Starting Secondary School During a Global Pandemic
My 5 Top Tips for Year 6!
The transition from Year 6 to Year 7 is always a challenge. Starting secondary school can be a scary and daunting prospect for pre-teens but throw a global pandemic into the mix and they are bound to be feeling all kinds of nervous!
There is no need to worry. Here are my top 5 tips on getting your Year 6 kid ready for Year 7.
1. Orientation and Organisation
It is likely that your son/daughter has not been able to have a tour of their new school. Naturally, this is going to make them worried about getting lost and being late for lessons-secondary schools seem HUGE to newbies! Your child’s school should have provided you with a map, and it is definitely worth checking to see if they have adopted a one way system so ask them to include that information. Take some time to familiarise your child with the different parts of the school. Why not turn it into a little game? Can they draw the quickest route from the English to the Science block?
Getting organised is also important. Make sure your child knows that they will be given a planner and a timetable, and possibly a homework timetable too. It is essential that they get used to packing their bag the night before so that they have everything they need. This includes things like ingredients for Food Tech-make sure they know that they can’t be giving you their shopping list at 7am on the day! Getting them ready for this level of organisation and responsibility can be challenging. What sort of responsibility can you give them at home over the summer holidays so that they can get used to this?
2. New Relationships
One of the big things your son or daughter may be worried about is all the new people they will have to meet and get to know. To start with, they will have at least 10 new teachers-one for each subject. It is helpful to frame this as an exciting prospect. They are going to be taught by experts, men and women who are passionate and care deeply about their subject. How amazing is that? Also, it won’t matter if there is one or two that aren’t as fun, because they will only have them for a couple of hours a week! To get off on the right foot, stress the importance of getting homework completed to a high standard, and handing it in on time. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; it is a teacher’s job to know when one of their students is not sure about the work. And most importantly of all, have FUN! Most teachers LOVE teaching year 7 because they are so keen to learn. Plus there is no pressure of public exams, so they are free to learn and be creative without big tests looming at the end of the year (although there will be some internal exams-but they are nothing to worry about and they will never have to put them on their CV)
Meeting new friends can also be a bit scary. It is unlikely that they will be in the same class as their best friend from primary school. Again, reframe this as a positive. This is an exciting opportunity to meet a whole new set of friends! They are going to meet people who share the same interests and have the same sense of humour. There will most likely be at least 200 other year 7s starting, all in the same boat, all feeling the same big feelings. They are not alone.
3. Growth Mindset
“The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things that you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others” Dr Carol S. Dweck
When your goal is to expand your knowledge then you are in a growth mindset. You get curious about the different ways to learn things, you ask questions and as a result, expand your way of thinking. You see yourself as a life-long learner. Grades do not define who you are. It is essential for your son or daughter to start nurturing a growth mindset when they start secondary school if they have not done so already. Being comfortable with failure and open to different ways of learning will ensure that they will thrive. You can read more about failing ‘well’ here.
4. Bullying
This is such a big one, and for a good reason. Your child may have had experience of being bullied already, perhaps you were bullied yourself at school-we all know how awful it is and we also know that the sad reality is that it will always be a part of school life. That does not mean that it is ever acceptable, and the good news is there are things your child can do to make sure that they don’t have to put up with someone else making their lives a misery. The most important thing is to tell someone. That can be you, their parent, or their form tutor or a teacher whom they trust. There are also many online services they can contact too. It can feel scary to tell someone, but it always helps, and schools are very experienced at dealing with bullies. If your child is worried about being bullied online have a read of this blog post about Cyber Bullying
5. Embrace yourself!
One of the most common wobbles year 6s have about starting secondary school is that people wont like them or will think they are ‘weird’. The first thing your child needs to remember is that everyone will be worried about this, no matter how confident they appear to be. Your child does not have to change a single thing about their personality, or interests-they are enough exactly as they are. Tell them this
It is exhausting trying to be someone else, and you will only attract people that will be connecting with this false self and not your truest self, so you could be missing out on making genuine friends who really get you. We do not have to be friends with everyone, we do not have to like everyone. Showing up as your true self will attract YOUR kind of people, and that is what we all want, right?
Ask your son or daughter to write a list of all the things that make them special and unique, and have them display it somewhere where they will see it often and be reminded. A daily gratitude practice is also a great way of noticing the positives in everyday life, and always gives a confidence boost.
If you would like to dive a bit deeper into getting your kid Secondary School ready then sign up here for my FREE webinar on Wednesday 15th July at 8pm BST. I would love to see you there!