The most difficult transition year

Why do 1,000 children who leave primary school in June never get to secondary school in September, asks Kitty Holland

Why do 1,000 children who leave primary school in June never get to secondary school in September, asks Kitty Holland

A group of 12- to 14-year-olds crowd around a mound of potter's clay and an enthusiastic pottery teacher in a north Dublin community centre. They may be here for the fun of it, but for some of the children, their future education depends on it.

"We have a mix of children here," says Sindy Offer, one of the two child development workers at the Bridge Project in Kilbarrack. But some of these children are seen as at a high risk of dropping out of education. This project aims to ensure they make the transition from primary to secondary school - to bridge the gap.

"Some of the children are targeted for special attention, though others are doing just fine at school, so there's no stigma to being here," says Offer.

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Along with pottery classes, other activites, such as drama, sports and day-trips - the usual stuff of summer schools - are undertaken. The project also runs on afternoons during the school year - a homework period is included in these sessions.

As an estimated 60,000 students received their Leaving Certificate results this week, it is worth bearing in mind that about 1,000 young students who left their primary school sixth class in June will not make it to secondary school next month.

There are various reasons why a child may not make that transition, or may drop out early in secondary school education. A 2004 ESRI study on children moving from primary to secondary school, Moving Up, pointed out that students making the jump face big changes in their everyday lives - having more teachers, being among the youngest in the school, having to get used to a larger school building, and having a longer day. Girls take longer to settle in than boys and generally those with a negative self-image or lacking confidence have greater problems. Travellers and children from ethnic minorities also have greater trouble settling in.

"Having contact with the post- primary school and having a good idea what to expect helps reduce students' anxiety about moving to a new school," reads the report.

Offer says that in some cases she has seen, "there mightn't be a strong tradition of education in the family and secondary school is not seen as so important, or the parent may be under a lot of other pressures".

Referrals to the Bridge Project come from the local St Benedict's National School or from social services. On top of that, parents can put their child's name down if they feel they might need assistance.

"They would be targeted maybe because they aren't getting support at home, they aren't keeping up at school, they're very withdrawn - there can be any number of reasons."

She has seen children aged 10 who couldn't read or write properly. "We had one child, aged 11, who couldn't read a clock," she says. Such issues are addressed in group games, thus avoiding the risk that any child will be singled out.

The link between early school-leaving and poverty is explicitly recognised in the Government's National Anti- Poverty Strategy (NAPS). Kilbarrack is designated a Rapid (Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development) area, where early school-leaving remains a "huge issue", according to Offer.

Among those in attendance this summer are Aisling Carroll (11), who put her own name down for Bridge club when she was eight. "I was getting bored at home after school and a few friends told me about it. "It's great," she says, grinning.

The overriding mood is supportive, cheerful and relaxed. "Though they might be withdrawn or quiet in school, they really blossom here, come out of themselves," says Offer.

The provision of projects such as this, which is funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of Education, is "patchy and incohesive" according to the National Parents Council, though "invaluable", according the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) - the state agency responsible for school attendance.

Frank Smith, director of education services with the NEWB, points to numerous problems faced by the agency, including the fact that it has just 83 school attendance officers to cover the whole State.

"Three counties don't have any officer," he says. These are counties Roscommon, Leitrim and Monaghan.

Their job, he says, would be much easier if there were an adequate database of which children turn up at secondary school. The current practice of checking a list of primary school leavers against a list of secondary school newcomers in order to ascertain which students have "slipped out of the system" is cumbersome and does not get underway until February.

The National Parents Council will run workshops for parents next month to help them support their children moving to secondary school. For details, tel: 01-8874043