By Robby Coelho, founder of Dalza and parent of a child with additional needs
Every year around this time, parents start wondering about next year. Who will the new teacher be? Will the new school read the reports? Will the new therapist know what's already been tried? Underneath it all sits a quieter worry, that the progress made this year might not make it into the next one.
If your child has additional needs, you'll know how much work went into this year. There were the meetings, the adjustments, and the trial and error until something finally clicked, along with the slow building of trust between your child and the people around them. It makes sense to feel protective of all of that as the year draws to a close. I've felt it myself every December, and I've learned that the end of the year is the riskiest time of all for children like ours. That's exactly why I built a solution for it, which I'll share with you at the end of this article.
What a transition looks like
The end of the year can bring a lot of change at once. For some children it's a move into a new grade with a new teacher. For others it's a bigger step, like Grade R into Grade 1 or primary into high school, or a move to a new school, sometimes in a new city. Some will start the year with a new support team, a different therapist or a different programme altogether. Often it's more than one of these at the same time.
Each of these changes means the people who know your child well are handing over to people who are meeting them for the first time. Some of what this year's team knows sits in reports and assessments that anyone can read. Much more of it lives in their heads. Over a year, a teacher picks up so many pieces of understanding: that your child settles better if they can arrive a few minutes early, that instructions land when they're given one step at a time, that going quiet usually means they're overwhelmed, that a particular friend helps at break time. A therapist learns which approaches worked, which didn't, and why. Very little of this is written down anywhere, and it's exactly what a new person needs most.
When a transition happens without that understanding, the new teacher or therapist has to learn it all again from scratch, usually through trial and error, and your child is the one who lives through the errors.
What the research says about school transitions and additional needs
The research on school transitions for children with additional needs is consistent. Moves between schools and phases are a particularly vulnerable time, and children with additional needs often need a more personalised approach than the general transition support schools offer everyone. A 2026 study of the move from primary to high school found that parents link good transitions to strong communication between home and school, and to information being shared between the old school and the new one. When that sharing doesn't happen, things that worked are dropped while the new team waits to see how things go, and problems can escalate quickly.
Many children also seem to cope at first and only start to struggle months later, once the novelty wears off and the extra support around the move is withdrawn. A smooth first week is no guarantee that a transition has gone well.
The load families carry
Research consistently shows that parents of children with additional needs experience higher parenting stress than other parents. A large part of that stress is coordination: keeping the teacher, the therapists, the doctor and the family on the same page, remembering who said what, and making sure everyone is working towards the same goals.
Transitions add to that load. Every new teacher, school or therapist usually means another meeting where you start at the beginning, explaining the diagnosis, the history, what's been tried and what works. You dig out old reports, forward emails and try to remember the details that made the difference. Many parents have told their child's story so many times they could recite it in their sleep, and each time there's a worry that something important was left out, or that it won't be read at all. It's emotionally, mentally and administratively draining, and it lands at the busiest time of year, when everyone is already stretched.
Then there's the uncertainty. Until the new year starts, you don't know whether the new teacher will understand your child, whether the agreed support will be in place, or whether you'll be back at square one by February. For many parents, that waiting is one of the hardest parts.
How a poor transition affects your child
Children feel it too. While the new team catches up, your child is the one living with the gap. Strategies that worked go missing. Adults misread what your child is trying to communicate, and behaviour that comes from anxiety or overwhelm can be mistaken for something else. Your child has to show all over again what they need, often at the moment they feel least settled. For a child who already finds change hard, those first weeks can set back a lot of progress, and it can take a long time to rebuild their confidence and trust.
None of this is anyone's fault. Teachers and therapists want to do right by your child, and they can only work with what they've been told.
What a good handover looks like
A good handover is the best protection against all of this. It makes the move smoother for your child, for you, and for the new teacher, school or therapist, who gets to start the year already understanding your child. A good handover captures:
- Your child's current goals and how close they are to reaching them, so nobody starts over on work that's half done.
- The strategies that work, as specifically as possible, along with the ones that have been tried and didn't, so time isn't lost repeating them.
- What helps and what overwhelms: triggers, early warning signs, and what helps your child calm down.
- Anything that has changed this year, such as a new diagnosis, a change in medication or a change at home.
- The most recent reports and assessments, from school and from any therapists.
- Who is involved in your child's support and how to reach them, so the new team knows who to ask.
- Observations from this year's teacher and therapist in their own words. A short note on what they've learned about your child is often worth more than a formal report.
Timing matters as much as content. The best time to start is now, while this year's team still remembers the detail and before schools close for the holidays. Once this year's teacher has moved on to a new class, most of what they know goes with them. The new team needs this information before the first day of school or therapy, so support carries on from day one instead of being rebuilt after something goes wrong. Keep a full copy that belongs to you, too. Schools and practices keep their own files, but you're the one who goes with your child from year to year.
Where Dalza fits
This is what we built Dalza for, because we understand how pivotal transitions are. My own family has been through many of them: from one school year to the next, between schools, teachers and therapists, and even a move across continents. I know what it's like to sit across from someone new and start the story again from the beginning.
Dalza gives your child a shared profile that you, as the parent, control. Throughout the year, everyone on your child's team adds to it, including teachers, therapists and family members. Goals, strategies, observations, reports and progress build up in one place as they happen, so the handover is ready long before the year ends and nobody has to remember to write it all up in December.
When someone new joins your child's team, you invite them in and they're onboarded straight away with the full picture. They can see what the team learned, what works and what to watch for, before they've even met your child. You don't have to re-explain and retell the whole story again and again, and your child doesn't have to wait for the adults to catch up.
You decide who joins your child's team, and the record stays with your child wherever they go next.
What you can do before the year ends
There are still a few weeks of term left, and that's enough time to make a real difference.
- Create your child's Dalza profile and add the reports and goals you already have.
- Invite this year's teacher and therapist to the profile, and ask them to add a short note on what they've learned about your child while it's still fresh.
- When you know who next year's teacher or therapist will be, invite them in so they know who your child is before they even meet in person.
Your first month on Dalza is free, and after that it's R95 a month.
Start your child's profile here.The end of the year will always bring change. With the right handover, the work your child, their team and you have put in this year can come with them into the next one, and the new year can start right where this one left off.
By Robby Coelho and the Dalza team
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Frequently asked questions
When should I start preparing for my child's school transition?
As early as possible, and ideally before the current school year ends. This year's teacher and therapist know your child best right now, and once they move on to new children that detail fades quickly. Ask them for their observations while they still remember them.
What information should I give my child's new teacher?
Your child's current goals and progress, the strategies that work and those that didn't, triggers and calming strategies, any changes this year, recent reports and assessments, contact details for the support team, and short notes from this year's teacher and therapist in their own words.
What if my child seems fine in the first week of the new school year?
A good first week is encouraging, but research shows many children with additional needs only start to struggle weeks or months later, once the novelty wears off and extra support is withdrawn. Keep checking in with the new teacher through the first term.
How do I stop having to repeat my child's story to every new teacher or therapist?
Keep one shared record of your child's goals, strategies, reports and observations that you control and can share with each new person who joins your child's team. Dalza was built for exactly this.
References
Hamilton, L.G., Lewis, K. & Vincent, J. (2026). Improving school transitions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (STEPS final project report). York St John University. https://doi.org/10.25421/yorksj.32316672
Neal, S., Rice, F., Ng-Knight, T., Riglin, L. & Frederickson, N. (2016). Exploring the longitudinal association between interventions to support the transition to secondary school and child anxiety. Journal of Adolescence, 50. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1493677/