What wasted years? How we focus on academic continuity, alongside pastoral support, at transition

Like many other secondary schools, at Thornleigh Salesian College we face lots of challenges around ensuring a smooth and successful transition from key stage 2 to 3 (KS2 and KS3). Back in September 2015, Ofsted took a close look at transition. Their report, Key stage 3: the wasted years?, found a variety of issues around KS2 to KS3 continuity and progression. In many ways we were ahead of them: around six years ago we started overhauling our approach to transition. The school has approximately 1,200 students in total. Some 270 pupils will join us in September 2018, 70% of whom come from one of seven partner primary schools. We need to ensure that students build on their knowledge and skills from primary school so that they make personal and academic progress once they join us. Our transition challenges We faced a variety of challenges: During the first two terms of year 7, many of our students were experiencing an academic dip, with progress plateauing or even regressing. We