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The transition from primary to secondary school: Recommendations from research : My College

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This research review was produced as part of a project funded by The Comino Foundation. The transition from primary to secondary school is often regarded as one of the most challenging periods in students’ educational careers (Zeedyk et al. 2003) and can be a particularly difficult and stressful period for some students (Kwarikunda et […]

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A webinar for education leaders focussed on improving outcomes in the reception year.
Speakers for this session include Adam Harris, Head of Great Heights English Hub, and Joshua Callaghan, Hub Lead for the Arch English Hub.
This webinar covers:
- The importance of early language to attainment, mental health, and relationship building for young people.
- Approaches to early language development and supporting children to meet their early learning goals. Please contact Reception.BestStartInLife@education.gov.uk to receive a copy of the Early Language Audit used in this session. Webinar feedback form: https://forms.office.com/e/e0tXhbgf5b

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Complaints Confidence Training 2026 - Summary

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2026 Improvement Plan aligned to new ofsted

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2026 Improvement Plan aligned to new ofsted

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Leadership  Briefing Summer 26 Padlet version

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A4 Guide to the New Ofsted Framework - June 2026

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A Guide to the New Ofsted Framework - June 2026

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Reducing Barriers for Neuro Diverse Pupils

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Reducing Barriers for Neuro Diverse Pupils

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Understanding and reducing the barriers to school transition for neurodiverse pupils

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This guide for SENCos and teachers explains the science behind why, unpicking the four losses and four unknowns ND pupils face at transition and what your school can do to plan for each one.

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SEND Matters Newsletter  Sibsey Free Primary SCHOOL

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SEND Matters Newsletter  Sibsey Free Primary SCHOOL

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10 common mis Interventions Summary SEND

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10 common mis Interventions Summary SEND

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NAHT - Campaigning to improve schools for everyone

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Advice for the current times  - ‘SCHOOL COMPLAINTS – The Art of the Possible’

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Careers and employability service - University of Kent

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Persuading, influencing and negotiating skills

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Persuading involves being able to convince others to take appropriate action. Negotiating involves being able to discuss and reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Influencing encompasses both of these.

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The Psychology of Negotiation: Strategies for Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution in…

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Are you dealing with conflicts and challenges in your workplace that require effective communication and conflict resolution skills? If so…

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Legal: How schools can get proactive about parent complaints

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If this spike in complaints reflects a cultural shift, schools can’t afford to remain on the back foot

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Handling Persistent or Aggresive Complaints

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Handling Persistent or Aggresive Complaints

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Here at School Transition, we are proud to be part of a network of education professionals and organisations working hard to help learners transition between education settings. Schools within Derby City have benefitted from support from the The School Development Support Agency (SDSA) and Opportunity Areas funding to create a number of projects to support transition. In addition to the Primary to Secondary Transition Portal, other resources have been commissioned as part of the programme. School Transition are delighted to share these resources on behalf of the SDSA:

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School Transition Resources created by Derby City Schools

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School Transition are delighted to share transition resources that have been developed by Derby City Schools and supported by The SDSA.

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EEF blog: School Transitions – reflecting on culture, curriculum and…

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The EEF is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.

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Steve Jobs used a signal to noise ratio to plan his life👏@The Diary Of A CEO #diaryofaceo #stevenbartlett #diaryofaceopodcast #podcasts 

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@doac.clips
Steve Jobs used a signal to noise ratio to plan his life👏@The Diary Of A CEO #diaryofaceo #stevenbartlett #diaryofaceopodcast #podcasts
♬ original sound - The Diary Of A CEO - The Diary Of A CEO

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PPT Leadership Briefing: Foundational Knowledge

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PPT Leadership Briefing: Foundational Knowledge

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Strong foundations in the first year at school | Ofsted webinar for schools

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Strong foundations in the first year at school | Ofsted webinar for schools

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Belonging: Science of  Belonging Resources and Learning

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Belonging: Science of  Belonging Resources and Learning

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Building Belonging Project - Helping teachers understand the importance of belonging

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The Building Belonging Project is a product of the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX), which saw fifteen mid career professionals from five disciplines collaborate over two years. the LSX is coordinated by New America in collaboration with the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania. The LSX is generously funded by the Jacobs Foundation.

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LIFE SKILLS whole school Leadership Briefing

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Adaptive teaching in practice: using feedback to check understanding

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Practical classroom examples showing how teachers decide what to do next to move learning forward, lesson by lesson.

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Voice 21 - The national oracy education charity

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How can you measure progress?

The deliberate, explicit and systematic teaching of oracy across phases and throughout the curriculum will support children and young people to make progress in the four strands of oracy outlined in the Oracy Framework.

The Oracy Framework can be used as a basis of formative assessment, enabling you to gauge what your students have or have not yet grasped and informing you what to teach next.

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In school, oracy is a powerful tool for learning; by teaching students to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them. It is also a route to social mobility, empowering all students, not just some, to find their voice to succeed in school and life.

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Despite careful planning and checks for understanding during the lesson, students' work will include slips, mistakes and misconceptions. Each student will have adopted different interpretations of the task, misspelled different words and reached a different point in a journey towards excellence. When we come to provide feedback, what will help?

Our feedback will reflect the nature of gaps in student learning. An error may reflect one of several underlying causes:

"It could be a slip - that is, a careless procedural mistake; or a misconception, some persistent conceptual or procedural confusion (or naive view); or a lack of understanding in the form of a missing bit of conceptual or procedural knowledge, without any persistent misconception. Each of these causes implies a different instructional action, from minimal feedback (for the slip), to reteaching (for the lack of understanding), to the significant investment required to engineer a deeper cognitive shift (for the misconception) (Bennett, 2011, p.17)."

Before deciding how to convey feedback to students, we need to identify what we want them to change. This is demonstrated by an experiment in which a school adopted comment-only marking (removing grades from students' work), in line with the evidence. Students who received comments seemed to make less progress than those who received grades, contrary to the evidence: the authors concluded that giving comments has no effect: it is the nature of the comment which matters (Smith and Gorard, 2005). First we have to identify what we hope to achieve, only then can we choose an effective way to convey this.

We can clarify our goals by thinking about feedback as targeting different levels of change. These levels range from making changes to the specific task to changing the student's approach to learning. Several reviewers have created different frameworks: the framework below incorporates the work of Hattie and Timperley (2007), Kluger and DeNisi (1996) and Pryor and Crossouard (2010, p.270).

This is a way to think about where our feedback is targeted, not a suggestion that specific feedback is good and general bad (or vice versa): we are likely to want students to make changes at every level at some stage. Feedback's effect lies in helping students to focus on a particular level (Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Kluger and DeNisi, 1996). It helps therefore, to be clear about the different levels, their merits and their disadvantages.

1) Improving the task

We may want students to improve their responses to the current task. Teachers focus most frequently on helping students improve a specific piece of work by suggesting corrections or stating whether an answer is right (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). We might suggest:

"Try that again, but this time hold your head up throughout the movement."

"Rewrite your answer to question 3 removing the brackets at step 2."

"Paragraph 3 needs more evidence."

"There is a problem with your answer to question 4."

(The examples above, and throughout, work from what might be said to lower-attaining students, who will benefit from more directive feedback, to higher-attaining students, who nay benefit from and think more about less directive feedback).

This can help students improve the current task, but its effects are limited: students are unlikely to be able to transfer what they learn about one task to another (Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Kluger and DeNisi, 1996; Shute, 2008): people struggle to recognise that they can use the solution to one problem to solve an analogous problem, unless they receive a hint to do so (Gick and Holyoak, 1980). Task feedback may also interfere with students' concentration if they are conducting elaborate tasks, learning complex tasks or seeking to follow rules (Kluger and DeNisi, 1996). We may therefore consider giving more general feedback.

2) Deepening understanding of the subject

We may want to help students deepen their understanding of learning and performing in the subject. Feedback on more general approaches to the subject may help students to identify and correct errors, use better strategies and process learning more deeply: this should lead to deeper understanding and better transfer to new tasks (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). We might therefore give feedback applicable to a range of tasks, such as:

"Always underline key words in the question, then write a plan linked to them."

"Look back at the original question after each step, to check you are on track."

"Reframe the problem as a diagram."

"Once you've completed a design, go back to the brief and see if you've met the goals."

"What do we always do first when we identify a problem with our work?"

This should help students to understand underlying features of success in the subject; without specific prompts however, students may struggle to apply these features to the current tasks.

We may also help students understand the subject itself, and the learner's role within the subject. We may help students to adopt disciplinary habits, or recognise what being a great scientists requires, by highlighting features of good mathematical thinking, scientific reasoning or historical questions:

"A good mathematician always checks their working."

"We've discussed how a historian develops their argument from many case studies: how would you structure an argument which draws on all the examples we've discussed today."

"Great artists steal."

"The questions you're asking are the kind which professors of English write whole books debating - so it's good to explore both sides of the answer before reaching a conclusion."

Again, students may need prompts to apply these general ideas to specific tasks.

3) Improving self-regulation

We may want students to improve their understanding of how they learn. First, this means helping students self-monitor, recognising how well they are doing, what they know, and what is working; then it means helping them self-manage, planning and adapting in response to their self-monitoring (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). For example, one experiment which focused on self-monitoring and self-management increased students' accuracy in assessing their current knowledge and helped them gain higher grades; this proved particularly powerful for lower-attaining students (Casselman and Atwood, 2017). We may help students to identify their current knowledge, skill and learning gaps - self-monitoring - and to think about how they can respond - self-managing:

"How did how well you did differ from what you expected?"

"What do you need to study more to improve in this area?"

"Which strategies that you used today worked well? Why?"

"What will you do differently during tomorrow's practice session?"

Self-monitoring and self-management helps; if it blends into feedback about students directly however, it can have negative effects.

4) Self-evaluation

Feedback about students themselves is less effective than feedback focused on the task, subject or self-regulation (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). If students receive feedback about themselves combined with feedback about the task, they are likely to focus on themselves, which will distract them from improving their work (Kluger and DeNisi,1996). Students like praise, and it may help boost self-efficacy, but most reviews find it has little or no positive effect on student learning (because it offers no useful information about how to improve). Even if praise increases motivation briefly, students may then become dependent on it to keep learning: removing feedback later may then have a negative effect (Kluger and DeNisi, 1996). So feedback aimed at students directly is likely to distract them from improvement, such as:

"You are a good/bad/indifferent student."

"You always come up with excellent answers."

"You've tried very hard at this."

We can focus on helping students improve their work, rather than offering praise or personal criticism.

Moving between levels

More powerful than feedback focused on any one level may be feedback which links different levels. Feedback at any one level will be insufficient for success; too much feedback at any one level may detract from performance (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). Students may struggle to apply specific feedback to new tasks; they may struggle to apply general feedback to specific tasks. We may therefore offer feedback which links levels, helping students to recognise how feedback about one task may apply to others, or how they can self-monitor better, based on a deeper understanding of the subject. There seems to be a "powerful interactive effect" between feedback to improve specific tasks and feedback to improve strategies, processes or self-regulation (Hattie and Timperley, 2007, pp.90, 93). We can therefore help students improve immediately and adopt useful strategies by linking feedback about specific tasks with feedback which develops a deeper understanding of the subject and self-regulation. The examples below show how feedback focused on one level can be combined with feedback at other levels:

We may not write such lengthy feedback: lengthy feedback is burdensome for teachers and makes it harder for students to understand and respond; the important thing is to remain conscious of opportunities to help students link feedback on one level with other levels, whether in written feedback, verbal comments, or whole-class teaching.

Conclusion

Feedback is hard to get right: if we are intentional about the level of change we are targeting, and make links between one level and the next, it is far more likely to be effective.

This is a draft excerpt from the Responsive Teaching: Cognitive Science and Formative Assessment in Practice.

What should I read next?

Guiding improvement without giving individual feedback: ways to plan feedback for the whole class.

The evidence on feeedback: a decision tree: a summary of some of the evidence on ways to deliver feedback.

What if you marked every book every lesson? (Not because you should, but because this post exemplifies targeted, brief marking).

Bibliography

Bennett, R. (2011). Formative assessment: a critical review. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(1), pp.5-25.

Casselman, B. and Atwood, C. (2017). Improving General Chemistry Course Performance through Online Homework-Based Metacognitive Training. Journal of Chemical Education. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00298
Gick, M. and Holyoak, K. (1980). Analogical problem solving. Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), pp.306-355. Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), pp.81-112. Kluger, A. and DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), pp.254-284. Pryor, J. and Crossouard, B. (2010). Challenging formative assessment: disciplinary spaces and identities. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(3), pp.265-276. Shute, V. (2008). Focus on Formative Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), pp.153-189. Smith, E. and Gorard, S. (2005). 'They don't give us our marks': the role of formative feedback in student progress. Assessment in Education 12(1), pp. 21-38.

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What kind of feedback moves students on?

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Despite careful planning and checks for understanding during the lesson, students' work will include slips, mistakes and misconceptions. Each student will have adopted different interpretations of the task, misspelled different words and reached a different point in a journey towards excellence. When we come to provide feedback, what will help?

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Practical Oracy Activities for Every Key Stage: From Sentence Stems to Structured Debates - Blog : Chris Quigley Education, Training Courses and Educational Resources for Schools and Teachers

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Practical Oracy Activities for Every Key Stage: From Sentence Stems to Structured Debates - Blog : Chris Quigley Education, Training Courses and Educational Resources for Schools and Teachers

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During the Autumn Term, the DFE, EEF and Ofsted all updated their guidance regarding our most vulnerable pupils and how best to support this group.

While each organisation has a slightly different focus area (Ofsted: vulnerable pupils, EEF: updates to pupil premium strategies and DfE: overall guidance to Pupil Premium), there is a common thread throughout that it is vital to reflect on our curriculum offer and pedagogy to ensure we are meeting the needs of all who walk through our school doors.

At the start of the new school term, Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver told MP Commons Committee that focusing on vulnerable pupils and mapping a child's experience across education and services were his "two clear priorities" on taking the job of chief inspector.

Likewise, Ofsted's latest Strong Foundations training begins with a clear message:

"If we get it right for the most vulnerable pupils, we get it right for everyone."
Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty's Chief Inspector

Ofsted define vulnerable children as those who are in the lowest 20% of the cohort. As such we must ensure that we understand the barriers, misconceptions, and needs of these children to ensure they are able to catch up to their age-related expected standard. A key phrase used by Ofsted to describe this process is: "As fast as possible but as slow as necessary".

To decode this phrase, Ofsted expect schools to accelerate the progress of these children as quickly as possible whilst making sure that they have all the foundational knowledge that is required to be fully secure at their age. In a nutshell - don't rush it if it means a lower quality product by the end.

For schools, understanding what is meant by "foundational Knowledge" is crucial. Ofsted break down this knowledge into 5 key areas for schools to master:

Ofsted emphasise the importance of 'getting it right' in Early Years and KS1. If the 5 areas of foundational knowledge are effectively embedded at this phase, children are able to fully engage with the full curriculum on offer beyond Year 2. For schools, this means reflecting on the curriculum, teaching strategies and approaches used in these phases to ensure that all teaching is underpinned by these 5 key areas.

For more information on Ofsted's 'Strong Foundations in the First Years of School' report, read our blog here.

The DfE 'Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders' (February 2024) echoes this viewpoint by beginning with:

"High-quality teaching of English and maths are the cornerstones of a broad, academic and knowledge-rich curriculum".

When combined with Ofsted's focus on foundational knowledge, there is a clear message to establish the basics first for children in EYFS and KS1.

Throughout the 'Strong Foundations' report and the EEF guidance on Pupil Premium, both documents place significant emphasis on high-quality teaching. This is the first step in the tiered approach to Pupil Premium spending in the EEF guidance and a core message within the Ofsted training that subject and pedagogical knowledge is vital in supporting the most vulnerable groups in school.

The EEF suggest reviewing pupil premium spending to ensure that all teachers are supported with effective professional development and there is clear investment in recruitment and retention. Beyond that, they advise schools to focus on targeted academic support and the wider strategies (often non-academic) that need to be addressed in order to improve academic outcomes for these children.

What does this mean for schools moving forward?

Understanding the 5 areas of foundational knowledge is crucial.

From here it is worth considering the following:

Are all staff aware of how to support the most vulnerable in regards to these areas?

Have subject leaders (particularly maths and English leads) reviewed their long-term plans to ensure these foundations are secure?

How well can the children demonstrate their executive function skills on a daily basis?

Do staff understand the impact of transcriptional knowledge and skill when learning?

How are the 5 areas of foundational knowledge taught and embedded?

Is Pupil Premium funding being used to effectively reduce the gaps?
Download our free self-review tool to help you evaluate your current provision for vulnerable pupils.
Supporting vulnerable pupils

One Education's School Development Team are available to offer support in school through reviews in the following areas:

Early Reading, Writing and Maths

Developing Communication and Language

We also offer training, support and coaching in these areas which can include development days with the leadership team, staff training or devising bespoke action plans related to the school's needs.

For more information on how we can help support your school, please contact Liz Dwarampudi, Education Consultant at liz.dwarampudi@oneeducation.co.uk

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Supporting Vulnerable Pupils: Ofsted, the DfE and the EEF

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This blog shares the latest updates from Ofsted, the DfE and the EEF, reflecting on how we can use these insights to support our most vulnerable pupils.

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The report asserts that writing helps children to access the curriculum, to think and express ideas, to develop social relationships and to support wellbeing. It also acknowledges how cognitively challenging it is. The report goes on to consider:

The value of talk, including quality back and forth talk with adults, talk to build understanding of written language and sentence formation and modelled collaborative talk to think critically, articulate ideas and engage constructively with others

Reading enhances pupils' grasp of craft, so develop pleasure in reading and motivation

Writing directly benefits reading, including understanding sentence structures and comprehension

Improved spelling correlates with faster reading speeds

Existing texts can be discussed and drawn upon as part of planning writing, but reading for pleasure books should be avoided for this purpose

The Simple View of Writing, which shows that both composition and transcription are needed and MUST be taught; executive functions are important in the writing process and writers need to consider context, purpose and audience

Ways to manage pupils' cognitive load, including attending to the functional aspects of writing which must be mastered as early as possible to free up working memory, sequenced teaching and the use of models to support

The importance of motivation, build self-belief through effective teaching, developing competence over time and tasks that match knowledge and skills already taught (p22)

Provide meaningful, interesting and challenging writing tasks, with opportunities for collaboration

Set goals, give scaffolds and provide elements of choice, but be aware of the negative impact too much choice can have on novice writers or those with SEND

Personal writing can be timetabled or otherwise, e.g. in continuous provision or extra-curricular clubs

The judge from the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) Ready Steady Write is an excellent, user-friendly and comprehensive platform that is long-lasting and rich. It was highly praised by the judges for its impressive joined-up approach, which offers a real wealth and wide selection of resources for whole school planning purposes. In addition to the thorough planning units and examples of children's writing, clear links to the national curriculum and teaching slides, the website encompasses robust assessment and monitoring strategies. This element was noted by the judges as particularly helpful for those in senior leadership to ensure a consistent approach is easily implemented across the school. Both early career teachers and those well-experienced in the profession will find value within this site." To find out more about Ready Steady Write , please .

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The Writing Framework 2025 Summary - Literacy Counts

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After much anticipation and social media speculation, The Writing Framework from the DfE was finally released. We at Literacy Counts have been turning to our trusty highlighters and unpicking the report line by line. Here we take you through the framework section by section and explains how our reso

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Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth | TED

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Building Blocks of Education: A Guide to Foundational Knowledge

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Discover the importance of foundational knowledge in education, its role in learning, and strategies to build a strong educational base.

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Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.

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RISE support for inclusive mainstream education

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Regional improvement in standards and excellence (RISE) aims to break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success. These programmes and resources can help mainstream schools improve inclusivity and support for those with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

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Discussion Paper  with Staff Inclusive Teaching Strategies

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Discussion Paper  with Staff Inclusive Teaching Strategies

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Explicit Instruction for pupils with SEND

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5-a-day in mainstream and high needs primary settings.

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Ofsted EYFS New Framework- Staff Input Expectations

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Ofsted EYFS New Framework- Staff Input Expectations

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Ofsted Update for Staff EYFS New Framework

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Ofsted Update for Staff EYFS New Framework

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British Educational Res J - 2015 - Khattab - Students  aspirations  expectations and school achievement  what really (1)

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Explicit Instruction for Pupils with SEND

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Explicit Instruction for Pupils with SEND

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Explicit Instruction for pupils with SEND

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5-a-day in mainstream and high needs primary settings.