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Canopus

Middle schools

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Yes, they still exist in a small handful of local authorities, but has any research been carried out concerning kids with AS who attend middle schools? If so, then are they better than the conventional primary secondary configuration?

 

Middle schools have officially been 'dead' since the mid 1980s when middle school specific educational resources and teacher training ceased and the NC was formulated for a primary secondary school configuration. Many of the surviving middle schools only exist because of local complications with buildings.

 

http://www.middle-schools.co.uk/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_middle_schools_in_England

Edited by Canopus

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I'm a strong supporter of middle schools. Transition from primary to secondary school is stressful and traumatic for many neurotypical children, not to mention those on the autism spectrum. It was a great shame that this highly successful experiment never spread across the country, and only existed in pockets - now fewer than ever. I saw the middle schools of Yorkshire closing around me in the 1990's - a very chaotic affair and a sad time for education. Many first schools were demolished and moved into the buildings of the former middle schools. The National Curriculum played a big role in this madness, and so did the take over of the LEA by SERCO.

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A few years ago I was in contact with a parent of a kid with AS from Northumberland who elaborated about the unusual system of first and middle schools in this obscure corner of England that is close to being the 5th nation of the UK. She stated that she preferred the system to the conventional primary / secondary system because it eliminated the big Y6 to Y7 jump. First schools have almost all of the KS2 resources that primary schools have, and KS2 kids in middle schools have access to KS3 resources - including science labs with bunsen burners and music rooms - which can be beneficial if they are high ability. The parent also believed that middle schools are less stressful for kids with AS around the ages of 11 and 12, which is generally believed to be the most difficult and challenging time for them, than secondary schools are. They are bottom of the pile in secondary schools but closer to the top in middle schools. A higher level of social maturity is required to survive secondary school life but middle school teachers are more adept at dealing with kids with a lower level of social maturity than their peers of the same age.

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