Give your child a smooth start at newschool

Students head back to school this week, with many making the step up to intermediate or secondary school for the first time. Dr Jenny Poskitt, of Massey University’s College of Education, offers some tips to help parents make the transition easier for the

Children starting at intermediate or secondary school have three common worries: getting physically lost, making friends and coping with the learning requirements.

Getting lost can make students feel lonely, stupid or anxious. Try to visit the school with them before it starts.

Go with an older sibling, or known person who attends the school, to walk around the school, or ask if anyone is available to show your son or daughter around the school grounds and identify the main buildings.

Help them identify the assembly hall, toilets, school office, gates and classroom blocks. This tour will increase their confidence about the first day. Tell them it is common in the first week of school to get lost, and to ask for help if they need it.

Making friends is a common student concern when starting intermediate and secondary school.

Funnily enough, by the end of the first month of school, nearly all students report new friends as being the best part of school.

Encourage your son or daughter to arrange to go to school on the first day with a person they knew from their previous school.

Offer to give them both a ride to school or to walk with them, at least part of the way. It is much easier to walk through the gates with someone they know and they are more likely to recognise other familiar faces.

If your child knows no-one else starting at the school, give them some strategies for meeting new people. Tell them most people will be feeling nervous and lonely.

Encourage them to approach a student or pair of students within the first minute of entering the school gates. They should be prepared to approach two or three groups, in case they are unfortunate enough to be rebuked by the first group.

If all else fails, they could take a map of the school and pretend to study it while waiting for teachers to call students in.

Coping with learning is the third-highest concern of students, yet most students find learning easier than they anticipated. Schools forward on learning records, so it is likely your son or daughter has been placed in an appropriate class for their learning needs.

Most schools begin the year with material they know students will be able to manage. Some level of anxiety can be good to challenge students’ expectations of themselves.

However, if this anxiety continues, make an appointment with their teacher or dean to discuss strategies for learning and appropriate placement.

Listening to and giving your child strategies for dealing with common concerns about getting lost, making friends and coping with learning will help them successfully adapt to life at intermediate or secondary school.