Transitions from Primary to Secondary School in Hackney
About the work
Transition from primary to secondary school is a significant step for young people within their academic journey, which also coincides with important and often simultaneous life changes such as increased independence, early adolescence, and a greater complexity in social relationships. To ensure that all Hackney children have equitable and inclusive access to education, the Partnerships and Collaboration in Education – Hackney (PACE-H) has brought together the London Borough of Hackney (LBH), education leaders and the community to understand and design supports for successful primary to secondary school transitions. The programme is funded and supported by UBS Optimus Foundation.
Hackney delivers some of the strongest educational outcomes in the country, while at the same time facing significant challenges around declining pupil numbers, tightening budgets, increasing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and social care pressures, and socio-economic disadvantage. The PACE-H Primary to Secondary transition project is focused on ensuring that all Hackney pupils, particularly those most at risk, experience a positive and supported move from primary to secondary school.
Our role
Dartington carried out the ‘listening’ phase of this work. This phase comprised a series of activities to understand the current context of transition from primary to secondary school in Hackney, informing recommendations for action. Underpinning our approach was a commitment to anti-racism and equity, with set reflection moments to ensure that we maintained our focus on this throughout. The approach included a rapid syntheses of existing research on school transitions, including an exploration of existing research and practice from Hackney specifically, a review of existing anonymised data from LBH on transitions, and principally, a series of listening workshops and conversations across the Borough which reached over 260 young people, school and community professionals, and parents. Together, sense-making was undertaken with the PACE-H steering group, including representatives across Hackney’s primary and secondary schools and Hackney Education, and insights were synthesised to inform a series of recommendations about how, over time, the system may be strengthened to support successful primary to secondary school transitions, especially for those facing additional challenges.
Outputs
The listening phase has resulted in a report summarising key findings and recommendations for action, as well as the development of a “Hackney Transition Model” (for discussion), setting out a whole systems approach to supporting successful transitions for all children and young people.
Download the “Hackney Transition Model” (for discussion)
What’s next?
The aim of the listening phase was to develop a locally driven evidence-based to support action in Hackney for improving the transition experiences across primary to secondary school. In the next phase of this work, Dartington will be supporting moving the recommendations from this report forward into locally sustained programmes and supports. This will be driven by local communities and school professionals. We are looking forward to sharing how this work evolves.
Our team
Tim Hobbs – Project Executive
Megan Keenan – Project Co-lead
Katie Potter – Project Co-lead
Cristina Preece – Research Support
Sean Manzi – Quant Data Support
Megan Gordon – Project Communications Support