The Corridor Map: A Secondary School Transition Plan That Starts Before the Summer Holidays

Moving from primary to secondary school is often described as a single day: the first day of September. In reality, it is a series of smaller shifts — a new route, a new building, a new timetable, new adults, and sometimes a new arrangement for medication. For autistic children and young people with developmental needs, the health and sensory parts of that shift deserve their own plan.

This is not about wrapping a child in cotton wool. It is about giving them a map before they have to navigate the territory. The most useful work usually happens in the summer term, when primary school staff, secondary staff and families can still talk to each other without the pressure of a full timetable.

Start with the building, not the diagnosis

A sensory walk-round is one of the most practical things you can do. Ask the secondary school whether you and your child can visit outside a busy period — after school, during a training day, or in the summer holidays if staff are on site. The aim is not to see every corridor. It is to answer a few ordinary questions: Where do I go if I am overwhelmed? Which corridor is loudest at changeover? Where are the toilets, and are they shared or single-cubicle? What does the canteen smell like at noon? Where can I refill a water bottle without asking?

Take photos if the school allows it. A small visual map — entrance, form room, nearest quiet space, toilet, dining hall, bus bay — can do more for confidence than a long verbal explanation. If your child uses a wheelchair, has fatigue, or needs step-free access, add those details to the map too. Transition planning should include the physical reality of the site, not just the pastoral language around it.

The summer term is the real starting line

A workable timeline looks like this:

• Spring term: ask the primary SENCO or head of year to confirm who will be the secondary school’s named contact. If your child has an EHCP, check that the annual review conversation includes transition. Ask who handles health information and who handles pastoral support — they may not be the same person.
• Early summer term: request a transition meeting. Ask about medication policy, school nurse involvement, first-aid arrangements, and how health information is shared. If your child is likely to need a quiet space at break, ask how that is arranged and whether it is available from day one.
• Late summer term: do the sensory walk-round and practise the journey. Meet the named adult if possible. Ask the school to photograph key staff or provide a short social story. If your child takes medication during the school day, confirm the practical details in writing.
• Last week of the summer holidays: keep the first week gentle. Rehearse the morning routine, label belongings, and agree a meeting point for after school.
• First half-term: review what is working. Do not wait until parents’ evening if something is clearly not right.

Medication and the named adult

Secondary schools vary. Some have a school nurse on site for part of the week; others rely on pastoral staff, first aiders or office staff. The job title matters less than the named person and the written plan. Ask who will hold the medication, where it will be stored, who can administer it, and what happens if that person is absent.

If your child takes ADHD medication or another medicine during the school day, check the school’s policy on controlled drugs, self-carrying and consent. Some young people are ready to carry a dose; others are not. Either way, the plan should be clear about timing, dose, storage and what staff should do if a dose is missed or refused. Make sure repeat prescriptions are sorted before the summer rush, and do not change medication simply to fit a new timetable without speaking to the prescribing clinician.

A short health handover should travel with the child, not sit in a filing cabinet. Include the diagnosis or needs in plain language, medication details, known triggers, signs that your child is becoming overwhelmed, what helps, what does not, and who to contact. Share it with consent and ask for it to be read by the form tutor and pastoral lead, not just stored in the office.

Travel: practise the ordinary, plan the unexpected

Travel is often the part families underestimate. A child who managed a ten-minute walk to primary may now face a bus, a crowded interchange or a longer walk in unpredictable weather. Practise the route before term starts, ideally at the same time of day. If local authority transport is involved, confirm pickup points and timings early. If your child travels independently, agree a backup plan: who to call, where to wait, what to do if the bus is cancelled.

For some young people, a bus pass and a rehearsed route are enough. For others, travel training with a familiar adult is the bridge. Either way, build in a fallback. A phone with key numbers, a meeting point, and a named adult at school can reduce the panic of the unexpected.

Break and lunch: the part of the day nobody timetables

Break-time and lunch are unstructured by design, which is exactly why they can be hard. Ask the school what quiet options exist: the library, a pastoral room, a club, a supervised space. If queues are difficult, ask whether your child can leave lessons a little early or use a different entrance. If the canteen is overwhelming, ask about a packed lunch arrangement or a quieter eating space.

These are not privileges. They are access arrangements, and they should be written into the transition plan if they are needed. The same goes for toileting, changing for PE, and the sensory load of practical subjects. A child who is fine in maths may still find the smell of the art room or the noise of the dining hall the hardest part of the week.

The first-term handover that actually gets read

Keep it to one page if you can. A good first-term handover answers: Who is this young person? What do they need you to know about their health? What does distress look like, and what should you do? What helps them settle? Who are the key contacts? When will we review this?

Give a copy to the form tutor, the pastoral lead and the school office. If the school uses an online system, ask for it to be uploaded there too. Then book a short review for the second half of the autumn term. The first term is not a test of whether your child can cope. It is information. Use it to adjust the plan, not to prove a point.

Secondary school can be a good place for a young person to grow into more independence. That growth is more likely when the adults around them have done the quiet, unglamorous work of mapping the corridors, naming the contacts and writing down the health plan before September arrives.