therapy students from the two Manchester universities. In 2007, we invited 27 pupils - 20 responded and 19 attended. In 2008, we invited 36 pupils, with 25 responding and 21 attending. The aim of the group is to teach children specific skills that they will need at secondary school. This supplements the work already done by their own primary schools, such as visits and open days, to prepare them for the move. One of the first things we do with the children is a group activity to explore what they are looking forward to at secondary school and also what concerns and worries they may have. This helps them to prepare for the course and to begin to problem solve. Sometimes the children say that they are not worried about anything which, in our experience, is partly due to the nature of their communication difficulty. We find this activity helps them to be more realistic and to understand the aims of the group.

l-r Nadine and Debbie

Themes

The themes that have been generated by this process form the basis of the transition programme. These include: How do I read a timetable? How does the school canteen work? What can I choose to eat and how much will it cost? What do I do if I get lost? What do I do if I forget my homework? What do all these new words (biology, geography etc.) mean? How do I get organised for school? Making friends. The programme looks at these aspects in more detail and concentrates on teaching specific skills to address the childrens anxieties. We use a solution focused Pupil Passport activity to encourage the children to think about both how to deal with their anxieties and strategies that might help. We practise following a timetable, problem solving, organisation skills, using a canteen, secondary school vocabulary and making friends. We ask the children to find their way around the school by following clues and working as a team. This activity is particularly diagnostic as it relies on inferential understanding. They have to learn, for example, that just because

there is a computer in the room does not make it a maths room. On the last day of the course, we organise a parents session to discuss the course content. Support is also offered by the Educational Welfare Service and Parent Partnership Officer. They discuss issues such as Statements and attendance and support the parents in preventing problems. Every October, following their childs transition, we audit the success of the group by sending home a parent questionnaire. We have carried out a retrospective audit of the last three years. In 2005, 74% said that activities covered in the group helped their childs transition to secondary school. In 2006, the score was 87% and in 2007 it was 90%. This is probably due to the development of the programme and how the content has evolved. The activity that had the biggest impact over all the years audited was practice using and understanding the timetable (100% each year). Other activities that consistently scored highly were subject vocabulary, homework planning and making friends. We asked parents if the group had supported their childs transfer to secondary school on a scale of 1 (not very much) to 5 (very much). Over the three years no-one used the 1 or 2 ratings, 5.5% rated the success as 3, 44.5% rated the success as 4, while 50% rated the success as 5. This suggests that parents see the group as a beneficial support for transition. We now run a group every year for approximately 16-25 children. Although other professionals have run transition programmes / groups, there were no published resources to standardise therapeutic practice. As a result of this, we decided to develop our transition programme as a resource pack which has been published by Winslow (Arditti & Swift, 2008). The pack is intended for speech and language therapists, Year 6 teachers / Year 7 form tutors and SENCos (Special Educational Needs Coordinators) who want to organise a transition group for pupils transferring from Year 6 to Year 7. It consists of a set of photocopiable resources with full instructions on how to plan and organise a three day course.

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE WINTER 2008

Health promotion

Welcome to Secondary School Trafford CYPS

Project group

Following the success of the Transition Programme, we were invited to join the Traffords CYPS (Children and Young Peoples Service) project group, Welcome to Secondary School! Transfer support for young people with statements from young people with statements (2007). The group consisted of the Positive Contribution Strategy Manager, Special Educational Needs Parent Partnership Officer, School Improvement Service Inclusion Officer and three speech and language therapists. The aim of the project was to promote the value of partnership working, and in particular the benefits of enabling children and young people to design and develop services for their peer group in line with government policy. In its Special Educational Needs Toolkit, the Department for Education and Skills (2001, p.2) says, Children should be enabled and encouraged to participate in all decision-making processes that occur in education including being involved in transition planning. The Department of Health (2006, p.14) states that, Health care is provided in partnership with patients, their carers and relatives, respecting their diverse needs, preferences and choices, and in partnership with other organisations (especially social care organisations) whose services impact on patient well-being. In addition, the

policy is reflected in the 2004 National Service Framework which states that health promotion and early intervention improve outcomes for children and young people. Standard 2 around Supporting Parenting encourages strengthening awareness of safety and emotional well-being, including tackling bullying. Primary Care Trusts and schools are urged to engage parents to support children in learning and the development of life-skills. It adds, Schools provide information to parents at times of transition in their childrens lives, such as the move from primary to secondary school. This includes information about child development and learning and behaviour, and where to obtain further help if needed. (p.75) The project group decided to ask statemented Year 7 pupils if they would like to work with us to produce a booklet for Year 6 pupils with SEN (Statements of Educational Needs), to help allay their real or perceived worries about secondary schools. We hoped that the booklet would provide pupils, parents and teachers with increased knowledge and understanding of how to ensure that transition would be as smooth as possible. We worked in focus groups with Year 7 pupils from a range of secondary schools. The discussions were guided by the concerns that the Year 6 children had raised at

our Speech and Language Therapy Transition Group, such as getting lost and understanding in class. The discussions were mainly led by the SENCo or teacher in the resource centre and responses were recorded. The children had to complete a questionnaire following the discussion, for example, I ask for help when I need it always / sometimes / not very often / never. The children from a chosen secondary school designed and edited the content of the booklet. The children really valued having editorial control over the content, graphics and overall look and, for example, a child with visual impairment chose the colours that were easier to see. As the booklet is a resource for parents and children to use to support the transition process, funding was successfully sought from Traffords Demonstration Project Fund (TIS Transition Information Sessions). The booklet is now given to all Year 5 pupils with a statement and the children who attend the Speech and Language Therapy Transition Group. It will be available on www.cyps.org.uk . The transition programme has alleviated some of the concerns and difficulties children face when they transfer to secondary school and has indeed met our aim of enabling many children to be discharged following the group, having completed their episode of care. Some examples of parents comments include: It gave him confidence and took away some of the fears and worries; He showed the pupil passport to his maths teacher and he explained his worries and the teacher was understanding; Js very organised with packing his bag and following his timetable and homework. It can only be because of attending the group. Finally, one from a pupil - Youve sorted us out dead good for secondary school! Nadine Arditti and Debbie Swift are Specialist Speech and Language Therapists with Trafford PCT, e-mail nadine.arditti@trafford.nhs.uk and SLTP debbie.swift@trafford.nhs.uk.
REFLECTIONS DO I RECOGNISE THAT TRANSITION POINTS REPRESENT BOTH A RISK AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SERVICES? DO I OFFER SOLUTION FOCUSED ACTIVITIES SO CLIENTS CAN FIND THEIR OWN WAY FORWARD? DO I USE ONGOING AUDIT TO MONITOR THE SUCCESS OF A DEVELOPING INITIATIVE? What have you done to support clients through transitions? Let us know via the Winter 08 forum at http://members. speechmag.com/forum/.

References

Anderson, L.W., Jacobs, J., Schramm, S. & Splittgerber, F. (2000) School transitions: Beginning of the end or a new beginning? International Journal of Educational Research 33, pp.325-339. Arditti, N. & Swift, D. (2008) Transition Programme. Chesterfield: Winslow Press. Children & Young Peoples Service: Participation Team (2007) Welcome to Secondary School! Transfer for young people with statements from young people with statements. Trafford: CYPS. Available at: http://www.cyps.org. uk/2008/03/11/VTEH0171%20June07%20July%23510A1A.doc.pdf (Accessed 30 October 2008). Department for Education & Skills (2001) SEN Toolkit. (Product number: 0558 2001). Available via: http:// publications.teachernet.gov.uk (Accessed 30 October 2008). Department of Health (2006) Standards for better health (updated). (Product number: 40366.) Available via: www.dh.gov.uk (Accessed 30 October 2008). Department of Health & Department for Education and Skills (2004) National service framework for children, young people and maternity services. Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/NationalServiceFrameworks/Children/DH_4089111 (Accessed 30 October 2008). Galton, M. & Morrison, I. (2000) Concluding comments. Transfer and Transition: The next steps. International Journal of Educational Research 33, pp. 443-449. Graham, C. & Hill, M. (2003) Negotiating the transition to secondary school, University of Glasgow Spotlight September. Available via: www.eric.ed.gov (Accessed 30 October 2008).

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