Evaluation of the Secondary School Transition Process for Children with Special Educational Needs

This research project is about evaluating the transition process from primary to secondary school for neurodivergent children in public schools in Jersey. This research looks at the communication between primary and secondary Special Educational needs Coordinators (SENCo), how they support children that are neurodivergent and the impact this process has on these children. It is important for the transition from primary to secondary
school goes smoothly, especially for neurodivergent children as they will be facing many challenges such as a new environment, new people, bigger school, increased academic demands which can have an effect on their well-being. To find out the data this research project uses a qualitative approach asking parents of children who are neurodivergent and SENCos from primary and secondary schools to complete a questionnaire (appendix one
and two). The data was then used to compare what schools are doing for transitions and what parents think about the current process and what could be recommended to improve this transition for children. This could have an implication on the schools’ transition process and could improve it as the results showed that the majority parents/carers of children with SEN were not happy with the current process and ten out of 17 schools feel they
could be better resourced to support children with Special Educational Needs during the transition process.