Professor Ted Wragg investigates the latest hot, and often surprising, research into educational matters.
"Making the move from play-centred foundation years to a more structured Year One is a worrying experience for many children", says a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research. Caroline Sharp, who co-authored the report, recommends that transition is best viewed "as a process and not as an event."
Jessica, a Year One pupil in Worthing, articulated the difference: "In Reception we got to play, and in Year One we have to work a lot." NfER colleague Kate Ridley, also produced some recent Hot Research on the transition from primary to secondary school. She finds that "a greater level of cross phase communication between primary and secondary school is helpful to ease transition."
Presenter Professor Ted Wragg is delighted that both reports reflect that "increasingly the voice of the child" is being heard in such research.
