Our study aims to design and validate the first scale to measure children’s emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions. This brief and accessible scale will be named the Primary-Secondary School Transitions Emotional Wellbeing Scale (P-S WELLS). P-S WELLS will be developed following a multi-informant, mixed-methods model of scale development, with six phases. At each phase we are working in close consultation with experts by experience (e.g. children, educational practitioners, policy makers) and experts by knowledge (e.g., researchers with empirical, theoretical, methodological and policy expertise), to design and validate our scale.

P-S WELLS will have significant empirical and practical utility, by enabling researchers and practitioners to identify:

a)    Which aspects of primary-secondary school transitions children are excited about, as well as concerned about

b)    Who might be particularly vulnerable during primary-secondary school transitions

c)    What universal and targeted support could be useful