How can schools plan Year 6 to Year 7 transition for a pupil with EBSA?

Understand the existing pattern

Review the pupil's experience of arrival, learning, peers and recovery after school. Ask which parts of secondary school feel difficult and which seem appealing. Use their preferred communication method and include the family's account without assuming that either attendance data or a calm conversation explains the whole difficulty.

Check concerns about bullying, inaccessible learning, health or safety through the appropriate school arrangements. Anxiety-related avoidance should not prevent staff investigating the conditions contributing to distress.

Transfer the support that makes participation possible

Identify what currently helps and how the receiving school can provide an equivalent arrangement. A familiar primary adult may not be available, so name an actual secondary contact and a backup. Explain where help can be found at arrival, during a lesson and at less structured times.

Share relevant information through agreed routes and check that staff understand the practical actions. A profile saying the pupil needs reassurance is less useful than an agreed arrival location, accessible first task and clear response to a help request.

Rehearse a realistic sequence

Choose a manageable visit with a clear purpose, such as entering, finding a room and asking for clarification. Discuss how the same route changes when the school is crowded. Let the pupil help select photographs or cues rather than giving them a large pack they cannot navigate.

For example, practise finding the support point after a room change, including what happens if the named adult is absent. Receiving staff need to practise their part too; successful navigation depends on the promised help being available.

Review attendance and wellbeing together

Coordinate school and family observations of participation, distress and recovery. If a step is unmanageable, identify the barrier and revise the plan with appropriate staff or professionals. Persistent or worsening distress may require health advice. Use current attendance guidance for attendance arrangements; a practical transition rehearsal is not a treatment programme or authority for an informal indefinite reduction in education.