A system matched to the developmental needs of children, fit for the 21st Century.

Middle schools systems avoid the problems associated with transfer at age 11, when children are at their most vulnerable through changes associated with puberty, and offer schools organised around the developmental needs of the children they serve.

Upper Schools within three tier systems, for example, are institutions with a more adult climate and ethos, one appropriate to the delivery of the 14 to 19 curriculum. First schools can create the nurturing environment appropriate to the needs of young children, while middle schools are able to offer wider opportunities to pupils from the age of eight or nine with a degree of more specialist teaching and access to specialist teaching spaces.

Latest additions to website: January 2013

Time to stop and reconsider

This report critically examines plans by Suffolk County Council to reorganise its remaining middle schools systems. While it has been reorganising its schools it has not kept pace with the rate of improvement in other authorities and now finds itself in the 10 lowest performing authorities in the country - download

Middle Schools Reconsidered

A document that uses recent data to challenge some of the commonly stated myths and misconceptions regarding the effectiveness of middle school systems - download