ABSTRACT
The basic responsibility to maintain continuity across breaks in schooling, postulated by the central authority, has been accepted by many leading LEA administrators. Some local authorities have been very effective in developing continuity strategies and supporting school initiatives but, considered nationally, the picture is very uneven. Circular 14/77 can be seen not merely as a fact-gathering instrument but as a means of prompting local authorities to take more initiative in curricular matters. There is general agreement that transfer documentation is an essential feature of changing schools but the ideal approach to record keeping is elusive. The SCEA procedure also highlights the need for different information to be available to several recipients: general information may be filed in the school office; medical details are required by the school nurse; pastoral tutors and subject teachers seek different kinds of information from transfer documents.
