Primary to Secondary School Transitions for Children with Additional Support Needs: what the literature is telling us

This paper will present findings from a systematic literature review, following the EPPI-Centre model (Davies et al. 2012), of educational transitions research which has primarily focused on the school transition undertaken by children at around 11 years of age. The review is part of a two-year longitudinal study investigating the experiences and opinions of children, parents, and educators making the transition into a Scottish secondary school from 14 different primary schools. The paper will focus on the literature identified in the systematic review which focuses on children with additional support needs (ASN) who are making the transition to secondary school. This includes a small number of papers which focus on the experiences of children with autism who are making this transition. The following themes will be reflected upon in the paper: firstly, what does the existing literature tell us about the transition experiences of children with ASN as they move to secondary school? Is it similar to the transition experiences of their
peers or do children with ASN have a different experience? It will then look at what the literature suggests is best practice in primary to secondary school transition for children with additional support needs, and why. Lastly, what more could be done, from the recommendations found in the literature, to support children with ASN making educational transitions, particularly from primary to secondary school? The question of whether educational transitions in themselves are an additional support need for some children, as suggested by Hoey (2014), will also be considered. Implications for policy and practice arising from the reflections on the existing literature will also be discussed, including the
need for professionals to receive awareness raising and training to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the various additional support needs that children coming into their care may have.