Sharing Student Projects

This dissertation aimed to obtain the views of children in Year 6 who receive pupil premium funding (PPF) regarding their upcoming transition to secondary school as these children are largely absent from studies that focus on primary-secondary school transition (Cook et al., 2020; Smyth & Privalko, 2022). PPF is a government scheme that provides schools with money to support children who live in a lower socio-economic status (SES) household (GOV.UK, 2022a). Government statistics report that children who receive PPF have lower levels of attainment and are more likely to be excluded from secondary school (Cook et al., 2020; IntegratED, 2020). As well as this, there is research that suggests children from a lower SES background are more likely to experience a negative transition experience. So an insight into how a sample from this group of children feel about primary-secondary transition is needed (Evangelou et al., 2008; Smyth & Privalko, 2022). The research was led by two questions; the first asked what the children thought about their upcoming transition and the second asked about their perceived support networks. Once the researcher had got ethical approval, they contacted schools in Greater Manchester who had 50% or more of its pupils receiving PPF. Staff at schools who agreed to take part handed out information and consent forms to eligible families. The nine children (6 boys and 3 girls) who agreed to participate then took part in interviews during the school day via zoom. Following each interview, the researcher listened back and transcribed the conversation. Finally, they looked across all the interviews, identifying themes in the findings (See table 4). Some of the findings here are similar to other studies, in particular in the mixture of feelings that children have towards transition and some of the worries that they spoke about (Rice et al., 2021; Strand, 2019; Topping, 2011). The findings linked to the second research question, which asked about the participants support networks, fills a gap in the current research as less is known about this aspect of transition, especially from children who receive PPF (Smyth & Privalko, 2022; Spernes, 2020).

The findings from this research can potentially be useful for Year 6 and Year 7 teachers as well as wider educational policy makers. The participants were able to share their experiences and perspectives on transition to secondary school as well as highlighting what was important to them with practical ideas for how the process could be improved. Their ideas along with the other findings could be used by education professionals to ensure that their transition policies and procedures match with what children who receive PPF perceive to be useful. In addition, as their excitement and concerns are similar to what other population groups have reported it is likely that any changes that were made would benefit others as well.