Schools

Creating a virtual transition programme to make the move from primary to secondary schools seamless

About the provider

The virtual transition programme in Birmingham was created by Birmingham City Council, is promoted through the Birmingham Grid for Learning (BGfL) website and facilitated on the Virtual Learning Environment used by Birmingham schools.

About the project

It was recognised by Birmingham City Council that when pupils were making the move from primary to secondary school there was often a dip in attainment whilst students created new social networks. 

The Birmingham Virtual Transition programme is designed to help Year 6 pupils to find out more about their secondary school and those who will be moving up with them. Peer mentors and staff from secondary schools are trained and activities developed to make the transition to secondary school as seamless as possible for primary school children.

The focus of the programme is to reduce the Year 7 dip in attainment through helping Year 6 pupils to start making new social networks with others going to their new school.  This has been done through providing a safe environment where Year 6 pupils can ask questions about the school and get answers from those who truly know what the school is like – other key stage 3 pupils.

How Virtual Transition works

The project involved 37 secondary schools and, as at 2009, just under 2,000 Year 6 pupils.  Initially, pupils visit the secondary schools to talk to Year 7, 8, or 9 trained peer mentors and other pupils who would also be starting at the secondary school.  This visit is supplemented by an online programme that runs for three weeks, during which a significant amount of Year 6 children use the site to discuss various topics related to moving schools. 

The Year 6 pupils are able to talk to their mentors and ask them all about their new school and find out things that only other pupils will know.  In previous years Peer Mentors have been able to give Year 6 pupils hints and tips about things like:

• What to do at lunch time
• What school clubs they can join
• What sport is popular
• What happens if they forget to hand in their homework
• What to do if they get lost finding a classroom

All that is required in order to participate is a computer with an internet connection. Pupils can use the computers at school, if the teachers permits this, or they can join in from home with their parents' permission and if they have a computer with internet access.  Pupils receive joining instructions from their teacher detailing what they need to do. 

All participating children and teachers are registered by the Virtual Transition team, and are given a unique log-on that is linked to their school.  The system is very transparent and messages can be checked in the event of any misuse of the system.

The Virtual Transition programme has been running for seven years, during which it has developed and grown through taking account of evaluations and new technologies.  These measures ensure the programme is engaging and effective for all the pupils involved.

This year (2010) changes were made in the types of activities provided and more focus was placed on the Year 6 pupils making friends, including asking the right questions and starting a conversation etc. More multimedia was included with talking heads providing welcome messages and introductions as well as e-safety advice, and RSS feeds brought in news and e-Books.  Wikis were provided so that peer mentors could provide their own resources for Year 6 pupils and, in addition, mentors were given the ability to open and close real-time chats.

During the development stage of the programme, issues were encountered in the engagement of primary schools.  Because not all children would be attending the same secondary school, primary schools were reluctant to allow some of their pupils to take part if others could not.  This is being addressed through contact with the children or their parents directly, so children who cannot take part do not feel excluded.

Benefits and outcomes of the programme

One of the biggest outcomes of the programme is that Year 6 pupils felt more confident about starting secondary school as a result of being involved in the transition programme.  This has meant that there isn’t such an obvious dip in attainment in year 7.  Pupil’s confidence has been raised because they have been able to:

• Gain a better understanding of secondary school life through asking questions about their new school from pupils and teachers from the school
• Meet friends before their own induction day

The peer mentors also benefit from the participating in the programme in a number of ways:

• An increase in confidence and self-esteem
• Improved communication and ICT skills
• Improved social skills

Teachers at the secondary schools noted a difference in the confidence and behaviour of year 7 pupils who had taken part in the Virtual Transition Programme.

Up to five secondary schools have now created their own Virtual Transition Programme as a result of participating in the Birmingham City Council Programme, and it is hoped that eventually all secondary schools who have taken part will create their own programme.

In 2011, Birmingham City Council plan to add a parent’s site to the programme, so parents can gain better understanding of the school their child will be attending.  This will be housed separately to the children’s site, and parents will not be able to view content on the children’s site. These plans are yet to be finalised.

Bookmark with