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.

And the ones that aren't are not helped by holding them back and delaying their development still further

They already exist in some places. I think in rural areas where children have to travel a long way to high school they can be a good idea.

But one problem is that teachers in middle schools don't have to be trained in secondary education so your child's French teacher might be a primary school teacher with A Level French.

I think a better idea would be to go for 'grades' like the US does (but not their HSC)where children can move throught he system at a faster or slower rate than the majority.

“MIddle school” in America means something completely different.

It’s another word for junior high school and is for kids aged 12 to about 15. It’s not a late-primary school for nine-year-olds.

@notknowledgeable I think what I was trying to say is that the current Year 7s may seem immature compared to those in the past but an 11 year old of the 1930s would still be at an elementary school (as they were called back then) or one in the 70s at a middle school so very different environments so they would have matured differently.
But we (society) give children less freedom and responsibilities than in the past so they are being babied a lot.
We've babied them (eg - no walking to primary school by themselves until at least Year 6 etc) but then thrusting them into a very intense secondary system and expecting them suddenly to be mature.

When I went to school in the 80s and 90s it was a three tier system and we spent reception,1,2,3 in first school, 4,5,6,7 in middle school and 8,9,10,11 in high school so 4 years in each.
Seemed to work well but there's no way that local authorities could go back to that now as they knocked down/repurposed a lot of the middle schools in my area.
The only issue I ever had with it was that by the end of Year 7 we had definitely outgrown middle school but I suppose that was right for the transition to high school.

I went to one and didn't really see the point, it just meant two stressful changes!

We have a middle school where I live. It works well! The "younger kids" have a much smoother transition to senior school and there's also less social issues.

Our school had a corridor that was for the secondary 1 students (so year 7 in England? 1st year of secondary) that the older students weren't supposed to go to. And that worked well. The teachers came to us for a year except for music I think. Then in 2nd year you did all the moving around classrooms when you were more familiar with the school and all the students in your year.

@user1477391263 yes I think people have got confused about what the OP was suggesting.
The idea would be for Key Stage 3 (Yrs 7 -9 so ages 11-14) to be Middle schools - not going back to the 1960s/70s concept ones.

It's not an American import. Lots of areas in the UK have middle schools - I went to one in the 80s. It's only recently that they have been got rid of in some areas.

When my DC were in Year 6 they were more than ready for secondary school. Most kids are.

@puncheur pretty sure that's a different type of middle school to what the OP is suggesting, which is an American style. Middle school here in the 80s was not for 11+, it was KS2.

There is still a middle school system where I live in Staffordshire. It uses the three tier system. Children go to high school in year 9 [ 13 yrs old ]. My son went through this system and I feel it is much better than transitioning at 11.

@DocOck US middle schools go through to 9th grade (age 15). I'm pretty sure that is not what she is suggesting.

We still have middle schools here and they work very well.

Lowest pupil to teacher ratio in the country and the schools are excellent. Dc only has 8 in the class.

I'm surprised that people aren't aware lots of areas still have them.

@puncheur most middle schools in America are up to age 14 - with 9th Grade in High School.
For many years the pattern was Grades 7-9 (so age 12 - 15) was "Junior High" and then 3 years of High School but most areas have changed to the Middle School format which is Grade 6 - 8 (ages 11 - 14) and then 4 years of High School.
It varies though all over America. There's no standard.
Some even have Primary (Kindergarten to grade 2 or 3), Intermediate (3 or 4 - 5), Middle (6 - 8) and then High (9 - 12) !

I went from primary school to middle school aged 10/11 in 1979/80. I didn't actually know they didn't exist any more, but I loved my time there. Sadly we moved away and I went straight into high school when we moved. I knew no-one at all, as we moved 80 miles away, but I can happily say, they were the best years of my life!

We had a 3 tier system in the 80s. It was deemed a failure. How would a new one be any better?

@IvorTheEngineDriver the old style "failed" because the introduction of the national curriculum key stages didn't match the year groups that middle schools had.

But what I am saying is that the current year 7 are unbelievably, jaw droppingly, stunningly immature compared to year 7 from 5 (FIVE!!) years ago.

It is very easy indeed to compare for anyone who has been in education more than 5 years

@notknowledgeable but would that be because of COVID and the lockdowns?

well, we have had many places with middle schools in the UK and they have pretty much all switched over to secondary schools OP, for a whole host of reasons including all the ones listed by pp.

But I really don't recognise the secondary schools in your OP.
Many of the schools I know have a 'softer' start for year 7 in particular.
They are taught in tutor groups and for many lessons they stay put and the teacher comes to them in order to make it simpler.
Very few schools make them shower after pe. In fact since covid all mine have gone in in pe kit and stayed in it all day.

Some schools hit the headlines over petty uniform issues, but the vast majority are sensible and pragmatic.
Secondary school teachers tend to be very kind to year 7s and give them lots of support and help. There is usually no penalty for being late for them when new and lots of grace with equipement etc.

Most school recognise that year 7s are little. They often have mentoring programs. Many have their year 7s start one day before the rest in September to give them a chance to work out where their tutor group is, and taster days in July before they start.

many have separate lunch/hang out space for the year 7 and 8s, so that they are not overwhelmed byt the older kids and so on.

year 6 spend a lot of time getting kids ready for the transition, and again good schools, follow through with more independence etc.

well, that is the reason that is always quoted, but really? Lockdowns have been less than 10% of their lives, and I have taught in areas of the world where conditions that we consider "lockdown" were totally normal life for decades, and the children do not become infantalised like this.

And some children had a tough lockdown, sure, but for most they simply spent more time at home, nothing bad happened. I am not sure lockdowns on their own account for this.

I completely agree op. Especially harder for July and August born kids who start big school after their 11th bday when they still feel like 10 year olds.

The Op is right in that many 11 year olds are not ready for secondary school, but I don't think keeping them away from secondary school is going to address the issue.

( in my mind right now I have a year 7 who in September kept handing me his blazer to fold when he took it off.. I taught him to fold it himself - not my job! but what would be the point in him going to a "middle school" - he still needs to be able to fold or hang his own blazer)