I often hear the transition to Year 6 to Year 7 described to young people as ‘exciting’ or a ‘fresh start’ and, for many young people, it is. The move can bring opportunities for greater independence, new friendships, and a broader curriculum to explore new topics.
Part of our special series of articles on transitions
However, for care-experienced children, transitions are rarely just about changing schools. They often represent something far more emotionally significant.
I’m an Assistant Educational Psychologist based in Cornwall for the last four years and the Virtual School link AEP, which is a new role for Cornwall. Through my role, I am often asked to support care-experienced young people in the lead up to transition from primary to secondary.
In this article I will highlight a piece of systemic work around transition that I was involved with last academic year (2025-2026). This project arose from noticing a pattern of increased suspensions amongst care-experienced young people in Year 7. DfE figures echoed this local trend, highlighting those in care being at disproportionate risk of exclusion (Department for Education, 2025). Local and national data galvanised us to reflect on best practice around transition planning, ultimately resulting in a Trauma Informed Transition Tool for care-experienced and other vulnerable learners.
The Tool was underpinned by Dr Jemma Carter’s ‘applied trauma responsive classroom model‘ (ATRCM) as well as several core transition principles. It was intended to be a practical tool aimed at the young person’s network to ensure that transition is well-co-ordinated, timely, person-centred and trauma informed. Our service has launched the Tool to schools via webinars and has been positively received.
Why transitions can be particularly challenging
When working alongside care-experienced young people as they navigate transition, it is important to think about their previous experiences of change. Many have experienced multiple changes that were sudden, unplanned, or outside of their control. They may have moved homes, changed schools, experienced disruptions within caregiving relationships and often experienced significant losses. As a result, the move to secondary school might not feel like an exciting fresh start but can instead evoke feelings of anxiety, vulnerability, grief, uncertainty, and loss.
Importantly, these feelings may not always be consciously recognised by the young person but, instead, communicated via their behaviours. Often, transitions can activate memories, emotions, and beliefs linked to earlier life experiences (Triesman,2017). Understandably, these lived experiences can shape how care experienced young people approach change. Rather than viewing a new opportunity with excitement, they may focus on what they stand to lose. They may find it hard to let go of familiar people, routines, and environments because these provide a sense of stability and security.
The move to secondary school also involves significant relational change. Key adults who have supported a child throughout primary school will change and the level of key adult support may no longer be the same. New relationships need to be established with teachers, pastoral staff, and peers. For care-experienced children, who may already find trust and attachment difficult, this process can feel overwhelming.
Primacy of relationships
When supporting transition, relationships must come before everything else. Bomber and Hughes (2013) highlight that children who have experienced developmental trauma often have limited experience of adults consistently anticipating and meeting their needs. This means that transition planning should not simply focus on timetables, maps, and practical arrangements. Instead, it should demonstrate to the young person that the adults around them are thinking ahead, working together, and actively helping them feel safe.
Our Trauma Informed Transition Tool focuses first and foremost on promoting relational safety through transition. Before a young person can engage with learning, navigate a new environment, or develop confidence, they need to feel safe within their relationships.
Therefore, within the planning framework there is a focus on the process (i.e., increasing the young person’s feelings of safety and security within the context of relationships before and during transition). We focused our attention and strategies on the bottom layers of the ATRCM: safety, co-attunement, connecting, affiliation and belonging. This means prioritising relationships and relationship-building. Key adult relationships (or secondary attachment figures) are highlighted at the heart of this work and therefore guide many of the suggested strategies.
This means carefully considering questions such as:
- Who will be the child’s key adult in the new setting?
- How will introductions be facilitated?
- What opportunities will there be to build trust in advance?
- How will existing relationships be acknowledged and celebrated rather than abruptly ended?
Relationship-building should be viewed as an essential part of transition rather than an optional extra. Care-experienced young people need time and space to develop these connections at a pace that feels comfortable for them.
The importance of belonging
Alongside safety, fostering a sense of belonging is a central focus within the Transition Tool. Every young person needs to know that they are welcome, valued, and accepted within their new community. Belonging develops through meaningful connections, positive experiences, and repeated messages that they matter.
Research findings suggests that when children feel they belong within their educational setting, they are more likely to experience positive wellbeing, increased confidence, and better academic outcomes (Riley, Coates & Allen, 2020). For care-experienced children, who may have experienced rejection, exclusion, or instability, belonging can feel especially fragile. Therefore, our Transition Tool draws attention to how the young person will be helped to develop connections with peers, key adults, and the wider school community. Practical strategies are offered to promote belonging, as well as recognition given to the importance of not assuming ‘they’ve been here for a while so they must be okay’, instead recognising after the initial transition that there may be times across the year when the young person’s sense of belonging may be lost or have a dip.
A person-centred and trauma-informed approach
One of the core principles within our Transition Tool is that there is no universal transition plan.
Traditional transition planning often assumes a linear process. However, this is not always the case for care-experienced young people. So many of our care-experienced young people do not move schools at the usual time points and can experience mid-year transitions. Whilst the focus of our guidance is on the typical year 6 to year 7, the hope is that the Tool can be used in a flexible way.
Some care-experienced young people will move successfully into secondary school with relatively light-touch support. Others will require a highly personalised package of preparation and ongoing intervention. Collaboration and co-production were the guiding principles in the creation of this document, and this was achieved through consulting with our colleagues from Cornwall Virtual School, Designated Teachers across both primary and secondary settings, Foster Carers, and Social Care. Collaboration helped to ensure the document reflected all parties’ feedback and could become a usable document with the young person’s voice at the centre.
Equally important is recognising that transition does not happen to the child alone. It affects everyone around them. Carers, school staff, and trusted adults may also experience feelings of sadness, concern, or loss as relationships change.
Recently, I have been supporting a school that has been navigating feelings of worry, uncertainty, and loss surrounding a care-experienced young person who is due to leave Year 6 without a confirmed Year 7 placement. As the transition approaches, the school community is understandably concerned about the young person’s future and the absence of a clear next step. Alongside this concern, there is also a sense of sadness as staff come to terms with the end of their involvement, reflecting the emotional impact that transitions can have on the adults who support vulnerable children.
In Cornwall, the Virtual School, alongside the Educational Psychology Service, have collaborated for the past three years to deliver Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) and Designated Teacher (DT) funded termly group supervision, recognising the complexities of the role by extending our support offer to support the wellbeing and resilience of those in frontline pastoral roles.
Transition as a process, not an event
Perhaps the most important personal reflection for me is that transition shouldn’t be viewed as a single event. Often, we can focus our efforts on the weeks leading up to September and assume that, once a child has arrived at secondary school, the transition is complete. In reality, transition is an ongoing process that requires preparation, implementation, reflection, and adjustment over time for all involved.
For care-experienced children, successful transition is built through early planning, strong relationships, shared understanding, and a commitment to relational safety. When we take the time to understand the emotional meaning of transition, rather than focusing solely on practical arrangements, we create the conditions for young people not just to cope with change but to thrive within it.
The move from Year 6 to Year 7 is much more than a journey between two schools. For care-experienced young people, it is often a journey that touches on their past experiences, current relationships, and future hopes.
Implications for EP practice
My final reflection is on the unique opportunities EPs and Assistant EPs have to support transition in meaningful ways.
Introducing the Trauma Informed Transition Tool to support care-experienced young people helped to shift transition from being regarded as a one-time event to an ongoing process. Using the framework created opportunities for young people and the adults in their lives to share hopes, strengths, worries, and support needs that can create a more personalised and supportive transition process. This trauma informed collaborative approach can build a shared understanding of the young person and ensures important information is clearly documented during the move between settings.
Practical takeaways from using the Trauma Informed Transition Tool are:
- Begin transition conversations with school settings as early as possible
- Prioritise relationship-building
- Facilitate effective communication between all adults involved
I found that some of the most valuable conversations were not about school logistical arrangements, but about relationships. Small pieces of information, such as how a young person refers to their foster carers, or who they would seek out when feeling overwhelmed, often shaped planning in meaningful ways.
Through working collaboratively with schools, parents/carers, and young people, EPs and Assistant EPs are well placed to promote a sense of belonging, continuity, and emotional safety during this significant period of change for care experienced young people.
For more information about the tool contact Emma.
References
Bomber, L.M. and Hughes, D.A. (2013) Settling to Learn: Settling Troubled Pupils to Learn: Why Relationships Matter in School. London: Worth Publishing
Carter, J. (2023) The Applied Trauma Responsive Classroom Model (ATRCM). Available at: https://edpsy.org.uk/blog/2023/creating-a-trauma-sensitive-classroom/ (Accessed: 8 July 2026)
Department for Education (2025) Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England. Explore Education Statistics, GOV.UK. Available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/outcomes-for-children-in-need-including-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england/2024 (Accessed: 8 July 2026
Riley, K., Coates, M. and Allen, T. (2020) Place and Belonging in School: Why It Matters Today. London: National Education Union (NEU)
Treisman, K. (2017) Working with Relational and Developmental Trauma in Children and Adolescents. Abingdon: Routledge
