21ST CENTURY LEARNING ALLIANCE A question of transition


We must commit ourselves to listening to our year 7s if they


are to enjoy a smooth transition. Professor Mick Waters looks at what we should be asking them


good transition. A good start is important in most things (ask Usain


Bolt). Most year 7s arrive wanting to do well in their new school. Most are optimistic and believe that the new school will offer a chance for enjoyment and success in learning. The first month is crucial; not just for setting expectations, but for gauging what the pupils are thinking and what sort of experience they are getting. Research tells us a lot about the early phases of


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the year 7 experience. Some work I did in schools at the beginning of the last school year was focused on the process of transition. While the children typically enjoyed the new school, the new surroundings and the novelty of a new routine, they found some things hard to make sense of and come to terms with. What do they find strange? The predictable things like


rules and the trivia of daily life are often enjoyed simply because they are learning new codes of behaviour. The


N RECENTyears there has been much talk of pupil voice; the challenge is to listen and use what the student voices tell us. Often we ask pupils about their views at


the end of a phase or unit of work. You might be interested in this opportunity to ask them early, especially if you want year 7 to make a


whole experience of managing belongings, specialist clothing and equipment is complex, but enjoyable (until they get it wrong). The volume of people is usually bigger than their


previous experience and the place can be confusing, though many enjoy the exploration of new surroundings. They quickly work out the “no-go areas”. The whole routine of food and drink is often different. They grapple with a new timetable and with new homework expectations. Most of this for most children seems to be part of the adventure. The three things they find most bewildering seem to


be tutor and form groups, assembly, and marking. For many pupils, tutor and form groups feel to be either a rushed or a pedestrian period of waiting on a starting line for the event to begin. If it is at the start of the day it appears to be a period of waiting for late-comers. Meanwhile, for pupils, marking seems a way


of judging relative merit and ability compared with children from other primary schools and the simple


number or grade on a piece of work is a way of lifting or reducing self-esteem. And assembly is often an enormously different


experience from primary school; why do we not sing? Most of us enjoyed singing just six weeks ago. After all this, it is what happens in classrooms that


makes the most impact on learning. The way we learn in those first few weeks sets the tone for the level of future success. If you have any influence over the year 7 experience you might like to check how much the early days reflect the aims and values of the school or the teaching and learning policy. Last autumn, I used a questionnaire in a few schools


which had a big impact (see right). If pupils complete the questionnaire after, say 50, lessons, you will be able quickly to produce percentage responses that will give insights into the classroom experience and offer rich data for urgent staff discussion. At the early stage of the year, there is still time to react and respond and show that the pupil voice is being heard.


If you think the survey will help, do email SecEd to


receive a full electronic template which you can easily adapt. You can also submit your results – anonymously and in confidence – to feed into a bigger, nationwide survey (information below). Do think seriously about using it. It will take


seconds to adapt and the results will make a difference to the quality of teaching and learning, make year 7 as good as it can be and, you never know, might make results better in five years’ time. Also, the pupils will know you are listening.


SecEd


• Professor Mick Waters is president of the Curriculum Foundation, Professor of Education at Wolverhampton University and a board member of the 21st Century Learning Alliance, which is a forum made up of a range of educationalists and which debates difficult and sensitive issues in education to stimulate change. Visit www.21stcenturylearningalliance.org


The year 7 Questionnaire


Questions within the year 7 questionnaire referenced by Professor Waters include some of the following. • How many times have you answered a teacher’s question in class?


• How many times have you had a small group discussion with other children in lessons just for a few minutes?


• How many times have you done writing in lessons in books or on printed handouts?


• How many times have you felt praised in lessons? • How many times have you felt “told off”? • Secondary school is very much bigger than most primary schools and there are a lot of other things that are different. Do you find the following things very different? 1, Having my work marked. 2, Form tutor time. 3, Assembly. 4, Homework.


• If you could suggest one thing that could be better at (name of school), what would it be?


• Name one thing that you really like about (name of school).


To receive the questionnaire template, email SecEd editor Pete Henshaw at pete.h@markallengroup.com


SecEd • September 8 2011


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