Rural primary student transition to secondary boarding school

The transition from primary school to high school is a particularly challenging for rural students who leave home in order to enter a boarding school environment. This presentation reports on the lived experiences, concerns and coping strategies of rural year seven students undertaking this transition. 89 students including both boarding and day students located at four boarding schools situated in provincial, rural cities participated. The aim of this study was to identify the main issues surrounding the transition of rural students to boarding school. Quantitative research methods were applied to questionnaire data that used the Dundee Relocation Inventory (Fisher, 1989) and the Self Concept Scale from the Self-Description Questionnaire-II (Marsh, 1990). A content analysis of students' responses identified homesickness as one of the main concerns for students entering boarding school and also discovered a relationship between this issue and the self-concept of students. Additionally, two other transition issues: Feelings of Apprehension and Communal Living were identified by the content analysis.