Five Years of SixIntoSeven
It is hard to believe that SixIntoSeven is now five years old. It was created with the support of ASCL just as we were going into the pandemic, when it was announced that SATs were going to be cancelled.
Five years means that the first “SixIntoSeven children” are now preparing to take their GCSEs. If ever there was a time for reflection, then this is it.
SixIntoSeven has changed over this time. The amount of academic data has been reduced and replaced with rich and detailed information about the whole child, especially for those who need extra support: those with SEND, child protection issue, ACE or LAC or any combination of these or more.
And at the heart of this has been importance of the primary and secondary SEND coordinators. The primary SEND coordinators have done much of the heavy lifting in getting SixIntoSeven properly populated so that the care and support they provided in primary school can be continued in the secondary school.
The baton is then passed on to the secondary SEND coordinators who have ensured that this valuable information is used to ensure learning can begin on day one.
So why has SixIntoSeven been valued by so many SEND coordinators? The answers will be as numerous as there are SEND coordinators, but it seems that the following are important.
- The early transfer of information
- Secondary schools need time to plan appropriate support for students with SEND
- Key documents like EHCPs (Education, Health, and Care Plans), Individual Support Plans, or medical reports can be shared in advance
- It helps ensure that necessary provisions (e.g., additional support, assistive technology, or specific interventions) are in place from day one.
- Secondary school staff can be briefed on individual needs, learning strategies, and potential challenges.
- Teachers can adapt their teaching styles or classroom environment accordingly.
2. The information is always transferred safely
- Will the links I have received on an email to add transition information safe?
- Will the links take me to a GDPR compliant form?
- SixIntoSeven can be used by any school, anywhere to upload or access pupil information through the lite service.
3. There is one form to fill in; one which has been agreed by all the schools in the local authority.
4. The information coming into a secondary school is always presented in a consistent way so that scare resources can always be fairly allocated based on need, and not how easy the upload was to read.
How will SixIntoSeven look in another five years? It’s a good question, but it will be based upon the founding and core value of the platform of “one professional to another for the benefit of the child”.
This is a guest post from Pupil Pathways Education Consultant, David Bill.