According to the ' Breaking Point ' report: Examining the disruption caused by pupil mobility (Association of London Government, 2005) high pupil turnover can cause enormous disruption to classroom dynamics because continual arrivals and departures cause instability. It creates a ‘chaos factor’ which permeates the learning environment. High mobility schools with greater intakes of refugee and asylum seeker children are significantly more likely to have a greater concentration of unmet need than other schools. Schools with high mobility and other disadvantaged pupils are also more likely to have a greater proportion of excluded and previously excluded children, many of whom have severe behavioural problems.

As a key factor linked to classroom instability and the pressures of high pupil mobility this report identifies the high teacher turnover. Primary schools in inner London experience the highest rate of teacher movement at the rate of 23.4 per cent annually.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• All government departments involved in education, health and housing policies need a co-ordinated strategy to address high pupil mobility.
• Tackling the implications of high pupil mobility should be a key funding priority for the Government. Temporary accommodation used by housing departments to house homeless families and shortage of affordable rented housing are the major causes of pupil mobility in London. It reduces the educational opportunities of the most deprived children and contributes to persistent underachievement and inter-generational poverty.
• Additional funding to schools with higher levels of mobility needs to be introduced. Schools which face multiple educational challenges often struggle to offer all children equality of educational opportunity.

Click here to download the full publication:
Breaking Point: Examining the disruption caused by pupil mobility (PDF Format)
Report by the Association of London Government, June 2005