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Peer connectedness during the transition to secondary school: a collaborative opportunity for education and social work

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Abstract

The Creating Meaningful Connections project is a longitudinal study that resulted from a partnership between social work academics at the University of Newcastle and educators at a regional secondary school in NSW, Australia. It seeks to better understand the relationship between school connectedness and youth mental health. In stage 1, focus groups were conducted with 99 students 9 months after their transition to secondary school. The shift to secondary school created a range of social and academic challenges for young people. It often resulted in limited—or no—contact with friends from primary school, requiring the negotiation of new friendships. While this process was relatively trouble-free for many students, others described it as risky and challenging. Positive peer relationships appeared to increase happiness, feelings of safety, offer support during difficult periods and facilitate secondary school adjustment. This paper offers a unique perspective by capturing student voice and commentary about the nature and importance of peer relationships during transition. It also highlights the potential for social work and education to work collaboratively to enhance peer relationships, mental health and school connectedness during transition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the 3rd-year social work students who co-facilitated the focus groups. They acknowledge the efforts of staff at the school, in particular Tanya and Cherie, for their support of the research activities. They extend their thanks to the Year 7 students who so generously offered their insights and reflections for analysis.

Funding

The first stage of this research project was funded, in part, by the UON Faculty of Education and Arts Research Program, and by a UON New Staff Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, Milena, 2308, Australia

    Milena Heinsch, Kylie Agllias, Dara Sampson, Tamara Blakemore & Hannah Cootes

  2. School of Education and Social Work, Education Building, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    Amanda Howard

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  1. Milena Heinsch
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  2. Kylie Agllias
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Correspondence to Milena Heinsch.

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Heinsch, M., Agllias, K., Sampson, D. et al. Peer connectedness during the transition to secondary school: a collaborative opportunity for education and social work. Aust. Educ. Res. 47, 339–356 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00335-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00335-1

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