Background and aims

The School Transition Study (STS) is interested in young people’s mental health in the transition from primary to secondary school. STS aims to design and trial an intervention improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people during the transition.

The first phase of the study will involve the intervention design. The intervention will be developed by MCRI in collaboration with partners and stakeholders from across the academic, state government, local government and education sectors. The design will be informed by analysis of an existing dataset: the Child to Adult Transition study (CATS), a systematic review of the literature, research with teachers and educators involved in the transition, and focus groups with students. More on the educator and student components can be found below.

The second phase of the study will involve trialing the intervention in schools to assess its effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability.

Educator Survey

STS is investigating what schools do to support young people in the transition to secondary school across Australia, better understanding the initiatives that are currently in place to support students, and the outcomes that have occurred as a result.

We are interested in key educator’s experiences of the transition and what they feel has helped the mental health and wellbeing of students at this time. We would also like to understand the challenges and barriers that schools have faced in designing/implementing initiatives.

We are asking any educators involved in the transition from primary to secondary school to please contribute to a survey and share their experiences. The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

For more information, or to join this study, visit: https://redcap.link/sts_educator

Student Focus Groups

STS is investigating what schools do to support young people in Victoria transition to secondary school. We know that the transition from primary to secondary school is a time of change that can be daunting and stressful for young people. We also know that schools have different ways of helping students' transition.

We are looking for children in Year 5 or 6 at primary school, or in Year 7 or 8 at secondary school who would like talk with us and a small group of students about their experience around this transition to secondary school. These focus groups will be held as an online discussion group for 1 hour in July or August.

As a token of our appreciation, participants will receive a $20 e-gift voucher to thank them for their time.

For more information, or to join this study, visit: https://redcap.link/sts_student

Collaborators

STS is a collaborative study between researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, University of Melbourne, University of Manchester, Deakin University, Victoria University and partners including the Victorian Department of Education (DET), Headspace, Wyndham City, City of Stonnington, City of Glen Eira, City of Port Phillip, Drummond Street Services and Mount Evelyn School.

Funding

Funding for STS is provided by VicHealth.

Key papers / outputs

To come. 

Further information and digital media

For more information about this study, please contact the Project Coordinator, Paul Hockey.