Mission Transition An Exploration of School Transitions in the Northside Limerick Community

1. Mission TransitionAn Exploration of School Transitions in the Northside Limerick Community Rory McGann & Karen Mahony One Road In, Many Roads Out June 2010

2. Overview • Background • Evaluation context • Northside Limerick context • Transition research • Mission Transition • Introduction to the research • Objectives of the evaluation • Methodology • Ethical considerations • Key findings • Conclusions & Recommendations

3. Rate of Relative Affluence (Haase & Pratschke 2008) State Limerick City St. Munchin’s Moyross

4. Education Ceased at Age 15 or Under

5. Northside Learning Hub / Mission Transition • The Northside Learning Hub (NLH) was founded in 2007 • To develop and implement practical and solution focused responses to educational disadvantage and early school leaving • It’s Mission Transition programme aims to prepare students by building confidence, fostering anticipation and addressing anxieties with regard to post-primary • Four distinct areas – Preparation, Transfer, Induction & Consolidation

6. Understanding of Mission Transition (cont.)

7. What do we mean by ‘Transition’ in the Irish context? • A socially constructed meaning that changes depending on the individual’s interpretations of a context / experience (Downes 2009) • Defined as the process associated with transfer from primary to post-primary schooling (O’Brien 2004) • In excess of 50,000 pupils transfer to post-primary school annually • Transfer causes little or no difficulty for the majority of students • More than half of Irish pupils transferring to post-primary school settle into their new surroundings during the first week • 25% settle in before the end of the first month • 16%, if left unaided, will take longer than a month to transfer comfortably (NCCA 2004)

8. Transition in Irish Education • Report of the Pupil Transfer Committee 1981 • Current issues in transition – • Transition Anxieties • Role of Parents • Communication • Curricular Discontinuity • Structures – streaming/entrance exam • Atmosphere – “Being the best” v “Doing your best” • Peer culture – relationships, bullying etc. • Policy (Smyth, McCoy & Darmody 2004, O’Brien 2004 & 2008, INTO 2009)

9. Objectives of Evaluation Explore the rationale for the development of a transition programme Provide a summation of the Mission Transition programme Determine the degree of effectiveness of Mission Transition in meeting its own objectives Evaluate methods of in-school delivery that facilitate the programme and identify possible barriers to the effectiveness of the chosen methods of delivery Elicit the extent to which the content of Mission Transition addresses pupil, teacher and parent concerns Make recommendations to inform future development

10. Perspectives & Methodology Northside Learning Hub Staff (Semi-Structured Interviews & Focus Groups) The development of Mission Transition The implementation of the programme The programme outcomes Pupil & Student Perspectives (Questionnaires & Focus Groups) Participant profile Attitudes towards primary/post-primary school Moving to post-primary school Mission Transition Primary & post-primary Teachers’ Perspectives (Questionnaires) Participant profile Moving to post-primary school Mission Transition Parents’ Perspectives (Questionnaire)* Dublin-Based * Mission Transition Pilot Project (Semi-Structured Telephone Interview) Knowledge of Mission Transition Implementation of the programme Programme outcomes for Ballymun pupils/students

11. Ethical Considerations Information Leaflet Consent Confidentiality Anonymity Voluntary participation & right to withdraw Child Protection / Doing no harm Dissemination of findings Informed Consent Parental & Pupil/Student

12. Key Findings – Primary Pupils Participant Profile Questionnaire – 49 Participants (26.5% male; 73.5% female) Focus Groups – 47 Participants Moving to Post-Primary Feelings about Moving to Post-Primary Excited (42.9%) - Confused (4.1%) Nervous (24.5%) - Sad (2%) Don’t Know (14.3%) - Confident (2%) Happy (6.1%) Looking Forward to: Making new friends (89.8%) - Learning new things (71.4%) Having more freedom (75.5%) - Finding way around (61.2%) Greater variety of activities (71.4%) Concerned About: Getting lost (75.5%) - Bigger schools (46.9%) More subjects (49%) - Getting picked on (40.8%)

13. Key Findings – Primary Pupils (Cont.) • Primary School - Likes • Friends (63.3%) • Sport (26.5%) • Teachers (10.2%) • Primary School – Dislikes • Homework (69.4%) - Schoolwork (8.2%) • Teachers (14.3%) - Friends (2%) • Mission Transition • Primary School Preparing you for Post-Primary? • Yes (90%) - No (10%) • Did Mission Transition Assist in Preparation for Post-Primary? • Yes (87.8%) - No (12.2%) • Confidence about Moving to Post-Primary (post-Mission Transition) • Very confident (59.2%) - Not confident (4.1%) • Confident (28.6%) - Don’t Know (4.1%)

14. Key Findings – post-primary Students Participant Profile No. Participants – 42 (85.7% of primary sample) 50% attending a NLH target-school & 50% attending a non-target school Nine (21.4%) were male & thirty-three (78.6%) were female Attitudes Towards Post-Primary Looking Forward to Post-Primary Over the Summer Yes (71.4%) - No (28.6%) Post-Primary as Expected? Yes (38.1%) - Undecided (21.4%) No (40.5%) Areas of Satisfaction in Post-Primary Sports (69%) - Friendly teachers (76.2%) Feeling Safe (90.5%) - Acceptance by peers (90.5%) Understanding the rules (92.9%) - Difficulty levels of schoolwork (85.7%) Ability to keep the rules (90.5%)

15. Key Findings – post-primary Students (Cont.) Post-Primary – Likes Making new friends (88.1%) - Greater variety of activities (71.4%) Having more freedom (73.8%) Post-Primary – Dislikes More subjects (28.6%) - Entrance exams (26.2%) Homework (28.6%) - Having more teachers (26.2%) Mission Transition Settling in to Post-Primary Straight away (26.2%) - Within month one (16.7%) Within week one (54.8%) - Not settled in yet (2.4%) What helped you settle in? Primary school (69%) - Mission Transition (97.6%) Post-primary (90.5%)

16. Key Findings – Primary & post-primary Teachers’ Perspectives Primary Participants – 11 Participants (4 principals, 5 teachers & 2 HSCLs) Post-Primary Participants – 11 (3 principals, 1 teacher, 1 HSCL, 2 support teachers & 4 others) Student Attendance Primary - Post-Primary Good: 1-9 missed days (63.6%) - Good (54.5%) Average: 10-20 days (27.3%) - Average (18.2%) Very poor: 20+ days (9.1%) - Very poor (27.3%) Moving to Post-primary 54.5% of primary participants felt primary was preparing sixth class students for post-primary 63.6% of post-primary participants felt first year students weren’t prepared for the demands of post-primary Primary participants felt the biggest change would relate to school structures & operational procedures (timetabling, subjects, variety of teachers, changing classes, study skills) and the shift to an exam focus Post-primary participants felt students were unprepared with regard to organisational skills (books, lockers, timetables), academic abilities (literacy, numeracy) & social skills (making friends, behaviour)

17. Conclusions All respondents agree that Mission Transition is meeting its objective of providing pupils with knowledge and skills to enable them to make a successful transfer from primary to post-primary Primary pupils were more confident about transitioning to post-primary following their engagement with Mission Transition and their teachers felt they were better prepared Difficulties currently exist with regard to pupils transferring to NLH’s non-target schools & not accessing the second phase of the programme The programme is highly reliant on the flexibility of individual teachers and class timetables – difficulties exist relative to the delivery of the programme during P.E. and Art classes

18. Recommendations • The NLH should explore funding options to support the employment of a Research and Development Officer to further develop the Mission Transition programme as a resource of publishable standard • The value and merit of piloting Mission Transition at a citywide and/or national level should be explored with the relevant educational bodies • The feasibility of primary and post-primary teachers being supported to implement the class-based programme at a curricular level to be examined • In conjunction with relevant educational bodies, the suitability of integrating Mission Transition into the current SPHE 6th class curriculum to be examined

19. Concluding Remark – A.A. Milne (SESS 2010) ‘Have we reached the end?’ asked Piglet. ‘Yes’, I replied. ‘It seems to be the end’ said Pooh. ‘It does. And yet – ’ ‘Yes, Piglet?’ ‘For me, it also seems like a new beginning’

20. Contact:Targeting Educational Disadvantage ProjectMary Immaculate CollegeSouth Circular RoadLimerick Telephone: 061 – 774712 www.mic.ul.ie/ted Go raibh maith agaibh!