Service Pupil Transition Evaluation

This project is to evaluate the impact of a pupil transition plan at a large, mixed 11-19 secondary school. The school serves a predominantly rural catchment area that also includes a significant armed forces population. The school experiences a not insignificant amount of churn, with children of service personnel joining and leaving the roll periodically during the academic year. Compared with the general population, Service students can experience higher rates of mobility between schools which can impact on factors such as academic engagement, sense of belonging, and wellbeing (McCullouch et al., 2018; Hall et al., 2022). A systematic approach by schools can assist Service students in managing and mitigating the potential impacts of transition and can help schools to focus on key priorities and strategies (Burke et al., 2019). Furthermore, robust research and sharing of best practice can help to maximise opportunities for children from armed forces families (Ministry of Defence, 2022). To support Service students’ successful integration, the school has developed a transition plan and process. This project aims to evaluate the efficacy of the school’s plans so far and to provide information to guide its further development.