I
t seems like only yesterday you
were waving off your precious
little bundle for his long-
anticipated first day at primary
school. While you proudly snapped
away, documenting the smart, new,
too-old-looking uniform for the family
album, you secretly worried about
whether he would be happy, settle in,
make friends, keep up with the class,
eat his lunch and remember to use
the toilet and wash his hands. So how
can it be, in just a short blur of school
assemblies, plays, concerts, parents’
evenings and camps, your child is
nearly old enough to start secondary
school? The same list of worries (plus
or minus a few items) is now looming
large again.
But this time around, when you
proudly snap away at the smart, new,
too-old-looking secondary uniform,
it won’t just be you feeling a mix of
excitement and apprehension. This
time, your precious bigger bundle is
old enough to be much more aware
of the changes that lie ahead, and
will probably have a few niggling
concerns of his own – whether he
chooses to admit them or not. So is
there anything we can do to ease our
children’s worries and help prepare
them for their secondary school years?
What’s new?
Going from a relatively cosy primary
December 2014
39
