Our wonderful primary 7’s of Whitehirst Park Primary!

What a surprising transition time this has set out to be for you all.

Moving on from your primary school to a new one can be a tricky time. It may feel like everything is changing all at the same time. Teachers, friends and family will all guide you through everything you need to know to make moving on to secondary school easier.

I am here and will be throughout your journey to secondary, I have sent you all an E-mail to ensure you have my details. You can contact me with any questions, concerns or just general chat, whatever you need. I will add activities, tips, advice and links to this page regularly.

Try some of them and keep in touch! I want to know what you are all up to. Thinking of you all, whatever the result of this current situation is we will do it together.

Your very proud Family Learning Worker Hollie.

01/06/2020: June has arrived boys and girls!

Here is the link to Kilwinning Academy’s special P7 information page just for you guys! It’s full of information, friendly faces, timetables, activities and quizzes. A person favourite of mine is the Questions, worries and wishes section, have a look and have fun. What an exciting time for you all. There is also a form to allow you to contact Kilwinning Academy if you have any questions of your own you would like answered. Enjoy: https://sites.google.com/na.glow.scot/p7specialinfo/home?fbclid=IwAR3_6TVatO3SSdfbwISHTO0nVZMZM2Bt6s3jIMFq6JWNesPm1RwbaD9nGvc

Whitehirst Park Primary School Primary 7’s 2020 Leavers Blog: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/na/primary72020leavers/

Getting to know the school and staff: It will take time to get to know where all the rooms and buildings are.

It will help if you:

• Know what to ask for help … teacher, teaching assistants or other students (you may get a buddy from an older year group … someone who will help to show you around and tell you more about what to do).
• You know how to ask for help.

You may also get:

Your timetable … keep a copy with you, it will show different lessons you will have ach day, who the teacher will be, and probably the room for each lesson.

A plan of the school, showing you where the rooms and other places in the school, showing where the rooms and other places in the school are (e.g dinner hall).

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember to:

• Ask politely
• Put up your hand (in class)
• Speak up (Clearly and loud).

Top tips…

The school website may have names/photos of the teachers. Look at this to remind you.

Don’t ever be afraid to ask … you wont be the only one.

Timetable and organisation:

Important times: At secondary school some of the times you will need to remember, like tsrating and finishing and break times, may be different to what you are use to just now. You will however, still have a morning break as well as a lunch break. These times are for you to have something to eat, drink and socialise with friends.

Activity:

Look on your new school website and fill in these to allow you to get organised and remember:

Kilwinning Academy – www.kilwinningacademy.com

St Matthews – https://saintmatthewsacademy.com

Expected arrival time:

Start time:

Length of sessions:

Morning break: starts:                    finishes:

Lunch break: starts:                         finishes:

School finishes:

Is it the same time every day ?

Are there any after school clubs ?

If so what ones do you think you will attend ?

What days and times are these on ?

Getting to and from school: 

For alot of students, their secondary school is further from home than their primary school. This may mean going by bike, bus or car as supposed to being able to walk the distance. Also, as you get older you may wish to be more independent. A little preparation will help you do this.

Try …

Making yourself a travel plan.

Get bus/train times from the internet or try your local bus or train station for timetables. Learn how travel time tables work.

Find out if any of your peers who live near by will be travelling to school the same way.

If you are walking or cycling then take the time to plan the safest route and how long it will take you.

In a car, plan ahead who will drive you to school, what time do they leave ? How long will it take to get there ?

Top Tips

Plan ahead, allow time for breakfast, use an alarm clock so you aren’t relying on your parent or carer to wake you, have a practice at getting to school from your own house prior to starting. Stay safe.

Friendships: Sometimes it is hard to get to know other children at a new school, especially when there are so many and lots of them already seem to know each other. You can start making friends by talking to other children, finding out their names, what they like to do, introducing yourself and telling them what you enjoy doing. You can even practise how to do this if you are feeling a little bit nervous. It will also help you to make friends if you:

• Smile at people and say hello
• Try to remember to use people’s names
• Say something nice and honest about them – look for the positive in people and you will find it !
• Think of some things you could talk about
• Listen properly when people are speaking to you and act interested

Activity: Think of four questions you could ask a new friend to find out more about them, ie:

1. Hi I’m …….. What’s your name ?

2. What is your next subject ? Do you want to walk together ?

3. Have you joined any after school clubs yet ?

4. Where are you going for lunch ? Do you want to go together ?

Share your own answers and ideas with me or your classmates/peers. I would love to hear them.

Top tip: Remember that to have good friends, first of all you must be a good friend.

Not everyone finds making friends easy, you mistake their shyness for being rude. The more you try and give it a go, the easier it gets.

There are many different factors that can go wrong in friendships, sometimes people move on and older friendships fade. This is all completely normal and not a reflection on you, you will also make new friendships as you grow and change. Friendship changes bring on different emotions such as rejection, jealousy, let down and lonely, these are completely normal and something that we all experience.

Talk to your adult, teacher and friends about how you are feeling.

I am unique: When school starts back and you begin your journey at the Academy you will meet lots of new young people and staff. It’s the same for the staff! They have to remember all names and get to know each young person and new staff member.

Its really interesting to find out what everyone likes and dislikes. Write a profile on what you like, dislike, things you are really good at and things you need to work on. This will help you prepare for ice breakers and conversations when meeting new people.

Activity: My profile

The Primary School I came from is …

My favourite TV programme is …

My favourite sport is …

Mt favourite food is …

My favourite time of year is …

I am good at …

I need to work on …

Be brave, ask others questions about themselves

Pay attention and show you interested when people are talking

Hopes and worries:

Three things you are most looking forward to 1,2,3 …

Three things which you are a little worried about 1,2,3 …

Common worries and things to ask about so you don’t build up anxiety over the unknown answers or consequences: *Getting lost *Not knowing anyone * Being bullied * Forgetting homework * Being late *Too much homework to do *Forgetting the right equipment

Can myself, Mrs Roberston, Miss Johnstone, Your own teacher, a parent, friend help with this worry ? Ask us! We are here to help and support you.

When you start a new school you will most likely beel lots of different emotions. This is quite common. Think about how you may be feeling, think about why. “When I start secondary school I may feel … ” *Happy   *Shy    *Angry   *Nervous   *Sick   *Excited   *Sad   *Proud   *Worried

What are you most looking forward to ? What do you think will make you feel excited ? Focus on these.

Make sure no matter what you are feeling always

• Ask for help
• Talk to friends and other students
• Be brave and give new things a go
• Learn from mistakes, it is OK to make them

Rumours … this is often the route of a large proportion of worries.  Which ‘often’ turn out to be untrue.

It is important to remember not to believe everything you hear! Sometimes we hear rumours which are things people say that may have an element of truth, but often a lot of it is made up. Rumours can be quite scary and cause you to feel worried because you don’t yet know how much is true. Once you are at your school, you will learn a lot more facts, what is true and what isn’t. If there are any in particular you are concerned about it is best to have them written down somewhere to ask a member of staff on your first day or you can contact a member of staff on-line.

Other useful stuff:

Parents and carers:

How can I help?

To help your child settle in at school, you can:

• Talk to your child about the changes they are facing and if there is anything they are unsure or worried about.
• Do a trial run of the journey to school if it is different from (or farther than) before.
• Help your child prepare by getting everything ready the night before, for example uniform, school bag, money etc.
• Encourage your child to take responsibility and organise themselves.
• Keep a copy of the timetable where it can be easily seen. This will remind your child about days when certain books, or PE kit are needed.
• Take an interest in what your child is learning and help them. If the school uses a home-school diary or homework diary, make a point of looking at it to see what they are, or should be, doing.
• Take an interest in new friends they are making.
• Encourage them to take part in after-school clubs and activities. These can help your child learn new things in a fun way and increase motivation to learn.
• Make a note of key school events, for example parents’ evenings or afternoons, open days, school sport days.
• Contact the school immediately if you have concerns or questions.

(Parentzone Scotland, 2020)