Topic: Early Years; Inclusion; parents; transition
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"I didn't expect that I would get tons of friends … More each day":
children's experiences of friendship during the transition to school
Peters, S. University of Waikato, New Zealand
Early Years, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2003, pp.45-53
Introduction:
Do children need established friendships when they first start school?
Children's experiences during their transition from pre-school to school are likely to affect
their progress. This study looks at the benefits to children of having established friendships
when they start school and suggests ways in which schools can support such friendships.
The study reports on the transfer of 23 five-year-old children from kindergarten to three
classes in one primary school. The children were observed at kindergarten and school, and
their teachers and families were interviewed. Three years later, seven of the children were
interviewed about their experiences when starting school.
The author suggests that established friendships between children are important in transfer
from kindergarten to new entry classes. For the children involved in her study, friendships
were motivating, helped their social development and provided a supportive social context for
their learning. The study draws attention to different ways that schools can support children
in making friendships and some school practices that are unhelpful.
Keywords
New Zealand; Early years; Reception; Primary schools; Pupils; Motivation; Self esteem;
Parents; Inclusion; Transition
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Why is having friends important?
Page 3
How can schools help children make friends?
Page 4
What conclusions does the research draw?
Page 5
Which school practices are unhelpful for promoting children's friendships? Page 6
How was the information gathered and presented?
Page 7
What are the implications of the study?
Page 8
Where can I find out more?
Page 9
Page 3
Why is having friends important?
The author cites evidence from her study which suggests that friendships (or the lack of
them) affect children in a number of ways, including:



motivation;
development of social skills; and
supporting learning.
Motivation
Having friends can be an important motivation for going to school - "that's why he goes to
school really". For three of the children in the study, the opportunity to play with friends
made lunchtime one of the best parts of the day.
Having 'no one to play with' at lunchtime causes some children to feel lonely and distressed "I sat under a tree and cried where no one could see me". Some children are bored at
lunchtime - "You have got no idea what to do".
Social skills
Being sociable at school was viewed as advantageous by some parents - "I didn't have any
concerns because he gets on well with other children".
Being reserved was viewed as disadvantageous by some parents - "She hated it [school].
She cried all the time. She is a very shy person".
Support for learning
The author describes how a girl - Heather - particularly benefited from support in class
activities from Jenny, a friend she had made prior to starting school. Jenny, who had started
school a few months earlier, helped Heather by modelling ways of working and locating
resources. Heather quickly became established as a successful member of the class
because she seemed to know the school routine. This made her a popular girl to have as a
friend. She was surprised by the number of friends she made: "I didn't expect to get tons of
friends … more each day".
Another child - Anna - who received little peer support, was described by her teacher as
'having problems'. She often floundered during class activities, made few friends and "hated"
school. Anna, although she had been acquainted with children through attending the same
kindergarten, had not got to know them sufficiently to have established friendships before
starting school. She complained that she "didn't know anybody".
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How can schools help children make friends?
The author highlights some strategies, identified by the participants, which seemed to have
helped children make friends, including:

providing information to parents about which pre-school children are likely to be attending
the same primary school, so that parents can encourage the development of friendships
before their child starts school;

allowing mixed-age friendship groups at lunchtimes because older children can provide
younger children with role models and a degree of protection;

pairing older children to sit with new entrant children as they eat their lunch because they
can help new entrant children find someone to play with afterwards;

holding discussion scenarios to help children think through the strategies that could be
helpful in particular situations, such as having no one to play with at lunchtime; and

providing resources to play with at school to support children's social interactions through
shared activities, such as playing with dolls or games painted onto the playground
surface. This can be particularly beneficial for children who do not share the dominant
language of the school setting.
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What conclusions does the researcher draw from this study?
The author makes the following suggestions:

simply being acquainted with other children at kindergarten did not automatically lead to
friendship at school - as was the case for Anna (see page 3);

the development of friendship should not be left to chance. Everyone responsible for
children in pre-school and new entrant classes (parents, pre-school leaders, teachers,
classroom assistants, lunchtime supervisors etc.) needs to consider taking on a proactive
role in providing opportunities for children to make friends during their transition to school
(see page 4); and

school practices could be adapted to make the consequences of not having a friend less
devastating (see page 6).
Page 6
Which school practices were unhelpful for promoting children's
friendships?
The study offers insights into some school practices that made it harder for some children to
establish friendships. These include:

asking children to 'line up in pairs' can highlight some children's isolation whilst
confirming the popularity of others;

pairing a new entrant child with a classmate of the same age to play with during
lunchtime can be unsuccessful as the classmate, unless already a friend, may 'run off' in
the playground, deserting the new child;

leaving children to 'wander around by themselves' during lunchtime can cause distress.
Eight of the 23 parents commented that their child 'really hated lunchtime' because they
did not have a friend to play with and that this caused otherwise 'happy children to not
want to go to school'; and

having large, crowded playgrounds can make it impossible for new children to find
classmates they know.
Page 7
How was the information gathered and presented?
The study involved 23 children of mainly European background, making their transition from
kindergarten to new entrant classrooms in one, large (500+ pupils) New Zealand primary
school. The children were observed for 76 hours and 44 interviews were conducted with the
children's families and teachers. The parents were interviewed once or twice during the
child's transition to school and the new entrant and kindergarten teachers were interviewed
once.
Seven of the children were studied in more detail. They were observed for a further 21 hours
at their kindergartens and their parents were interviewed three times: before the children
started school, when the children had been at school for 2 months and after 18 months of
school. These children were also interviewed three years later, when they were eight years
old, to obtain their reflections on the transition process.
The author supplies brief descriptions of significant events and quotations from parents,
teachers and children.
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What are the implications of the study?
In completing this digest, the authors began to ask the following questions about implications
for practitioners:

the study suggests that discussing playtime scenarios, such as having no one to play
with at lunchtime, can help children to find strategies for finding and making friends.
Does this fit with your own experience? What strategies have colleagues found
helpful to promote children’s friendships, especially amongst new entrants?

what are the current arrangements in your school for helping staff to identify children
at risk or experiencing social isolation during transition?

how do reception class teachers and other colleagues become aware of which
children are having difficulties making friends? Could lunchtime supervisors help to
monitor this issue? What opportunities exist for lunchtime staff and other supervisors
to pass on information about friendships to class teachers?
In completing this digest, the authors began to ask the following questions about implications
for school leaders:

the study suggests that special seating areas and games painted on the playground
can help children find friends and ways to play together. Might discussion with your
pupils, perhaps via a school council, raise ideas and suggestions that could form the
basis of improvements to current facilities?

the study indicates that some very common school practices, such as lining up in
pairs, can cause distress for some pupils. Could the issue of playtime friendships be
a useful focus for school INSET for teachers, teaching assistants, midday supervisors
and others as appropriate?

the study highlighted the benefits of supporting school entrants to make new friends
before joining the school. What strategies has the school found helpful to support
this? Can your links with local pre school organisations be developed further? If you
hold introductory meetings for parents of new pupils during the term prior to entry,
could these be used to develop arrangements between them for supporting their
children’s friendships?
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Where can I find out more?
Early Years
There are a number of TRIPS digests on the theme of early years which can be found at:
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/early_years/
A detailed summary of research with practitioner case studies, ‘What makes a difference in
the early years of a child’s schooling’, can be found on the GTC Research of the Month
website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/romtopics/rom_curriculum/childrens_schooling/
There are a number of useful articles on the Early Years Are Learning Years web site:
http://www.naeyc.org/ece/eyly/ including ‘Helping young children start school’, as well as
general information for teachers and families.
Other useful websites offering advice on starting school include:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/your_kids/primary_starting.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/schoolgate/aboutschool/content/startingschool.shtml
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk/jsp/resources/details.jsp?id=1769
Transition
Galton, M., Gray, J. & Rudduck, J. (2003) Transfer and transitions in the middle years of
schooling (7-14): continuities and discontinuities in learning: Nottingham: Department for
Education and Skills
This report can be downloaded from
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RB443.pdf A detailed summary of
research with practitioner case studies, ‘Transfer from the primary classroom’, can be found
on the GTC Research of the Month website at:
http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/romtopics/rom_managementoflearning/transfer1/