Planning a move to a new school or setting

Moving school changes a network of small, familiar actions. A child may need a new journey, entrance, timetable, set of adults, lunch system, toilet route, homework platform and way of asking for help. Some changes will matter greatly; others will not.

A useful transition plan discovers which is which. It does not try to remove every uncertainty or require the child to appear enthusiastic.

Define the move

Write down what is changing and why. A move may be a routine phase transfer, family relocation, change following exclusion, move into or out of specialist provision, managed move or placement named through a statutory plan. The decision-maker, timescale and review route vary.

Confirm:

• the current and receiving settings;
• the planned final day and start date;
• who has formally agreed the placement;
• transport and admission arrangements;
• any statutory-plan process;
• who coordinates the transition in each setting.

Do not let practical preparation obscure an unresolved placement decision. Ask the appropriate authority to confirm its position in writing.

Ask the child what is unknown

Avoid beginning with a generic list of what autistic or neurodivergent children find difficult. Ask this child what they want to know and how they prefer to receive the answer.

Possible questions include:

• How will I get there and where do I enter?
• Where do I go first?
• How do I read the timetable?
• What happens if a room changes?
• Where can I eat and use the toilet?
• What happens during breaks?
• How is work set and handed in?
• Who can help, and how do I contact them?
• What happens at the end of the day?

The child might speak, write, point to a map, choose from options or ask a trusted adult to explain. Let them say when they have enough information for now.

Map what stays the same

Transition planning can accidentally present the new setting as entirely unfamiliar. Identify continuities: a friend, a subject, a support method, a communication card, familiar software, transport routine or interest.

Then identify where a support must be translated rather than copied. "Movement break" may have worked in one classroom but need a pass, route and return plan in a larger school. "Check-in with the teacher" may require a named tutor and backup when many teachers are involved.

Ask the receiving setting to explain how each arrangement works there.

Build a concise handover

In England, the SEND Code says SEN support should include preparation for transitions. It says the current school should share information with the receiving setting and agree with parents and pupils what information will be shared ^[1]. Other nations have their own support-planning systems, but purposeful information sharing remains important.

A usable handover may include:

• the child's preferred name and communication;
• what they want staff to know;
• strengths, interests and current learning access;
• support and adjustments in place;
• signs that a situation is becoming difficult;
• what has helped, where and under which conditions;
• relevant health, medication and safety information;
• attendance or exclusion context that affects access;
• named actions and review dates.

Avoid unsupported labels such as "attention seeking" or "will abscond." Describe what happened and the conditions. State who said what. Share only relevant information, agree the purpose and recipient, and use the applicable privacy process.

Ask the current setting what it sent. Ask the receiving setting who received it, which staff need it and how they will access it.

Choose preparation that answers a question

The National Autistic Society suggests visits, photographs of people and places and practising a route as possible preparations ^[2]. They are options, not promises that anxiety will fall or a requirement to rehearse everything.

Match each activity to a question:

• A quiet visit answers where to enter and find key rooms.
• Photographs help identify people or places.
• A map shows movement between lessons.
• Route practice tests transport and timing.
• A sample timetable reveals notation or equipment questions.
• A video call may introduce a named adult when a visit is unavailable.

Stop if an activity is adding pressure without useful information. A child can prepare well without repeatedly entering the building.

Make the first-day route concrete

Write the first day as a short sequence:

1. Leave at 8.05 and use the agreed transport.
2. Enter through reception at 8.45.
3. Meet the transition mentor; reception staff are the backup.
4. Go to tutor room C4 using the marked route.
5. Show the help card or send a message if the plan changes.
6. Leave from the same entrance at 3.10.

Add only the detail the child needs. Check uniform, equipment, food payment, medication, lockers, changing, toilets and end-of-day collection before the start.

Confirm support before arrival

Ask for a short written plan showing:

• adjustment or provision;
• where and when it applies;
• how the child accesses it;
• responsible person and backup;
• intended effect;
• review date.

If the child has a statutory plan, ask how named provision will be delivered from the first day. If specialist equipment or training is needed, confirm who arranges it and by when.

A handover meeting is an activity, not an outcome. The outcome is that relevant staff can find and deliver the support.

Include learning, not only wellbeing

Transition meetings can focus heavily on anxiety, routines and behaviour while leaving curriculum access vague. Ask the current setting to share attainment, teaching approaches, assistive technology, task formats and the conditions in which the child works most independently.

The receiving setting should explain how subjects, grouping and assessment differ. If the child uses a reader, scribe, laptop, movement arrangement or adapted materials, confirm whether the same equipment and permissions operate from the start. A previous adjustment may need a new form, but the underlying access need does not disappear at the boundary.

Decide how missed learning from the move will be identified without presenting the child with an undifferentiated catch-up workload. Name the adult who can prioritise tasks across subjects.

Check transport and the edges of the day

The journey may determine whether the school day is accessible. Confirm application decisions, pickup points, supervision, travel time, handover, what happens if transport is late and how the child can report a problem. A transport decision and an education placement decision may be made by different teams; record each owner.

Plan the periods adults can overlook: waiting before the building opens, breakfast provision, movement after the final lesson and collection. If a child uses an adjusted arrival but school transport reaches the main gate at the ordinary time, the two plans do not yet connect.

Where independent travel is a longer goal, separate it from the first-day requirement. The child can learn one route or safety task without making independent travel a condition of taking up the place.

When the move follows difficulty or exclusion

A receiving setting needs enough context to provide education safely, but the handover should not reduce the child to the worst incident. Include what happened, the child's account, relevant risk management, unmet needs under investigation and the support that has worked.

Ask who will tell the child what the new setting knows. Unexpected references to a previous incident can damage trust. Agree which questions the receiving setting still needs answered and who will answer them.

If the placement begins quickly, create an interim support plan and a date to complete the fuller assessment. Urgency is not a reason for key adults to guess how communication, medication or safety works.

Plan for attendance and recovery

A child may attend initially and show the impact later. Agree how the school will notice difficulties without waiting for absence. At home, keep proportionate notes on sleep, eating, pain, communication, homework and recovery.

If entry becomes difficult, use the article on when a child cannot get through the school gate. Do not assume the move itself is the only cause. Check learning, peers, environment, health and whether planned support happened.

Review the first weeks

Schedule a review before the start, not only if something goes wrong. Ask:

• Did the handover reach the relevant adults?
• Was each support available?
• Which routes, lessons and unstructured times are accessible?
• What does the child say now they have direct experience?
• What is the impact outside school?
• What will continue, change or stop?
• Who acts next and when is the next review?

One calm first week does not prove the transition is complete. One difficult day does not prove the placement cannot work. Use the pattern and delivery evidence.

For a focused secondary-school preparation list, read preparing an autistic child for secondary school. The broader school support plan guide helps make provision usable across staff.

A strong transition does not guarantee that every adult will know everything or that the child will never struggle. It creates a reliable route for information, support and review when real school life begins.

Close the transition formally after the receiving setting has reviewed it with the child and family. Record which temporary arrangements become ordinary support, which end and which need further assessment. Otherwise an emergency first-week plan can drift on without anyone deciding whether it remains useful.

Send the final action record to both settings and the responsible authority where relevant. That shared record makes ownership clear if equipment, transport, training or statutory provision is still outstanding.

Sources

1. Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years
2. National Autistic Society, Starting or switching school