Students move: supporting students who change schools

Students Move, a joint project of DEST and the Department of Defence, was established to help schools, school systems and parents minimise the negative impacts that can be associated with students frequently changing schools. The project aimed to provide information and guidance to help address difficulties that may be faced by mobile students, their families and the schools that they attend. The key objectives of the project are: to identify and document best practice approaches to support and facilitate the adjustment of mobile students; to develop a strategy for the efficient and effective dissemination of best practice approaches; and to produce a guide for schools and systems.

The report is presented in five sections, which incorporate the outcomes of the project:

• Students Move 1: Summary.  An extended executive summary of the project, its methodology and recommendations, with details of resources produced as outcomes of the project (these constitute Students Move parts 2 – 5).
• Students Move 2: Best Practice Approaches and Case Studies from Australian Schools.  This document reports the results of interviews with school communities, and identifies key factors to help students settle into new schools quickly and effectively.
• Students Move 3: A Guide to Schools to Support Students Who Change Schools.  This resource clearly sets out the aims of the Students Move initiative, and provides practical resource material for adoption by schools.
• Students Move 4: Appendices.  The authors stress that the appendices are an important component of the Resource package, since they provide full details on the project methodology and the school interviews undertaken.
• Student Move 5: The Dissemination Strategy for Australian School Systems and Jurisdictions.  The Strategy provides guidanace about the ways in which the key elements described in the other areas of the Resource can be introduced into a school’s operations.

Full report: download PDF    (1.2 MB)

Summary: download PDF  (103.1 KB) ;  download RTF    (841.9 KB)

Best Practice Approaches and Case Studies: download PDF    (255.5 KB) ; download RTF    (654.9 KB)

Guide for Schools: download PDF    (300.3 KB) ; download RTF    (1.2 MB)

Appendices: download PDF    (442.2 KB) ; download RTF    (4.9 MB)

Dissemination strategy: download PDF    (98.0 KB) ; download RTF    (799.5 KB)