Moving to secondary school for students with additional needs
Moving from primary school to secondary school can be both an exciting and stressful time for your child. With help from you and the school, your child can feel supported and prepared.
On this page
- Planning for secondary school
- How you can support your child’s move to secondary school
- What the primary school can do
- What the secondary school can do
- School tours and orientation
- Extra support for children with disability or additional needs in school
Secondary school brings lots of changes, including:
- new teachers
- extra subjects
- more classmates
- different teaching styles
- moving from classroom to classroom.
With help from you and the school, your child can feel supported and prepared.
Planning for secondary school
It’s a good idea to start planning for secondary school when your child is in year 5, or earlier.
Planning is important because it:
- gives you time to find your designated neighbourhood school or preferred school
- prepares your child for starting secondary school
- allows your child’s primary school and new secondary school to share important information about your child’s needs
- helps you find out what adjustments and modifications the school already has available
- gives the school time to make new adjustments – or undertake process for funding – if needed
- allows you to give assessments or medical reports to support the profile meeting, if needed.
The people involved in making your child’s move to secondary school as positive as possible are:
- you
- your child
- your child’s primary school
- your child’s new secondary school
- allied health professionals such as speech pathologists, psychologists and social workers.
How you can support your child’s move to secondary school
While your child is in year 5 some things you can do include:
- talking to friends, neighbours and your child’s primary school about secondary school options for your child
- researching school websites
- taking your child on secondary school tours, to open days and information sessions so you can both see and get a feel for what each secondary school is like
- talking to your child about their secondary school options
- supporting your child to attend any secondary school visits or taster programs with their primary school class group
- meeting with principals
- talking about your child’s transition at your student support group.
By the time your child starts year 6 you should have a good idea about schools they might apply for.
Early in the year, you’ll fill in the application form the primary school gives you – for more information, see Moving from primary to secondary school.
When your child is in year 6 and you have accepted an offer for a year 7 place, you can:
- enrol them in a secondary school
- take part in student support group meetings to develop your child’s transition plan
- meet with the Year 7 and Inclusion Leader to talk about and plan for your child’s needs, including a series of supported secondary school visits, if applicable
- plan for orientation day
- request a student support group meeting for the first term in secondary school
- arrange for your child to visit the school before the first o they can find their new locker, bring their books and learn where their classrooms and bathrooms are
- practise the transport route with your child so they become familiar with it
- practise organisation and independence skills, like identifying and packing school items the night before, in readiness for the next day.
What the primary school can do
Between year 5 and year 6 the primary school will:
- talk to you about your child’s move to secondary school
- appoint a transition coordinator to help you and your child prepare for secondary school
- provide a universal transition program for all students in year 5 and 6, and a tailored transition program according to students’ additional needs
- arrange for class groups to visit local secondary schools
- support you to complete your child’s enrolment for
- invite staff from the confirmed secondary school to a student support group meeting to support planning for transition
- gather information about your child’s strengths, needs and adjustments in place that may support a Disability Inclusion Profile, if one is being considered
- work with staff at your child’s secondary school to plan and support your child’s mov
- confirm dates for the student support group to meet in term 1 in your child’s secondary school
- create a document which contains important information for the secondary school about your child’s needs. This is called a transition statement.
What the secondary school can do
While moving to a bigger and unfamiliar school can sometimes be overwhelming for all students, it can be even more so for a child with disability or additional learning needs.
Secondary schools will work with you and your child’s primary school to support your child to have a positive transition.
To support your child’s move, the school will:
- review information from the primary school, like your child’s transition statement, as well as information from you and your child, if applicable, to plan a tailored transition program according to your child’s needs
- identify and provide professional development for staff so they can meet your child’s needs
- plan any reasonable adjustments
- attend term 4 primary school student support group meetings and set dates for year 7, inviting primary school staff in term 1, if applicable
- prepare plans for timetables, lockers, and consider access needs such as medication storage
- develop your child’s learning and support plans
- request a Disability Inclusion Profile, if applicable
- hold school information sessions for incoming year 7 students and their families and an orientation day
- hold school tours, information sessions and open days for prospective students and families
School tours and orientation
The secondary school can plan a tailored transition program according to your child’s needs. This may include additional visits to and tour of the school.
This can help your child become familiar with their new school, classrooms and teachers, and alleviate any anxiety they may be feeling about the unknown.
All government secondary schools hold an orientation day on the second Tuesday of December. Like tours, this gives an opportunity to explore the school, see the classrooms and meet teachers and other students.
You’ll also get an information pack with a map of the school and details about school staff.
Extra support for children with disability or additional needs in school
Schools may be able to get extra learning support to help their students with disability or additional learning needs. This may include help from specialist staff and support for high care needs.
Education & trainingParents & carers
Updated 2 April 2026
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