Additional support for primary to secondary school transition to be considered

The Telford and Wrekin Schools Forum will hear a council-commissioned review of alternative provision (AP) and social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) provision found transition arrangements is “not well developed” in some cases.

Group accountant Tim Davis writes that this leads to some children developing behaviour or attendance problems, or leaving mainstream schooling altogether.

He says additional funding could be provided to boost transition support, and further AP and SEMH adaptations will be discussed in coming months.

The schools forum will receive his report, which also discusses the wider 2021-22 higher-needs education budget, on Thursday.

“The local authority has recently commissioned a review of AP and SEMH provision,” Mr Davis writes.

“A full response to the report will be developed with schools and other stakeholders but one specific issue that was raised was around the variable success of transition arrangements between the primary and secondary sectors.

Funding

“Where these arrangements are not well developed, the transition has led to some children who had previously coped with mainstream provision subsequently finding secondary schools more challenging, with associated issues of behaviour and attendance, in some cases leading to a move out of mainstream provision.

“In order to provide support for the initial stages of adjustment to secondary schools, it is proposed to provide additional funding to provide additional support for transition to secondary school provision term.”

Mr Davis adds that further adaptations will be discussed in the next few months.

“Whilst some of this will be a redistribution of existing resources, the authority is looking to potentially increase investment in earlier interventions to prevent specialist provision being necessary,” he writes.

He says the dedicated schools grant, received by the council from central government, has increased year-on-year, leaving a £576,000 surplus in 2020-21 and a 2021-22 figure of £28.1 million.

The net increase in the high needs budget has been less significant, Mr Davis adds, so, in previous years, the forum has agreed to transfer £600,000 into it from the main schools block.

“The local authority is therefore aiming to perform a balancing act with high needs,” Mr Davis writes.

He says the authority “wishes to take advantage of the opportunity to make investments that will improve high needs provision”, while being mindful of “unavoidable pressures” elsewhere.