How can I help my child prepare for English in Secondary School?

The transition between Primary and Secondary school can be daunting for numerous reasons and sometimes it feels like there are no straight-forward answers available. During my time as a classroom teacher and tutor to pupils both at the beginning and end of their seconary school journey, the most frequent statements and questions I hear are:

"Will my child be able to cope with the pace of secondary school English?"

"How do I make sure my child maintains the high attainment levels they've achieved in Primary school?"

"If my child is working towards age related expectations in primary school, will they have enough support in secondary school?" 

"I wish I knew all of this sooner."

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If any of the above resonate with you, continue reading and I'll hopefully shed some light on what to expect and how you can ensure your child has the best start to their English learning throughout secondary school. 

Coping with the pace of Secondary School

Many are surprised to find that as far as lesson pace is concerned, there really isn't that much difference between Year 6 and 7. The National Curriculum is designed to show progression and therefore, the skills aquired in Year 5 and 6 at the end of primary school are the building blocks to accessing the beginning of the KS3 curriculum. 

Following this, alongside looking at your childs SATs results, most secondary schools will have their own assessment methods to ensure every pupil is gaining the right support. While I would recommend giving the school a chance to get to know your child during the first two terms of Year 7, if you have major concerns about the level of challenge your child is being presented with in any subject, you are entitled to contact either the Head of Year or Head of Department. Usually, these staff members have contact details on the school website, but if not you can always call the school and ask to be forwarded to the relevant person. 

Specifically for children in Year 7, the main changes will be the sheer size of the building and getting used to new peers and teachers. My advice would be not to worry too much about the content of lessons at this stage unless you notice something extremely alarming. The best way to ensure your child has a settled and secure start to their KS3 education is making sure they feel supported in the wider changes happening in their lives.

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Greater Depth Children: How to maintain high attainment levels

What is a Greater Depth/High Attainment child? 
Something that probably isn't addressed enough is how to maintain the success of children who were higher attainers in primary school when they transition to secondary school. When we talk about "high attainers", we are usually considering those who have achieved (or are predicted to achieve) Greater Depth in KS2 SATs, or those who have been highlighted as such throughout Key Stage 2. Usually, this is communicated through end of year reports or during parent consulations. If you aren't sure whether your child would be considered a Greater Depth or high attainment child, you can ask their class teacher. Remember: 

• not being a "high achiever" in primary school doesn't mean your child can't excel during later education stages. 
• children who are Greater Depth in Science or Maths may not be for English. Every child is different. 

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What do I focus on?
Secondary School teachers are fully secure in the National Curriculum for all areas of their subject and while they will be the ones to guide your child through relevant materials and skills, there are certainly things you can do at home to ensure your child has the skills that are vital come GCSE years. If your child is a high attainer in English, it won't hurt to put these to practice before they reach Year 10 or 11. The more confident they become in the following skills, the less stressed they will be about their English exams when the time comes. 

• Exposure to text types – Currently, there is a heavy focus on poetry in GCSE English Literature exams. All too often, children who are excellent readers have a lot of practice in comprehending non-fiction articles as well as fictional stories, but struggle to analyse and understand poetic language.
  Depending on the resources you have available, 'CPG' offer a range of books that help with this. However, you can support your child for free. Websites such as 'Poetry Foundation' have a range of poems available to read and print. Focusing on one poem a fortnight and asking your child to explore the language, themes and meaning will encourage the level of thinking needed for GCSE years. Asking them to look up the definition of words they don't understand and consider why that word was chosen are very effective skills that will translate over to their essays when the time comes. 
  Shakespeare, Shakespeare and more Shakespeare. It comes down to language again, but the more Shakespeare you can introduce your child to, the easier their understanding of GCSE text types will become. BBC Bitesize have some great resources for breaking down Shakespeare's works. You don't need to focus on this too heavily, but familiarising your child with his work, his style of writing and the themes that often appear in his plays will be beneficial. 

• Writing – This sounds self-explanatory, but the focus on punctuation and grammar isn't as intense in secondary school as it is in primary. However, that doesn't mean that come GCSE's, punctuation doesn't matter. Neat handwriting, knowing where to capitalise letters and how to use basic punctuation marks (. , : ! ?) can be the difference between one grade and the next. Allowing good grammar practice to spiral is inevitably putting a child on the back-foot when it comes to maintaining those higher grades come GCSE English. 
  You can encourage writing in your child's day-to-day life in a multitude of ways. If they are already a keen writer, story-writing or diary entries may be appropriate. If not, asking them to write out a reminder, list or quick paragraph for you will be sufficient. Maintaining a high standard in writing is half the battle when working to maintain high attainment in English. 
• Fostering Creativity – Even children who are superb readers and writers often struggle with creative writing. This can be for a range of reasons, but it usually comes from the fear of being judged or feeling as though their ideas are 'stupid'. However, it's another skill that is needed if you're looking to maintain high attainment in English throughout secondary school. If your child enjoys writing, asking them to change a story they're familiar with to make it "scary" or "sad" might be appropriate. For children less inclined to spend their free time writing, creativity can be enchanced while watching TV series and films. 
  Asking children questions such as: "How would this film be different from the villains point of view?" or "If you could change one thing about the plot, what would it be?" challenges them to build their own perspectives and rely on their own imaginations to interact with the material given. 
• WHAT DOES IT MEAN? – Being able to discuss why an author or poet made a certain word choice and what it contributes towards the overall feeling of their work is essentially the skill examiners are looking for. This is such a simple skill to strengthen. Whether you are watching a film or tv show, listening to music, reading a book, or watching an advert on the television, simply ask your child a question about what they're seeing:
  
  "Why do you think [insert popstars name] uses that word in the song? Was it a good choice? How does the song feel?"
  
  "Why was this font used on [insert video game name]'s cover? Does the red make sense for the game? Why/why not?"
  
  "I noticed you described [insert relevant activity] as [insert word used by child]. Why did you use that word in particular?"  

Overall, while most children who achieve Greater Depth or are considered high-attainers in English during primary education often have a natural love for the subject, broadening their exposure to different text types and encorporating a rich vocabulary into their daily lives will inevitably place them in a more secure place come their GCSE years. 

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Working Towards Age Related Expectations: How to support your child's progress 

Frequently, parent's of children who are working towards age related expectations in English are made aware of it. Schools have a tendency to focus more on the children who need extra support rather than those meeting expectations or exceeding them in order to get them to where they need to be. However, if your child is still considered "working towards" age related expectations by Year 5 or 6, it is understandable that you might begin to panic about what this means for their future progress. 

First of all, do not panic. Working towards age related expectations or "not being where they're supposed to", as others will often say, doesn't mean that your child is 'falling behind' or incapable of achieving great things in English come secondary school. The first thing to do is think about why your child is in their current position. Often, one of the future reasons can be identified: 

• Your child has a Special Education Need – Autiusm, Global Delay, Dyslexia, ADHD and many other Special Education Needs may have an impact on your child's ability to learn and how they progress in English. If you know your child has an additional need, it is vital that you make sure their primary school is having termly meetings with you and sharing an action-plan detailing what is put in place to support them.
• Lack of Interest – Some children have the ability to achieve more than they do in English due to a general lack of interest. This, at times, can seem impossible to conquer but weening in short bursts of reading and writing can make all the difference. Find a topic your child is interested in (video games, a specific show, sports) and start to link their reading material to that interest. Of course it's important to read a variety of texts, but for stubborn children, this is a good starting point. 
• Limited access to resources – Especially during the current Cost of Living Crisis, books and writing materials are not essential and, to be blunt, some families do not have the money to buy additional resources at home. However, that doesn't mean that your child should go without and there are many ways to work around having limited resources.
  
  Firstly, primary and secondary schools have libraries where children can loan books free of charge. It is slightly more structured in primary school but the general practice of giving all children access to reading material is the same. Ensure your child is utilising this facility and if you find they are not coming home with a book, you can communicate with their school to ensure they're given one. In primary school, this may be achieved by liasing with your child's class teacher. In secondary school where the responsibility often falls on the child, you may want to talk to your child's head of year if they're failing to do it themselves.
  
  Secondly, reading and writing skills can be practiced and developed in a multitude of ways, and they are all beneficial. From asking your children to read instructions, the description of films on streaming services, letters etc. you are potentially exposing them to new vocabulary that they otherwise wouldn't have encountered. As for writing, keeping a diary, asking them to write a letter to a relative, shopping lists and reading records are all great ways to incoporate simple writing tasks into their daily lives. 

Believe it or not, the process of supporting children who need extra support and those who require extra challenges are rooted in the same ideology: practice! Whether your resources and time are limited or extensive, there are a multitude of ways that reading, writing and developing opinions about texts and media they're consuming in their daily lives can be achieved. This is key to ensuring your child makes good progress during their secondary school years.

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Remember, their English teacher is the professional and will be the key person to ensure academic progress is made, but the core skills being strengthened at home will give them the extra security in the subject that will see them reach the best of their ability. 

I Wish I Knew This Sooner... 

Now that I've given you some ways to prepare and maintain your child for secondary school English, here are some quick things that I find parents with children in Year 11 often wish they knew sooner. 

• The Exams – Year 11 children currently sit four papers that contribute to their English grades. Two English Language papers and two English literature papers. While the content of these papers vary from school to school, the key skills remain the same. Throughout your child's five years of secondary education, supporting them to focus on: 
  
  - their ability to form and express opinions about a range of texts and multimedia 
  - assessing the effectiveness of word choice in novels, poems and advertisements 
  - building confidence in writing creatively 
  - understanding the context of novels and plays (the period they were written in and what was happening at the time) 
  - target audiences 
  
  will inevitably strengthen them the skills they need to access the GCSE English papers. 
  
  
• KS2 SATs – are not the be all and end all. What your child achieves in their SATs acts as a good assessment tool for the support they need in secondary school, but will not be the only tool used by their secondary school to put them in correct sets with accurate resources. If your child doesn't achieve what they hoped or were expected to, the best thing to do is not stress about it. Your child's secondary school will do a number of assessments and their ability level will constantly be evaluated to ensure they're given the appropriate work and lessons. 
• You are entitled to ask questions – Secondary schools obviously operate on a bigger scale than primary schools do. English teachers will work with a range of pupils in different year groups and of multiple abilities, so the chances of your child's teacher being familiar with them after the first term of Year 7 is rare. However, if you have a general question or concern about their learning, you can contact the Head of Department or their Head of Year for further support.
• It isn't as stressful as you thought – Specifically for parents whose first or only child is making the transition to secondary school, not knowing what to expect can be daunting. However, as I mentioned before, the content of your child's lessons will build on from what they were taught during Key Stage 2 in primary school. The National Curriculum is designed to progress from year group to year group; a huge jump in difficulty is unrealistic and will not happen. If you really want to know what your child will be learning, the National Curriculum for Key Stage 3 and 4 is available to read here. 
  

Finally and most importantly, enjoy this time! Secondary school sees your child blossom from a child to a teenager, and then a young adult, with their own interests, thoughts and feelings. Regardless of their attainment level, this shoul dbe the time you enjoy getting to know your child as they develop into free-thinking individuals who inevitably become a credit to you! Grades do not define the child! 

Thank you for reading!