Harry's Story

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Harry is the youngest of three brothers and attended our breakfast group before school from the age of 5. He made me laugh every day with a cheeky smile and a natural warmth.

He was a slower walker than the other children as his feet were slightly turned in, and he found PE lessons really difficult. When he was 8 his Primary School Deputy Head asked if we would read with Harry because he was quite far behind the other children in his class and he wasn’t getting any support with reading at home. We did so.

Harry was always in mainstream class, with behavioural nudges from his class teacher, but making academic progress was difficult. He often described being told
off by his parents for asking for food when out at the shops, and frequently came to breakfast group in dirty or damp school uniform.

During the COVID pandemic we visited his family weekly on the doorstep with breakfast items, and our small library of books. Harry had rarely been outside or accessed home schooling, we provided him with a tablet to get online.

He returned to Primary school after COVID further behind academically and presenting more behavioural challenges. He was given more pastoral support in school and presented few problems to us, he was in mainstream class and making progress.

By Year 6 he was excited to leave Primary School and join his brothers at High School, but he described to us his fear of being bullied and told us about the
bad reputation of the High School.

He transferred to High School having had transition adaptation lessons, small group support and two induction days. Harry had been part of our youth group since
Christmas of Year 6 (intentionally done to support vulnerable children with social connection across their school transfer) and began telling us of his experiences.

He was excited and enjoyed the new lessons (particularly science), but he was often getting unkind comments from other pupils and getting into trouble for his response.

He was spending more time out of lessons and on his own, having had sanctions for uniform violations and lateness. He felt angry about it and misunderstood. Year 7 held internal exclusions for Harry and a temporary exclusion from school.

Our motivation to create these awards comes from the many stories like Harry’s that we hear in our local community. There were many things which both his Secondary and Primary school did to improve his outcomes, but overall his vulnerabilities and circumstances fell through the gap.

We have observed this many times, with children who were experiencing adversity in Primary school but coping, struggling to keep up with the adaptation needed for a successful transfer to Secondary School.

There are many transitions during our lifetimes, but this specific period has been described by researchers as ‘one of the most difficult transitions in pupils’ educational careers’. These added stressors can impact children’s cognitive and social processing and perpetuate feelings of instability and anxiety accompanying the change of school in this stage of development.  

For example, in addition to negotiating simultaneous changes in their school
environment; academic expectations, interpersonal relationships (e.g. friendships and teacher- pupil relationships) and identity (e.g. primary/secondary school child, child/young person), primary- secondary school transition also often occurs at a time when children are experiencing hormonal changes associated with puberty, and school-based pressures, such as academic national Standard Assessment Tests. These added stressors can impact children’s cognitive and social processing and perpetuate feelings.