Enfield Council recognises the importance of strong and consistent transition support for all pupils, particularly those receiving SEN support without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. To enhance this process, Enfield has identified opportunities to strengthen practice, including improving consistency across the borough, ensuring identification of children who may need additional support during transition, and promoting effective communication and data-sharing between mainstream primary and secondary schools. With a commitment to creating a more coherent and equitable approach, Enfield Council sought to provide a clear and effective transition pathway for pupils moving from mainstream primary to secondary school settings.
In 2024, Enfield Council launched the Transition Improvement Programme under the ‘Delivering Better Value’ initiative, designed to provide a clear and effective pathway for pupils moving from mainstream primary to secondary school settings. The Enfield Transition Improvement programme aims to:
- Enhance early identification of children at SEN support level who require transition support by strengthening communication and data-sharing between mainstream primary and secondary school settings.
- Build staff confidence and capacity to better support pupils during key transition phases of their educational journey.
The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework[1] considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is promising – the work has been internally evaluated but also sustained for over 12 months with plans to roll out wider across the local SEND system. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is promising – there is evidence of impact in terms of the lived experience of children with SEND[2] and positive feedback from professionals.
[1] The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework uses two “signal strength” indicators to present the strength of evidence and the breadth of impact of a case study. Each indicator has four bars – emerging, promising, good and robust. The “strength of evidence” indicator is based on how the project has been evaluated and the length of time it has been sustained. The “breadth of impact” indicator is based on whether the case study can demonstrate impact in four broad areas – the more areas of impact, the higher the signal strength indicator.
[2] For ease of reading, we use the term ‘SEND’ to refer to disabled children and young people and children and young people with special educational needs.