Collaborating with the University of Edinburgh to improve school transitions
Now in its sixth year, People Know How’s Positive Transitions service supports children, young people and their families through primary and secondary school across Edinburgh and East Lothian. Developed from a consultation of over 700 young people, the service is designed to support them to feel valued and understood, improve their self-esteem and peer relationships, and enable them to fulfil their potential.
Six years after the initial consultation, school transitions remain highly important, particularly for young people who have experienced inequalities. Evidence shows that if we can improve these experiences, we can also improve outcomes. However, the key elements of positive multi-agency transition support for the most marginalised children are not well understood.
The charity has now partnered with the University of Edinburgh in a multi-disciplinary action-research project to evaluate what makes a positive transition. It will develop and test innovations in practice and local policy to improve experience and outcomes including attendance, social and emotional wellbeing and educational attainment. Taking place in multiple school clusters across Edinburgh and East Lothian, the project benefits from a comparative approach, exploring interventions in two very different local authorities and settings.
The findings will be used to create a model of practice for similar projects, aiming to improve pupil transitions across the UK. They will also enhance theories of school transition and explore intersecting issues such as class, ethnicity, gender, culture and disability, to ensure the needs of all children and their families are met.
They are now offering a fully funded PhD studentship to undertake this project. The student will be supervised by Dr Autumn Roesch-Marsh, Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Professor Gillean McCluskey at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, and will receive regular support and input from staff at People Know How, working directly with the Positive Transitions team.
The deadline to apply is 4 April and interviews will be held on 21 April.
