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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 3 2017 139
children, matched by the skills of experienced teachers.
Parents spoke frequently of the importance of providing
their children with a strong foundation for starting school,
and doing so in a way that was age appropriate, but at the
same time accounting for their children’s learning needs.
To this end, they said they valued the proactive approach
in the PrEPIC program, whereby their children could begin
the transition to school early via the program, thus reducing
the likelihood of having to repeat either a year of preschool
or the prep year. In working with teachers, parents spoke
of the importance of open communication and how they
appreciated staff having a sense of humour when it came
to managing their children’s behaviours.
The second theme – Seems grown up – emerged
in response to the large number of parent comments
regarding the perceived impact of the program on their
children’s development. Ella summarised: “PrEPIC [has
been] brilliant so far. He absolutely loves it. He seems grown
up. He’s just, like, not a baby any more.” Parents observed
positive changes in their children’s social-communication
skills and behaviour. As illustrated in Table 2, some
parents spoke of improvements in expressive language,
with children learning to share information about their day
and becoming more skilled and interested in interacting
with the other children. Others focused on changes in
their children’s emotional regulation and behaviour, and
the positive impact of these new skills on their children’s
learning. Collectively, the parents expressed a strong
sentiment that the children were more mature, confident,
and prepared for their transition to school.
The final theme – Eased us and the kids into school –
accounted for the unanimous sentiment from parents that
the transition to school would be easier for both them,
and their children, following the program. The theme label
originated from Aisha’s comment that:
It’s kind of eased us, well, eased us and the kids into
primary school because it is doing PrEPIC but it is like
a primary school, so it’s a lot easier for the children
and also for the parents too.
Parents explained that their anxiety decreased while their
children were in the program, primarily due to changes in
their children’s skills and the support provided by teachers
and other parents. Several parents reported that the
positive changes in their children’s skills and behaviour
meant that they now had more schooling options to choose
from for the following year, with mainstream schooling
(as opposed to special education) seeming like a viable
option. Notably, parents also explained that changes in the
children’s skills and behaviour had led to positive changes
at home, further reducing pressure on families during
the transition. In spite of these reported benefits, several
parents still expressed trepidation regarding the transition
from PrEPIC to the first year of school, suggesting that
some anxiety is possibly unavoidable even when a range of
supports is put in place.
Discussion
Despite widespread acknowledgement in research and
clinical settings of the importance and challenges of
transition to school, few studies have examined community-
based attempts to support children and their parents during
this process. Accordingly, the results of this study provide
novel insights into the possible impacts that a
comprehensive program targeting transition may have on
children and their parents. Here, we consider the key
(including communication skills) were not available for
inclusion in the participant description. Pseudonyms have
been provided to all children and parents for privacy reasons.
Procedure
The focus group for parents whose children had completed
PrEPIC (Group 1) was held in the evening in a meeting
room at a university and lasted approximately 75 minutes.
For Group 2, focus groups were held on two different
occasions during the day in an empty classroom in the
school and lasted approximately 90 minutes and 30
minutes respectively. The first author facilitated the focus
groups using a semi-structured question guide (available on
request) that encouraged the parents to reflect on, and
share, their experiences of the program. Parents were
asked to reflect on their children’s skills, expectations for
the program, and perceived outcomes. The use of the
semi-structured question guide, along with the fact that the
participants were familiar with one another, created what
appeared to be a relaxed atmosphere, helping to ensure
that all contributed to the discussion. They frequently
acknowledged one another’s comments in a supportive
manner through body language and their own comments.
All focus groups were audio recorded to assist with
transcription and analysis.
Coding and analysis
The authors and research assistants first transcribed the
audio-recordings verbatim. The first and second author
then reviewed the transcripts while listening to the
recordings to check for transcription accuracy. The
transcripts formed the basis of a thematic analysis
completed according to the procedure described by Braun
and Clarke (2006). Specifically, the first author read each
transcript to ensure familiarity with the contents. Next, using
line-by-line analysis, preliminary codes were assigned to
identify discrete ideas, incidents, and events in the data.
Similar and related codes were subsequently grouped into
categories, from which abstract themes emerged. Each
theme was reviewed with reference to the original
transcriptions to determine the extent to which it accounted
for the participants’ views and experiences.
The second author reviewed all transcripts and the first
author’s analysis to identify any differences of interpretation
in the coding that were resolved through discussion and
consensus coding as necessary. Guidelines for ensuring
credibility developed by Chiviotti and Piran (2003) were
adhered to, including specifying the aims of the research,
the basis on which participants were selected, how the
literature relates to the themes identified, and, where
possible, using the participants’ own words when creating
themes and presenting the results.
Results
Three themes emerged to account for the parents’ views
and experiences of the PrEPIC program. Here, we provide
an overview of each theme, while Table 2 presents a
selection of participant quotes illustrating the constituent
categories for each theme.
The first theme to emerge – It’s the foundation – captured
the fact that the transition program was comprised of
multiple components that came together in a cohesive
manner to support the parents. As Ava explained, “It’s the
foundation, in one word, really. It’s the foundation to what’s
ahead.” As is evident in Table 2, the components included
parents having a strong commitment to education for their