Note for readers This report uses the terms “transience” or “transient” to describe families and students who have changed schools frequently. Gilbert (2005) noted that the term transient is the most commonly used term in New Zealand, but there is no “official” nationally agreed definition of what this term means in educational contexts. She also noted that the term has negative connotations. In this report, we have used this term for ease of communication, but are aware that the continual use of the term may contribute to the exclusion of students through a process of negative labelling and categorisation. We ask the reader to be aware of this issue. 1. Background,