Plan ahead and make the change predictable
Plan transitions in advance and make them predictable: give the pupil advance information and visuals, a familiar key adult, familiarisation visits for big moves, and a one-page profile so staff support the same way. A change in classroom, teacher, support assistant or peer group disrupts routine and that is what raises anxiety, so the work is to remove the unknown before the pupil meets it. For a big move the National Autistic Society suggests several familiarisation visits, photos of new staff and rooms, a chance to see the new classroom when it is empty and quiet, a peer buddy, and a one-to-one meeting with the new key adult.
Treat the daily moves with the same care. Most in-day distress comes not from the once-a-year change but from the micro-transitions: lesson to lesson, the start and end of break and lunch, unstructured time, a room change, or a supply teacher the pupil has never met. Concrete tactics that work across both:
- A visual timetable, checked at the start of the day and before each change.
- Advance warning of any change to the routine, including cover staff and room swaps.
- A countdown or timer so the end of an activity is signalled, not sprung.
- A planned job or quiet space for unstructured time, which is often the hardest part of the day.
- A consistent script and a named key adult to go to when a change feels too much.
Write it down so it travels with the child
The mechanism that makes this consistent is a one-page profile (sometimes called a pupil passport): a single sheet that names the pupil’s triggers, what helps, what to avoid, and the agreed scripts. It travels with the child so a cover teacher, a new TA, or the receiving school all support the same way without the pupil having to start again. Build it with the pupil and parents, and review it when needs change.
Embed it in the graduated approach and share it on
This is not optional good practice; it sits inside the school’s duties. SEN support must include planning and preparation for moves between phases of education and preparation for adult life, and when a pupil moves on the school should share information with the new setting, agreeing with parents and the pupil what is shared SEND Code of Practice, para 6.57. The support is delivered through the graduated approach of assess, plan, do, review, so transition planning belongs in the plan stage, not as an afterthought. None of this depends on a diagnosis or an EHC plan: it is needs-led. For a disabled pupil, which includes most autistic pupils, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is also anticipatory, so the school has to plan adjustments in advance rather than wait for the pupil to struggle Equality Act 2010, s.20.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.