Negotiating the Transition from Primary to Secondary School

Abstract

The transition from primary to secondary school is regarded as one of the most difficult in pupils' educational careers. This article describes the results of a survey undertaken in the UK, in which the views of primary pupils, secondary pupils, parents and teachers were ascertained in regard to the transition process. Specifically, we sought to determine the concerns and expectations of respondents and also to establish the extent to which the views of the four groups were in accordance with one another. A total of 472 respondents completed the survey. Results showed that bullying was a major concern for all groups, followed by fears of getting lost, increased workload and peer relationships, among others. The concerns of British pupils were broadly similar to those reported in the literature for pupils in other countries. The views of primary pupils and their parents were highly similar, and if the experience of transition is to be improved, it may be necessary to focus efforts on both of these groups. Teachers rarely identified children's individual abilities as making a difference to the transition process, focusing instead on institutional initiatives, an emphasis that carries the risk of creating a degree of helplessness for individual pupils.