04. Transitions
Times of transition are times of vulnerability for students with special education needs and their families. The main transitions are into school from early childhood education, between different special education services, between different levels of schooling, and as students leave school to go on to further education, training or employment.
Effective transitions occur when there is:
- an understanding of what the students want and need
- active planning to ensure the right services and support are available in their new settings
- flexibility regarding the services and supports that are provided in schools and after school
- close work between schools and the various agencies that can be involved, especially when students are leaving school
- cooperation between professionals as students move from class to class or between years.
Some schools manage transitions extremely well. For example, the schools involved in the Christchurch Lead School Transition Service Pilot are working together to develop an across-school transition service using a best practice framework, but more needs to be done so that all schools are skilled at managing transitions. There may also be changes that could be made to how funding is used to support transitions.
One option might be to create extra flexibility in how existing special education funding can be used. This might include being able to use some school funding in post-school settings to help students make the transition to tertiary study or employment.
Another option could be to ensure secondary schools have good information on the opportunities available for students with special education needs once they have completed school. There may be other options related to best practice that you can identify.
There could also be simple measures that could be taken to reduce the burden on students who are making the transition from one setting to another. Measures could include ensuring that schools and agencies consistently work closely together so that as students transition from one setting or specialist support to another, there is no unnecessary extra needs assessment. This may be particularly relevant when moving from early childhood education services into programmes like ORRS and from intermediate to secondary education.
Question 2
What needs to be done to make transitions work better?
Christchurch Lead School Transition Service
Eight Christchurch schools participate in this pilot programme. The programme builds on research on the best way to transition children with disabilities into adulthood. It uses a best practice framework for successful transition.
The service provides:
- information
- support for developing partnerships between schools and services
- transition planning processes and templates
- professional development
- support and advice
- critical intervention when needed.