School Journey - Changing School
The challeges of change
How parents and schools can help
Some groups move more frequently
Students Move resource kit available
It’s quite normal for students to change schools from time to time as families move home. All students experience the challenges of change as they move through the various levels at school during their entire schooling. Managing change is a normal part of a child’s development and through it they learn resilience and coping strategies to assist them in the wider world.
Students changing schools have additional adjustments to make. They must adjust to a new institutional setting with new dress codes, rules, teachers etc and at the same time negotiate new academic expectations, an unfamiliar social order and often a new home and family environment.
There are many ways parents and schools can help students adjust and assimilate this vast amount of new information. An increasing numbers of schools are introducing individual learning plans for students with special needs such as mobile students who may have gaps in learning due to attending a number of schools.
There are many reasons families move -- employment, income changes, family restructure such as separation, divorce, remarriage or death of a parent. However, there are some groups of students that are likely to change schools more frequently providing challenges for schools, parents and students. These groups include children of Australian Defence Force families, indigenous children, children of seasonal workers, children in and out of home care, children of transient families and students with special needs.
Many schools with high numbers of mobile students have specialised support or non-teaching staff to assist the students and their families. The Australian Defence Force funds Defence School Transition Aides (DSTAs) in schools with large numbers of Defence Force families. Schools with high numbers of Indigenous students often have Indigenous Aides to assist with mobile Indigenous students and liaise with parents.
In 2003, the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Department of Defence commissioned a wide-ranging study, Students Move—Supporting Students Who Change Schools, to assess the impact that frequent family relocation had on learning outcomes of school-aged children from the preparatory years to Year 12. The research, carried out by the Education Service of Oz Child Children Australia Inc, a not for profit organisation, focussed on the school-aged children of families that have experienced relocation, including those of the Australian Defence Force personnel. Students Move has been incorporated into a resource kit to assist teachers, parents and students address the difficulties of changing school. To access information kit see:
www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/
Original Author: Libby Harkness- 2008/09
Last Update 30th Sept 2009: ASI Editorial Team
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