This summer marks the end of primary school for 10-year-old Carl from Exeter.'I have been thinking about my new school a lot,' he says. 'I'm visiting soon and after that I'll know if I like it or not. I probably will. I know about the school already because my sister goes there. But she gets a lot of homework to do. I know they've got lots of computers and sports equipment and I'll like that but I'm a bit worried about getting lost.'
Carl seems fairly confident at the moment about his transition to secondary school. His sense of excitement, mixed with a little trepidation, is what seasoned school liaison officers (appointed at both primary and secondary schools to co-ordinate the transition process) would expect from the majority of children. Jonathan Galling is the liaison officer for Willowbank Primary School in Cullompton, Devon. He identifies the key concerns for children moving to high school as homework, finding their way around, and the fear of being bullied. John Winter, liaison officer for Tiverton High School, also in Devon, agrees. Both talked to me about how they prepare pupils for the move.
Hopes and fears
'The children visit our local community college three times during the summer term, to look around and for a talk,' says Jonathan Galling. 'Prior to this we talk to the Year 7 teachers about the children. We will have completed 'Hopes and Fears Books' with the pupils, which are good indicators of how they are feeling about the transition. There may be some issues that tutors will pick up on and discuss within the group to put pupils' minds at rest.'
John Winter follows a similar programme of induction with the children who will be attending his secondary school. He stresses how important social groupings are (on the first day of term in September, just Year 7 pupils attend), and how tutor groups are organised to ensure that children have a friend with them. Like many schools, he takes groups out on trips incorporating 'team-building activities that encourage children to gel and to get to know their tutor, who will be their main supporter.'
One pupil's tale
High school pupil Raisa is now in Year 9. Despite having settled into secondary school quite quickly, she recalls feeling apprehensive during her last year at primary. 'I had somehow got the idea that if my SATS results were bad, they wouldn't want me at my new school. So while I was waiting for them, I got really nervous about going. I was worried that the work would be too hard for me, because I was already finding English difficult at primary school.'
Raisa was not attending her nearest secondary school, and so she would also have a new bus journey to make each day. She says that support from adults was really important to her at this time, 'I only knew three other children who were going and I was worried about making friends. When I went for a visit my mum walked me and my friend to the bus stop. My mum came on the bus with us - she stayed at the bottom and we sat on the top. It really helped to know she was there if we needed her.' Raisa had a good first day, but she did recall a hiccup. 'Children visiting from closer primaries had their former teachers there to help them. They had school dinners and were taken into the dining hall at lunchtime. But we had packed lunches and because we saw some people outside with sandwiches, we thought that was where we had to go. It rained, and we sat there, getting wet and eating our lunch. We didn't know we were allowed in the dining hall too!'
Raisa felt that most of her worries were unfounded. 'I think my mum and me were both worried that I might get bullied by older kids because I was tall for my age. But one day I forgot my money for the bus and I was panicking at the bus stop. This boy in Year 11 gave me the money. I never expected something like that to happen. I shouldn't have been bothered about older kids at all, or English. My advice to Year 6 children would be not to worry so much, and to join the school clubs to make friends.'
Jonathan Galling comments, 'Embracing change is a life skill that children will use time and time again, if they go away to university, when they start a job...my hope is that children will welcome the new opportunities in the next phase of their education.'
HOW OUT-OF-SCHOOL CLUBS CAN HELP CHILDREN MOVING TO HIGH SCHOOL
Playworkers often find that children will chat about what is on their minds in an open, unguarded way as they are playing, and towards the end of the summer term, it's likely that conversation with 11-year-olds will turn to secondary school. Both liaison officers agree that playworkers are well placed to provide children with a 'listening ear' in an informal setting.
There may be little time for one-to-one chats within the school day, but plenty of time within a club environment. John Winter advises playworkers to respond enthusiastically when children seem excited about aspects of high school and to answer any questions they have as fully as possible. He says, 'It's important not to dismiss any concerns children voice as "silly". Instead, explain to them that it's natural to feel a bit anxious about change, and while you can't make their nerves disappear, you can help them overcome them.'
It can be helpful for children to plan strategies for dealing with worries.
For instance, what would they do if they did get lost? What if they did find the work too difficult to understand? Who should they tell? Playworkers could organise a game of 'moral dilemmas', including such questions.
If children are also leaving your out-of-school-club, consider ways to celebrate their passage and mark the occasion. Ask the children what they would prefer. Jonathan Galling says, 'Clubs could hold a party or disco - these are generally popular within the school. So are group photographs for the children to keep. Photos may seem like a small token to children at the time, but are valuable in later life to look back on.'
Invitation to come back
You could also give children the opportunity to leave their mark on a leavers' wall-hanging or scrapbook, where names and messages are left year after year, building into a reminder of all the children who have passed through the club. Raisa thinks it useful to have ex-club members visiting once they are at the end of Year 7, to answer questions for the new wave of leavers and to provide friendly faces for the children to look out for in September. An invitation to come back next summer as a visitor would provide a good note for children and playworkers to part on.
Jonathan Winter says, 'Some subjects that children are unfamiliar with, such as languages, seem to lead to a combination of excitement and fear. If children have been regularly introduced to new experiences in their clubs, they will hopefully be better prepared for such things.' He adds, 'At secondary school we depend on children's ability to organise themselves, which comes easier to some children than to others. Clubs could encourage independence, perhaps by making children responsible for their own belongings on trips. Anything that increases the children's social skills and confidence is good, like team games, and working on projects together.'
Raisa also has some advice for playworkers. 'It would be good if children could try some of the exciting activities that they'll get to do at their new school at clubs, like science experiments, so that they know they'll have some fun in class.'
She also adds, 'I know I had a short fuse sometimes at the end of Year 6.
Someone knocked my pencil on the floor and I just exploded because the worry had built up. When that happens, children need a nice talk, instead of a telling off.'
