FROM THE BUSH TO THE BIG SMOKE: Hannah Calcino Student Wellbeing Coordinator (Boarding)
The transition to secondary school for our rural boarders
The transition to secondary school is signposted as one of the most significant events to occur in an adolescent’s life. Couple the change in routine, school format and academic expectations with major physiological and psychological changes and it is easy to see why children perceive the transition from primary school to secondary school as daunting. In a study titled Transition to secondary school: Expectation versus experience, statistics showed that only 50 per cent of Year 7 students* anticipated a positive transition to secondary school. However, post transition, almost 70 per cent of students reported a positive transitional experience (Waters, Lester & Cross 2014). This means that there is a pre-transition perception that the change from primary school to secondary school is going to be more difficult than it actually is and is often clouded with more worry and trepidation than is necessary. Typically, the success of the primary to secondary schooling transition is founded on positive peer relationships, positive perceptions towards schooling and change, and a stable state of mental health (Hall & DiPerna 2017). While the transition to secondary school is described as a normative change – meaning the timing and planning of such an event is predictable and something most children experience – the relocation to attend boarding school is described as nonnormative and is considered a potentially stressful life event (Downs 2001). This means that students entering boarding school at the beginning of their secondary schooling are experiencing two major life events at the same time. The culminating component of my Masters of Education was the development of a research project. Having seen the challenges faced by Year 7 boarders, both in the classroom and boarding house, I wanted to explore the students’ perspective of their transition and identify what boarding schools can do to ensure a holistic transitional experience for rural Year 7 students entering a metropolitan boarding school.
SUNATA 10
2021 Year 7 boarders were invited to participate in the data collection based on their status as ‘rural Australians’. Their status was determined using the Remoteness Areas Scale derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics using Australia’s Accessibility and Remoteness Index (ARIA+). Eight students participated in the data collection—three of these participants identified as First Nations people. None of the participants had attended boarding school during their primary schooling.
The data was collected on Wednesday 10 November 2021. At the data collection point, students were in Week 6 of Term 4, having nearly completed their first full year of boarding school. The research was gathered through a mixed method. A mixedmethod data collection can improve evaluation by allowing the limitations of one type of data to be balanced by the strengths (Greene 2007). This ensured that results accurately reflected the perspectives of the students. In addition, parallel data gathering was used to collect the data, with participants engaging in a focus group discussion before completing a quantitative survey in the same sitting. The data collection posed questions relating to participants likes and dislikes of boarding school, how they have adjusted academically and socially to boarding school, and their thoughts surrounding communal living, homesickness, and school staff. There were several key themes to emerge from the data collection and analysis, four of which are particularly relevant for staff working within a boarding school. Creating community The concept of cultivating a community within the boarding house is pivotal to the transition experience for Year 7 boarders. The idea of community cultivation refers to the factors that impact and help formulate a community and environment where students feel safe and included. The physical environment, changes in one’s community identity, role dynamics, and the impact of staff were all contributing factors to creating the boarding house community. The impact of the physical environment was an interesting theme that emerged during the focus group discussion. The metropolitan location and lack of open space were identified by participants as reasons to dislike boarding school. This is corroborated by Downs (2001), who identified in their research that there is a poignant need for access to open, outdoor spaces for privacy and spatial autonomy for rural Australian youth. Students who disliked the urban landscape found adjusting to their new environment challenging. There were varied responses when participants were asked whether living in a group environment had been a reason for feeling sad during their time at boarding school. Six participants stated that they never or rarely felt like the communal living situation resulted in them feeling sad, while two participants said that it often or sometimes did. Even though students
