Abstract
Transition between primary and secondary school represents an important milestone in young people’s development. While most young people look forward to this transition, it is a source of anxiety for many. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 2218 children in 73 schools in Wales, this study aimed to understand the extent to which 10–11 year old children worried about and/or looked forward to their imminent transition to secondary school, the things they worried about and/or looked forward to, and how feelings about transition differed by socioeconomic status, as well as by emotional and behavioural difficulties. About a third of children reported being quite or very worried about transition to secondary school, while approximately two-thirds reported looking forward to it quite a bit or very much. These items were only moderately correlated, with many children both looking forward to and worrying about transition, or neither. Major sources of worry about transition centred around bullying and impact on existing friendships, while forming new friendships or joining existing friends in their new school were key things children looked forward to. Children from poorer backgrounds, attending poorer schools and reporting more emotional difficulties were significantly more likely to report worries about transition. Children from poorer families, and children reporting more emotional difficulties and behavioural difficulties, were less likely to look forward to transition. Interventions to support children in transition to secondary school need to be sensitive to the needs of children from poorer backgrounds and children with mental health difficulties.
Highlights
Educational careers provide a series of life-course transition points, with significant implications for children’s health and wellbeing
Consistent with previous studies, we found that most children looked forward to secondary school, a sizeable minority reported significant worries about transition (Chedzoy & Burden, 2005)
The things young people looked forward to mirrored this to some extent, centring around forming new friendships or joining existing friends and relatives in their new school (Longobardi et al, 2016; Ng-Knight et al, 2018; Rice et al, 2015)
Summary
Educational careers provide a series of life-course transition points, with significant implications for children’s health and wellbeing. Transition out of compulsory education is associated with increases in a range of health risk behaviours (Baranowski et al, 1997). Between these major transitions, the period children and adolescents spend in school includes a range of micro-level transitions, including progression through year groups and schools. School transition reflects a lifecourse period during which children experience a diverse interplay of biological, social and psychological changes, with potential implications for their wellbeing
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