Negotiating the Transition from Primary to Secondary School: Perceptions of Pupils, Parents and Teachers

For those that did have concerns, the issue mentioned most by far was being subjected to bullying when arriving at secondary school.

“For those that did have concerns the issue mentioned most by far was that of being subjected to bullying when arriving at secondary school.”

There was a low frequency of reference to concerns about academic matters.

“There was a low frequency however of reference to concerns about academic matters.”

A large proportion of primary school pupils stated that they were not concerned about anything at all about the transition.

“Interestingly, a key observation of this study was that a large proportion of the primary school pupils stated that they were not concerned about anything at all about the transition.”

Other issues identified by a sizeable proportion of both primary and secondary pupils were relationships with peers, fears of getting lost, and handling the new workload.

“Other issues identified by a sizeable proportion of both the primary school and secondary school pupils were their relationships with peers, fears of getting lost, and handling the new workload.”

For secondary pupils who had already made the transition, academic matters were not prioritised; instead they emphasized time management, ability to focus, good behaviour, and social skills as useful.

“For the secondary pupils who had already made the transition, academic matters were not prioritised and instead they emphasized time management, the ability to focus on a task, good behaviour and social skills as useful”

Many respondents suggested that liaison with the secondary school should take place steadily throughout the year rather than confined to a few days in the final term.

“Many of the respondents also suggested that the process of liaison with the secondary school should take place steadily throughout the year, rather than be confined to a few days in the final term which currently seems to be the case for many primary schools.”

Zeedyk et al. (2003) key suggestions to ease transition were teacher visits from secondary school teachers, former pupils speaking at primary school, and using a buddy system.

“Zeedyk et al. (2003) also asked for suggestions as to how to ease the transition with the key suggestions being teacher visits from secondary school teachers, former pupils coming to speak at the primary school, and using a buddy system to help to ease the transition.”

Being bullied and homework were the most highly endorsed concerns both pre- and post-transition in both Zeedyk et al. and Rice et al.

“There were similarities in the findings between this study and that of Zeedyk et al. (2003) in terms of being bullied and homework being the most highly endorsed concerns both pre-and post-transition.”

The majority of pupils could not remember being particularly concerned about the transition while still in primary school.

“It was also apparent that the majority of the pupils could not remember being particularly concerned about the transition whilst still in primary school as found by Zeedyk et al. (2003)”

Primary school pupils were widely of the view that academic ability was important for managing the transition, but did not endorse any other skill with any frequency.

“Primary school pupils were widely of the view that academic ability was important for managing the transition, but did not endorse any other skill with any frequency”

The majority of pupils do experience some degree of concern well into their first year at secondary school.

“This fits with the views of Zeedyk et al. (2003) and Stradling and MacNeil (2000) that the majority of pupils do experience some degree of concern well into their first year at secondary school.”