Transient Children

This is an excerpt from a paper written by Anna Lee. Some schools-based suggestions to support transient children made by previous studies included:

1. The implementation of social processes in the playground to facilitate inclusion of transient children.
2. Welcoming systems.
3. The establishment of a "buddy system" to assist the child to establish friendships easily and to dissipate bullying.
4. The implementation of 'Equal Opportunities' to ensure that transient children received the same educational opportunities as all other children.
5. The development of school policies and recommended strategies that are implemented at a school level to cater for transient children. 6. The development of an inclusive and supportive school culture for children, their families and staff.
7. Strategies to provide appropriate placement to support the transient child's academic needs.
8. The provision of professional development for all staff.
9. The inclusion of encouragement and empathy to support the emotional needs of teachers.
10. Adjusting class design and schedules.
11. Multi-age classrooms that can provide remedial instruction.
12. Consideration of the effects of reconfiguring classes to adjust class sizes.
13. Discussion of assessment and reporting processes for transient children.
14. The effective use of important information provided in transfer files.
15. Improved communication of student records between schools.
16. Putting student records "on line".
17. Flexible attendance and transport policies. 18. Providing transport.
19. The investigation of methods, in addition to print, to communicate with parents.
20. The development of improved opportunities for parents and students to be involved in decisions.
21. Specific staff to promptly and carefully forward the school records and the Record of Schools Attended.
22. The checking of student record folders leaving and arriving in the school to be made by non-office staff.

This is an excerpt from an occasional paper published by NZEI. The entire article can be viewed at the NZEI website.