The Impact of the Transition from Primary School to Secondary School on Young Adolescents

Author(s):  
Charlotte Fontaine
2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S179-S180
Author(s):  
C. Fontaine ◽  
C. Connor ◽  
S. Channa ◽  
C. Palmer ◽  
M. Birchwood

IntroductionPrevious research suggests that adult anxiety disorders begin in adolescence and the transition from primary school to secondary school is the first challenge many young adolescents face, which could test their resilience for the first time.ObjectivesTo examine students’ anxiety scores before and after their transition, and what protective and risk factors are present during this challenge.AimsTo determine how the transition can impact anxiety in children, and if protective factors can help decrease the disruption that the transition can cause.MethodsOne hundred and eighty-four pupils completed questionnaires in their last term of primary school and during the first term of secondary school. At time 1: the attachment, school membership, and bullying and victimization measures were compared with pupils’ anxiety scores, along with whether their friends or siblings will be attending the same secondary school as them. These analyses will also be conducted once the pupils start secondary school, at time 2.ResultsSecure attachment was associated with lower anxiety and transition anxiety (F(2.56) = 7.255, P = .002; F(2.52) = 19.245, P = .000; F(2.181) = 10.181, P = .000; F(2.53) = 20.545, P = .000). School membership was associated with lower transition anxiety (F(2.181) = 4.151, P = .017; F(2.181) = 3.632, P = .028). Low victimisation was also associated with low anxiety and transition anxiety (F(2.181) = 14.024, P = .000; F(2.181) = 14.529, P = .000; F(2.181) = 9.381, P = .000).ConclusionsThese preliminary results suggest that attachment, school membership and victimisation all impact on pupils anxiety before they transition to secondary school. Therefore, schools could work together to increase school membership and decrease victimisation, particularly for pupils who they suspect will struggle with the transition.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-196
Author(s):  
Dubravka Kuščević

A nation’s cultural and natural heritage is the wealth of the people it belongs to and one of the key elements for the creation of national identity and affirmation in the process of globalization. The aim of our study was to examine the attitudes, knowledge and thoughts of primary and secondary school students related to natural and cultural heritage. A total of 322 respondents from primary and secondary schools in Split-Dalmatia County, Šibenik-Knin County, and Zagreb County participated in the research. Our results indicate that secondary school students show better knowledge of cultural and natural heritage of their homeland and a higher degree of interest in learning about these contents than students in the final grades of primary school. Moreover, secondary school students more than primary school students recognize the value of attaching importance to these topics within the work of educational institutions and in various school subjects. In addition, secondary school students expressed a greater awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage and its connection with the development of the economy and the preservation of national identity compared to primary school students. No differences were found among students in terms of the impact of cultural heritage on encouraging their creativity, but it was shown that more frequent visits to archaeological institutions were associated with a higher interest in heritage-related content.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 2777-2826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Murphy ◽  
Felix Weinhardt

Abstract This article establishes a new fact about educational production: ordinal academic rank during primary school has lasting impacts on secondary school achievement that are independent of underlying ability. Using data on the universe of English school students, we exploit naturally occurring differences in achievement distributions across primary school classes to estimate the impact of class rank. We find large effects on test scores, confidence, and subject choice during secondary school, even though these students have a new set of peers and teachers who are unaware of the students’ prior ranking in primary school. The effects are especially pronounced for boys, contributing to an observed gender gap in the number of Maths courses chosen at the end of secondary school. Using a basic model of student effort allocation across subjects, we distinguish between learning and non-cognitive skills mechanisms, finding support for the latter.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1245
Author(s):  
Inge Huybrechts ◽  
Rossella Miglio ◽  
Lorenza Mistura ◽  
Sara Grioni ◽  
Irene Pozzebon ◽  
...  

Dietary factors play a major role in the development of non-communicable diseases, however little is known regarding the impact of nutrition on rare diseases like sarcomas. This Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute study aimed to evaluate the relative validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to measure the consumption of foods in comparison with a 3-days diary diet in a healthy Italian student population aged between 12 and 17 years. An extended version (including food groups for children) of the semi-quantitative FFQ used in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was administered. The validity of the FFQ was assessed by comparing the intakes from the FFQ against the 3-day diary method. 254 Italian subjects were included in the analyses: 128 females; 126 males; 116 from High Secondary School (14–17 years); 138 from Low Secondary School (12–13 years). Mean and median intakes are overall higher in the FFQs than in the food diaries. Spearman correlations adjusted for within-person variability were highest for legumes, vegetables and coffee/tea (>0.5), followed by potatoes, meat, fruits, breakfast cereals, biscuits and candies, and milk/yoghurts (>0.4). Moderate correlations were found for alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, juices, and grains (>0.3). For some food groups, such as fish, potatoes, and bread, correlations tend to become higher when stratifying the analyses for age group. These results demonstrate that the adapted EPIC COS FFQ validated in Italian adults is also appropriate and well understood by Italian children and adolescents.


Author(s):  
Matthew J. Leach ◽  
Sue Nichols ◽  
Sven Trenholm ◽  
Martin Jones

Background Supporting a child’s healthy development is determined, in part, by a parent’s ability to seek, access, interpret and effectively utilize health information. This aspect of parenting draws on a set of skills referred to as health literacy. Objective To assess the level of health literacy among parents/carers in a regional South Australian community. Methods Parents/carers of primary school-aged children, residing in Whyalla, South Australia, were invited to complete the 13-item All Aspects of Health Literacy Survey. Results 155 parents/carers completed the survey (79% mothers). Most participants were English-speaking (97%), employed (62%) and had 2–3 children (62%), with 52% completing tertiary education. Median total health literacy scores were mostly in the moderate-high range (median 27, IQR 26,27), as were critical health literacy scores (median 7, IQR 6,8). Higher scores were reported for functional health literacy (median 8, IQR 7,9), communicative health literacy (median 9, IQR 8,9) and empowerment health literacy (median 4, IQR 3,5). Conclusions Our findings reveal modest levels of health literacy among a sample of parents/carers of primary school-aged children in a regional South Australian community. Further work is needed to understand the differential effect of parental health literacy on child health outcomes, and the types of strategies that may mitigate the impact of these barriers on a child’s healthy development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Lombardi ◽  
Daniela Traficante ◽  
Roberta Bettoni ◽  
Ilaria Offredi ◽  
Mirta Vernice ◽  
...  

Reading and writing skills influence the social status of students, exerting effects not only on learning, but also on wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the impact of diagnosis of specific learning disorder on well-being in secondary-school students, comparing students with a diagnosis of specific learning disorder (SLD-group), students showing learning difficulties without diagnosis (LD-group) and students without learning difficulties (control-group). Students were tested with neuropsychological screening tests in order to identify learning difficulties and were further assessed by means of psychological and school well-being questionnaires. The results show that LD group perceive themselves as having a low sense of mastery and autonomy, less interest and engagement in daily activities and low peer social support than their schoolmates. This result highlights, for the LD group, a low well-being experience, which is not observed in the SLD and control groups. On the contrary, SLD group students do not differ from control group students in any dimensions except for the perceived parents’ support and involvement in school life, in which the SLD group show the highest scores. This work underlines the importance of having a diagnosis as it seems to work as a protective factor for both the psychological and school well-being of the student.


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