The first year pupils of St.Aidan’s High school have arrived after the National lockdown and have been settling in. Due to the pandemic the transition has been a slightly different transition for S1 with small but many differences. A first-year group has been interviewed by sixth year students, the group that was interviewed were Andrew Irving, Olivia Kelly, Caoimhe McCann, Ellie Smith and Anthony Lamarra.
We questioned our S1 group what their opinions were about their teachers, Ellie Smith shared her opinion on her teachers and classes. “They’re really nice and all the stuff we’re doing is really fun!” The group has very positive opinions on the teachers. On the topic of their teachers we were curious what subjects they have enjoyed the most, Ellie told us she really enjoys Drama, Music and Art and Design the most. “I like Drama because we get to do a lot of things and the teacher I have is really funny and nice.” All pupils we interviewed stated they really enjoyed certain subjects as they’re doing fun activities and that the teachers are friendly and open to help if anyone needs help in the class!
As only a small group of S1 was interviewed due to Covid-19 safety guidelines We asked Ellie and Olivia what their opinion is of the other S1 pupils of the school and if they met any new people, Ellie Smith explained she met many new people through her friends she already knew. “They had friends that they introduced to me, then there’s people you’ve heard about from your friends and that’s just you getting to meet them.” Olivia Kelly had a similar experience meeting new people by being introduced to others by her friends, but she also met people through school activities such as Kilbowie. “I’ve actually met a whole group of people, I kind of met a bunch of them in Kilbowie.” Majority of the group has met many new people which is a great memory of their experience of their transition from Primary to Secondary school.
However there are also difficulties when moving into new surroundings, Caoimhe McCann shared her feelings on her difficulties when she first arrived to St.Aidan’s High School. “I was just nervous in general about everything because I never went on a tour around here or anything.” Throughout our interviews majority of 1st year pupils stated that they were nervous when it came to the transition of Primary to Secondary.
Olivia Kelly also commented on her difficulties with navigating around the school. “I was scared to ask people where to go around the school.” Some advice from a 6th year myself, please don’t be scared to ask for directions! Most of us will give you the right directions, most. If you’re still unsure where to go ask a teacher! If it comes to the worst go into a class and ask a teacher for directions there, as awkward as it may be, it will certainly get you to your class! Caoimhe commented as well that the older years were friendly and helped her with navigating around the school “I’m surprised how nice a lot of the people are” Ellie was worried that due to them being new to the school people might not like them as much however it was the opposite, “A lot of the older years are actually really nice and help you find your way around the school.”
Due to the pandemic, school timetables had to be altered to follow the guidelines that were set to prevent a rise in infections, S1 now has double periods while last year only years from S5-6 had double periods Andrew Irving commented on this change “It’s good for classes like art”. Our group had positive comments on the change as it allowed them to focus more on classes that perhaps need more time to work on different things that may take a very long time to do.
The group has really enjoyed their experience in St.Aidan’s High School so far and are enthusiastic about their classes and they’re looking forward to what they will do in their classes in the future!
