P‑S WELLS is shifting how we understand and support children’s emotional wellbeing during the context of primary-secondary school transitions, providing a first step in minimising educational disadvantage and social inequality in children’s developmental pathways.

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Throughout the project, they have worked in partnership with non-academic stakeholders, and all work has been guided by two advisory groups: one panel of young people (aged 9-13 years) and a second panel of educational and clinical practitioners, NGOs and policymakers.

3. To develop a P-S WELLS manual for use in schools, including CPD opportunities to administer, score and interpret the measurement. This will give teachers real‑time insight into their class’s emotional wellbeing on a universal and targeted basis.

2. To pilot and conduct longitudinal psychometric assessment and longitudinal validation on two discrete samples, across two primary-secondary school transitions periods: doi.org/10.1177/1073...

1. To develop a clear theoretical and conceptual definition of emotional in the context of primary-secondary school transitions: doi.org/10.1007/s106...

The project’s key aims to develop the first robust, sensitive, and standardised accessible measure, to longitudinally assess children’s emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions, through the following objectives:

So, what will P‑S WELLS do differently? It is novel in its approach (asking children about their feelings towards the changes they are negotiating in context), and in its design and operationalisation (through careful phrasing of items and longitudinal psychometric assessment and validation)

👉Have inconsistent reliability and validity
👉Use inaccessible formats, that lack child voice
👉Key constructs (primary-secondary school transitions and emotional wellbeing) are not conceptualised and/or theoretically defined

They often:
👉Ignore the dynamic, longitudinal nature of primary-secondary school transitions in the design and operationalisation of scales
👉Follow a negative discourse using unbalanced items and negative wording

These changes can be exciting and worrying. They’re dynamic, ongoing, and multi‑layered.

But current tools for measuring emotional well-being during this transition fall short.

Why? Because primary-secondary school transitions are emotionally demanding, critical periods for 2/3 of children. Children experience academic, social, psychological, environmental, and personal changes, simultaneously.

This #childrensmentalhealthweek @smqpsych.bsky.social has co-written an article for Countryside Jobs Service on the importance of noticing nature and how families, educators and policy makers can encourage play and exploration in natural spaces

📖 www.countryside-jobs.com/article/noti...

And that's a wrap! After a Q&A full of questions from science communications to 'greenwashing', Fiona Divine (Vice Dean for Humanities @manchester.ac.uk) closes the event, emphasising the importance of the humanities in navigating these challenges in everyday life 📚

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