What Makes Transitioning from Nurture Groups to Mainstream Education Successful or Unsuccessful? the Views of the Children, Parents and School Staff

There is currently very little research that focusses on the transition of children from Nurture Groups into mainstream education, with the focus of research on measures of effectiveness post intervention. There is also little guidance in relation to policy and procedures that aid this process. The systematic literature search identified a distinct lack of child and parental participation within the research, with a focus on teachers’’ experience. The aim of this research was to gain the views of those who directly experienced transition on the strategies used, the factors important to the children and the experiences of parents supporting their child during this transition.
A critical realism position was adopted and a qualitative design employed to explore the transition experience of Nurture Group children, parents and staff (both Nurture Group and mainstream) during the transition from nursery to reception year.
A child centred methodology using the technique of photo-elicitation was used to allow children to capture the important places, people and objects in their mainstream school. Semi-structured interviews were used to ask why they had taken those particular pictures. This provided insight into what was important to children to have in a mainstream classroom following transition from a Nurture Group. Eight children, aged 4-5 and from two different schools within the same Local Authority took part in the research.
Parents and teachers’’ of the eight children involved were surveyed and invited to attend a focus group to explore their experiences.
An inductive thematic analysis revealed six themes that confirmed previous research into the factors important in creating a safe base from which children can explore and learn. Results identified a gap in communication from the receiving school following transition. Overall, transition strategies took a whole school approach through specific school policy and procedures, such as differentiated playtimes for all children that need it, as opposed to being specifically for Nurture Group children.
Further research into the area of transition of Nurture Group children and their long-term life outcomes are indicated in the discussion.