Designated teachers' experiences of the transition from primary school to secondary school for children looked after (CLA)

ABSTRACT The importance of addressing and improving the outcomes for Children Looked After (CLA) has been a long standing national priority. Stability, as a key factor in improving outcomes for CLA is recognised in the literature, however this mainly focuses on moves and transitions within care. The transition from primary school to secondary school presents challenges for all pupils. However, a recent review of the literature revealed a very limited body of research exploring the transition from primary to secondary school for CLA, particularly from the perspective of the Designated Teacher (DT). The present exploratory study employed a sequential mixed methods design to address the following questions: 'What are DTs' experiences of supporting the transition from primary school to secondary school?' and, 'to what extent are the views of DTs in phase one, supported by DTs in phase two, regarding their experiences of supporting the transition to secondary school for CLA?' The first phase of the research employed the use of semi -structured interviews to explore DTs experiences of supporting the transition to secondary school for CLA. Qualitative data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA); which revealed four overarching concepts: 'the supportive role of the DT in the transition for CLA'; 'making sense of CL As' needs and experiences at transition'; 'working in a complex system' and, 'the psychological impact of working with CLA'. In phase two of the research, a semantic differential scale questionnaire, using polar adjectives, grounded in the qualitative data was distributed to a wider population of DTs in the same Local Authority (LA). The findings from phase one and two were integrated. Implications of findings across both phases of the research are discussed in relation to existing research and to Psychodynamic and Systemic theories.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo