Managing their own ‘tricky’ transition: Exploring the views of pupils, practitioners, and parents during the primary-secondary transition in Wales.

The transitions from primary to secondary school are well recorded (Hodgkin et al., 2013; Jindal-Snape and Cantali, 2019; Jindal-Snape et al., 2021; Packer et al., 2020). However, this is usually framed around challenges associated with academic progress (e.g., Hopwood et al., 2016), social development (Hodgkin et al., 2013) wellbeing, (e.g., Symonds, 2015) and individual pupil journeys (e.g., Lawson et al., 2019). This chapter explores the complexity of transitions drawing upon Jindal-Snape’s (2023) XII pillars of Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions framework which seeks to conceptualise the mutual interactions of transitions between individual and significant others leading to an ongoing ripple effect across the ecosystem, highlighting the multi-dimensional nature of the theory (Jindal-Snape, 2023). This research employed an interpretative methodology to capture the perspectives of key stakeholders involved in secondary school transitions, including pupils, practitioners and parents/caregivers. Their voices were sought and recorded to generate authentic examples and case studies that inform discussion and analysis of the primary-to-secondary school transitions experience.

Analysis and discussion are situated within a Welsh context, where the removal of key stages and introduction of Progression Steps as part of the Curriculum for Wales (Welsh Language Data from the Annual Population Survey: 2022 | GOV.WALES, 2023) has been implemented as one means of reducing incidences of transitions within the curriculum. Recommendations will be provided to support and inform those involved in managing the transitions from primary to secondary school for pupils