My ASD/ADHD 11 year old Ds will be starting high school in September. I don’t know how the subject of middle schools came up but it got me thinking about how they might be great for children like my Ds.
I struggled so much with the transition to high school to the point of severe anxiety and school refusal. I went from a tiny two class class (year 5 and 6 together) where there was 19 of us in a tiny private school to a massive 6 classes of around 30 to a year secondary that was 2 buses away.
If a middle school had been an option I might have coped better. DS would certainly be less anxious about the transition and my 2 DDs who are also ASD/ADHD might also have coped better.
I know middle schools exist in some LAs but nothing up here where we live. I know we can’t start building a load of schools but I do wish there was a gentler option for children like mine who sre academically bright but struggle with the big change from primary to secondary. I wonder if it would help with school refusal and the amount of anxiety and mental health issues we see in children now? School is only one part of life but it’s such a big part.
The USA does things differently with middle schools and then high school to 18 instead of GCSEs at 16 then leaving for 6th form at a college.
I know our education system has a lot of faults and probably needs an overhaul but would this be a potential solution?