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“The missing piece of the jigsaw”: Supporting parents during their child’s move to secondary school
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
Children’s move to secondary school has become a key issue for many practitioners and policy-makers. Enabling children to ‘settle in’ to secondary school is considered by many to be a key factor in helping to prevent later truancy, exclusion, and involvement in offending. A number of innovative projects are now taking place throughout the UK, in order to provide children with information and support at this time (see Shepherd and Roker, 2003). In a number of TSA projects, however, it has become clear that parents also want information and support at this time. This is required both to help parents in parenting 9-11 year-olds, and to assist children in making a smooth transition to secondary school.
AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
The research aimed to address four broad questions, as follows:
- What are parents’ experiences of parenting 9-11 year-olds? How do they see the parent-child relationship changing during the transition to secondary school?
- What are parents’ views, expectations and concerns about their child’s move to secondary school?
- What information, advice, and support do children and parents receive at this time, in relation to the transition?
- What more (if anything) would parents like, and in what format?
METHODS AND SUMMARY
The research involved two main stages:
Stage 1:
Focus groups with Year 6 (ie last year of primary) and Year 7 (first year of secondary) children. Four focus groups were run, involving 20 children in total. These focus groups were designed to inform the topics, content, and language used in the interviews with parents in stage 2 (below).
Stage 2:
Individual interviews were held with 58 parents of Year 6 and Year 7 children, drawn from a range of ethnic groups, social backgrounds, and locations.
The interviews were held mainly in parents’ homes, and explored the following:
- views about and experiences of parenting 9-11 year-olds
- information provided for children and parents about the transition
- expectations and/or anxieties in relation to the move
- experiences of the transition (for the parents of Year 7 children)
- what additional information, advice and support parents would like to receive (if any), and in what format.
SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS
The main results from the study can be summarised under six headings: The following recommendations are made, as a result of the evaluation of the pilot project described in this report:
Parenting 9-11 year-olds
- The majority of parents had witnessed considerable changes in their children in the last few years – physically, behaviourally, psychologically
- The majority of parent-child relationships had changed significantly in recent years, with children becoming more independent, and spending more time with peers
- Most parents reported some aspects of parenting this age group as easier (ie their child was more responsible and independent), and some as more difficult (more outspoken, rude or moody) – overall most parents described it as ‘different’ to what had gone before.
- The majority of parents were happy with the school their child was going to go to, or was at. A small number of parents were very unhappy with their child’s allocation of school
- Many parents were sceptical about the nature of ‘school choice’, describing it as a ‘tactical game’ that parents had to play
- Most parents had a wide range of reasons for trying to get their child into a particular school. Most parents stressed that they tried to involve their child as much as possible in the process
- In looking at secondary schools, parents felt that children mainly wanted to go to schools which friends/family members were attending.
- Parents expected their child would notice the considerable differences between primary and secondary school
- Many parents were concerned that they would have less parental involvement with secondary school. Most felt very unsure about who they could contact if there were problems
- Parents considered their child was (or had been) positive about the move to secondary school. However, children were also described as having a wide range of anxieties ‘bubbling under the surface’.
- Most parents and children had received some information related to the transition. Seven of the 58 parents said that they had not received anything, either for them or for their children
- Information received by parents included newsletters, booklets, and letters. Information received by children included information and folders, information sheets, and booklets
- A small number of parents proactively sought the information they wanted from other sources, such as the internet, the LEA, and charities
- Many parents and children had attended Open Evenings and ‘taster days’ at prospective schools – reactions to these were mostly very positive, although a few parents were very negative about them
- Parents of children with special needs were particularly concerned about their child’s transition – many wanted information and support much earlier in the transition process.
- Most Year 7 parents considered their child had made a relatively smooth transition to secondary school
- Views of the transition period were often linked to a child’s personality and temperament, and how they generally dealt with change
- Parents of Year 7 children had a range of advice that they wanted to pass on to Year 6 parents about the transition, focussing on basic preparation for the move, and communication with the child and the school.
- The majority of parents wanted more information and support for them as parents, and also to enable them to help and support their children
- There was a wide diversity of information and support that parents wanted, focusing on four main areas - practical information, bullying policies and procedures, school facts and extra-curricular activities, and special needs provision
- There was no single format that parents wanted the information to be contained in. Rather they wanted a range of formats, mainly written ones – information sheets, pamphlets, newsletters etc.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A number of recommendations are made on the basis of these results:
- Many parents in this study felt that primary schools were not doing enough to prepare children about the realities of life in secondary school. The first recommendation, therefore, is improved preparation for the move to secondary school, whilst children are in primary school. This might involve group discussions, standardised information packs, and visits to primary schools by Year 7 pupils.
- Most parents in this study wanted more information and support about the transition, in order to help them to feel prepared, and to help their children. The second recommendation is therefore that some standardised information is provided for parents about the transition to secondary school. Most parents in this study wanted more information to read at home – this could be leaflets, packs, flyers, or newsletters. This information pack/newsletter could include some standard items (talking through the changes in general), plus some information specific to the school/locality, such as bus routes or homework monitoring systems.
- One group of parents in the study found the transition a particularly difficult time – parents of children with special needs. The third recommendation from this project is the provision of earlier and more targeted support to parents who have special needs children.
- Some children find the move to secondary school particularly difficult, such as those who are shy or withdrawn, or who have difficulty making friends. These children, parents considered, needed extra help and support during the move to secondary school. The fourth recommendation from this project, therefore, is that primary schools and other professional groups work to provide extra help and support to children who are seen as vulnerable, and who may find the move to secondary school difficult. (Note that TSA is currently involved in an evaluation of a pilot project, which aims to do this).
- Most parents really valued having one teacher in primary school that they could approach, and found it very daunting to think that there would be no single point of contact in secondary school. A final recommendation from this project is therefore for secondary schools to have one nominated person who Year 7 parents can contact about their child. Getting parents involved in the school at this time, and helping them to understand the processes involved, may keep them engaged throughout their child’s time at the school.
NEXT STEPS
TSA is taking the results of this study forward in three ways:
First, we are disseminating the results of this project as widely as possible. A number of presentations at key conferences have already been undertaken (for example Parent-Child 2004, British Educational Research Association 2004), and further presentations are planned. We will also disseminate the results via articles for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers.
Second, we are using the results of this study to inform a new TSA project. This project – ‘The parenting of 8-11 year-olds’ – is funded by the DfES until 2007. The project is supporting practitioners working with parents of 8-11 year-olds, particularly around the transition to secondary school. The project will involve (1) conferences and training events, (2) an email network, and (3) the publication of a ‘Toolkit’ containing information, resources and materials, and a newsletter template to use with parents. A key aim of this project is to disseminate research evidence and share good practice.
Finally, we aim to seek funding for new work which will take the recommendations from this project forward. In particular, we hope to get funding for some materials for parents, which schools and others can use to help provide information and support for Year 6 parents.