The national curriculum is divided into
four main stages that pupils are taken through during their school life;
Keys-stages 1-4. Keys stage-two applies to pupils between ages 7-11. This is
the transition between Primary into Secondary; children go through this phase
in their teenage, a very problematic age. Pupils complete primary aged 10years, this is judged by the age they are at the start of acamemic year in September,
they progress to Secondary at 11years. As they start Secondary,they are faced
with series of demands which can make the transition very challenging and
overwhelming. If we consider first of all size of a Secondary school compared
to a primary school; Larger buildings, offices, classrooms, laboratories and
massive playfields. Moving from one class into another can prove to be tough for
new pupils. All these to go through to a whole term of 40 weeks! 6 lessons a
day filled with too many subjects/tests and exams. None of the subject’s link
into each other so they have to study each subject individually. We want a secondary education that is
competent to prepare pupils for opportunities and experiences of an adult’s
life. Education Reform Act of 1988 state that;
“Secondary prepares Pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and
experiences of adult life”
Bridging units is part of a programme of
guidance and support being developed by the Welsh Assembly Government, ACCA,
the Basic skills Agency, BBC Wales and Estyn to help schools raise
standards. Why use bridging units? The aims are; to help and support effective
transition from key stage2 to secondary school; notably between year 6 into
year 7; to make the process bearable for the pupils. This will ensure a smooth
transition and also to enthuse pupils so that they can look forward to
continuing the work in their Secondary School.
The main purpose is to alleviate the problem of pupils getting discouraged
with Education at an early age. Bridging
units will improve continuity and progression in line with pupils learning
needs. Also provides an idea of contents of secondary curriculum, its new
subjects or topics that were not learnt in primary. Pupils should be supported and encouraged to embrace their new learning environment, make it as interesting as possible. The Welsh government has been challenged to consider revising the cirricullum (ACCACC report 2004) this is due to poor results in overal perfomance within the UK, especially at Secondary level.
http://www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland/transition-mixedY7.htm
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/curriculuminwales
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