Family–school connectivity during transition to primary school

Figures & data

Table 1. Themes relating to the first research question: mothers’ experiences of family–school connectivity.

Superordinate themes	Emerging themes	Supporting quotations
Policies about contacting the teacher	Communication and information sharing	I try not to interact with them because they’re just too busy, unless there’s a problem. But they have certainly been able to call me over … I know we’d be welcomed if there was a problem. (Gina)
	Frequency and opportunities to contact teacher and spend time in the classroom	Yes. She keeps saying if you have any trouble come to me before or after school … Or you know, book an appointment to see her. (Nia)
	School policies about teacher contacts and communication of these policies to parents	It kind of disappoints me that we don’t have another one at the end of the year, you get a school report … it’s good, it’s detailed but I suppose to sit down with the teacher again … would be beneficial … (Maura)
Experience of school ethos and pedagogy	Trust in the abilities of the teacher	She’s a very good teacher, I think she’s very diligent … (Maura)
	School leadership and impact on the school community	There’s a lovely attitude from the principal, which seems to filter down through the teachers … (Kathleen)
Power dynamics within mother–school relationships	Wants and needs as a parent from teacher and school during the transition period	I’m okay with it I suppose, it’s just when I’m being nosey, I’d like to know what they do. (Rachel)
	Empathising with teacher responsibilities and role	… you know it’s like 25 parents talking to a teacher and I can see how the teacher … could be bombarded with trivia as well so I can see why they’ve changed [the policy on contacting teachers]. (Maura)

Table 2. Themes relating to the second research question: how family–school connectivity influences mothers’ management of their experiences.

Superordinate themes	Emerging themes	Supporting quotations
Mothers and teachers as partners	Learning about the school curriculum	They kind of felt he was trying to figure out his level and maybe pushing back a little bit on discipline in the class, and they mentioned it to me and I just said you need to push back because really he just needs to know what the boundaries are and once he knows those, he’s fall in line with it. (Gina)
	Homework and home learning support	His teacher also helps me with that … She asked me to you know, look at the YouTube things, the resources, you know, where I can help [son] with his homework. (Nia)
	Partnering on child behaviour and academic needs	They kind of felt he was trying to figure out his level and maybe pushing back a little bit on discipline in the class, and they mentioned it to me and I just said you need to push back because really he just needs to know what the boundaries are and once he knows those, he’s fall in line with it. (Gina)
Supportive nature of transition activities	Informal and formal transition activities and becoming familiar with school	There was – they have a meeting in kind of May … it’s just an introduction of just very general things about the school and how they operate. (Maura)
	Managing emotions around transition and supporting parent conversations with child about starting school	I expected to feel kind of emotional on his first day of school. But I didn’t, he was ready, he was in a really nice, safe environment. (Kathleen)
	Learning about school routine and teacher expectations	About four weeks into school, the school got all the parents in just one afternoon, just to speak to us about the setup of the classroom, the general rules she had. (Kathleen)