To think middle schools should be introduced in the UK?

[Serrina]

The transition from primary school to high school is very difficult for a lot of children at 11 and there's very little preparation for it. Somehow they're expected to jump from a nurturing primary school environment - which is often like a second home to many children, and spending the day in their own classroom with their own teacher and all their friends, then all of a sudden to a regimental high school system of registration, then having to go to different classes at various points in the day, with little more than a couple of minutes to get from one class to another and being penalised if they're "late" despite the fact the next class may be at the opposite end of a huge building than their previous one.

They have to get used to not just one new teacher, but several. Uniform rules are generally stricter, blazers aren't allowed to be removed no matter how hot it is, and in early September when school starts it usually is still quite hot.
Teachers in high school generally aren't as kind as primary school ones, if a child is upset or distressed they're expected to just "get on with it" they aren't comforted and reassured as they would be in primary.

P.E. lessons are more regimental, and you're expected to shower afterwards which is distressing particularly for many girls at this stage, as they are going through many changes and might not feel comfortable with this.

You're penalised for not having the right equipment on the right days, which isn't such a big deal in primary schools.

They're only 11. They've come straight from the school they've attended since they were 4 years old, and all of a sudden they're sharing a building for more than 6 hours a day with 15 and 16 year olds. And high school children can be brutal.

I know Year 6 is meant to be the "preparation year" but I don't think it's enough. They're still very much in a primary school environment. And outside of maybe one or two induction days, they don't have much help with the transition at all. I think this is one thing our cousins across the pond get right in terms of the education system, by having middle schools (previously called junior high schools) as a kind of in-between stage to help ease them in. I really think this kind of system would be beneficial here.

I can think of about a million other things the sector needs to spend money. There is no evidence they produce better results. The fall in pupil numbers we are seeing in most parts of the UK means it would be a really bad idea to split kids up into even smaller schools as it increases the risk of non viability.

I also think that the nonstop fretting and overthinking of “transition” is making things harder by encouraging parents and kids to get worked up about the change and start seeing small problems as sources of huge trauma etc.. It might help to spend less of Y6 fussing over “leavers” and making it into such a big deal.

They do exist. My child is moving to our local middle school in September. We're in Bedfordshire and we are still under the 3 tier system.

I went straight from primary to secondary so did my DDs. We all coped as do hundreds of other children.
There is a, massive shortage of teachers at the moment, adding another school tier isn't going to help.

Where I’m from, children do an additional year of primary level and one less at senior level. Rising 13 seems a lot older than 11, for some reason.

Here in the UK, my DC are in a prep school that goes to 13. They have a different specialist teacher for each subject and move around between classes but it remains a nurturing, gentle environment. It’s a shame all primary schools don’t run to year 7 or Y8.
That said a lot of the local senior schools do a 10+, so in theory your child could start secondary school having just turned ten years old. A lot of my friends children have done it. I find it utterly baffling.

I agree transition is difficult. Even my fairly switched on, confident oldest struggled.

I've never really understood why we make kids move classrooms rather than teachers in yr7 & 8 apart from for specialist lessons/setting. They could still be set but have all yr7 classrooms together & all year 8 - then when they choose options in yr9 and separate more readily.

In my area they are going completely the other way and building large ‘through schools’ that are 3-18.

My children went to a middle school in the south west. They thrived. Would love to see them up north

Children have more help transitioning than ever before and build it up too much. We just went - no art classes, PE days, language days, tours, introductions, biting teachers, music performance - totally wasted time when some kids can’t spell.

If you want to improve education reduce the time tables stuff that parents should be doing with their children.

Forest school, history, geography, sex Ed -

Theres too much nurturing and not enough teaching.

When I was in middle school in the US in the late ‘90s, the private school I was at had one teacher for English and religion (Catholic school) and another teacher for math(s) and history. So we’d have two classes in a row with one teacher and then two in a row with another teacher, plus separate teachers for art, science, P. E., and computer class. I think having two classes in a row with two different teachers helped with the transition from one teacher in elementary school.

Preteen and early teenage years are awkward and emotional no matter what the school system, though.

If you think there isn't a huge difference between being 11 to being 13 then you don't remember much about being this age!

We have 3 tiers system here, it’s all I am used to as it’s what I did and so did my children. It’s certainly worked well for them and I don’t remember any problems at school myself so I guess it was for me too. They were both really ready to move on from their small first school into the bigger middle school when they were 9/ Y5, and again at 13. We have all done 6th form too, I can imagine that it might have been different if we’d already done 5 years there. They had subject specific teachers throughout middle school but the maths and English teachers either taught years 5-6 or 7-8 rather than all years.

I have an ND child and am ND myself. It's about how the transitions are done. I definitely would have benefited from a middle school, or "lower secondary" as some have suggested.

Parents can and should nurture in the home, but they need nurturing in school too - they spend more time there than they do at home. Nurturing and teaching can be done together. It doesn't have to be either/or.

"Biting teachers"?? What kind of school did you go to?? 😆

I went to a middle school & joined secondary in Yr 9. Zero angst & issues & I do think it was because I was prepared

In Japan, in some rural areas elementary schools (age 6-12) are being combined with junior high schools (12-15) as a way to deal with shrinking numbers of children. As the UK is also facing this issue, it would be a bit silly to go in the opposite direction and create a bunch more very small and potentially unviable schools.

It would also create a lot more hassle for parents who would have kids in different schools for longer, or might end up with three kids at three different schools! Nightmare.

There's still a few middle schools around here, ds2 went to one and I can't see any benefits compared to staying in the same school until end of juniors like his brothers did

Do schools still have showers? The 2 secondary schools around here don't. Mine are 29,21,12 and 11 and none of them have had to shower after PE

I went to a middle school and it was dreadful.

All the reasons OP listed about why secondary school is bad existed in middle school, we just had to deal with that at 9 rather than 11. The academic standards were lower than most other schools although that may have been to do with the feeder schools being two very different first schools, demographically, and the school’s decision was to teach the the bottom (to try and prevent kids leaving at 11 for selective schools I suspect, they really didn’t like that) I did leave at 11 to go to an 11-18 school but apparently the transition to another school at 13 didn’t work either which is why they ended up making the 13-18 school an 11-16 one

I found the transition to secondary school hard but don't know if this would have helped. I think I'd have maybe found it easier with less different teachers and moves to different classrooms.

Ultimately I don't like how we do secondary schools, too big, too impersonal and the potential to be a very hostile environment.

I disagree- it's potentially more disruption and solid friendship groups being split up on more than one occasion. Difficult for parents if they have dc on multiple sites needing collected at the same time. At DC's high school though there is no requirement for blazers, showers after PE are not compulsory and there are multiple transition events. Maybe instead you could join a parent council and try to improve this at your schools as I doubt you'll be successful in overhauling the entire education system

For heaven's sake how much more pampering?
Generations of children in the UK have survived the change; so many positive benefitscsuch as learning to organise your own time, thinking for yourself etc.
And wanting another bloody american import? No thank you!

Practicalities aside, I like this idea.

I spent most of year 7 getting lost and crying. And being shouted at for honest mistakes.

@quisensoucie err...they have middle schools in other countries too - not just America 🙄
Also "generations" of children might have started secondary at 11 - but the leaving age was lower so you didn't have 11 year olds with 18 year olds.
My parents secondary modern schools only went to age 15. So it was 4 years (years 7 - 10 in current terms) which is only 1 more year than "American style" middle schools.

We have middle schools here (England). I didn't realise elsewhere didn't tbh.