Around the Classrooms

Student Wellbeing

Going to secondary school: what to expect

We understand that moving from primary to secondary school is a big change. It can be exciting, but can also be challenging or worrying for many students.

The transition to secondary school means big changes for your child. For example, your child’s friendships and peer group, schoolwork, uniform, and school environment and routines are all likely to change. Your child will adjust to these changes, but it might take time.

Friends and peers

When your child goes to secondary school, they’ll meet new peers and make new friends. They’ll also need to work out where they fit in a new peer group.

Schoolwork

At secondary school, your child will:

• learn across a wide range of subjects
• work with different teachers in different classrooms with different teaching and assessment styles
• become more responsible for their own learning
• have a heavier and more complicated study and homework load
• learn a new and more complex timetable.

School uniform

Secondary schools and primary schools often have different uniform expectations or rules. For example, your child might need to get changed into a sports uniform to play sport.

School environment

Your child will have to adjust to a new school campus, probably with more students, classrooms and facilities than their primary school. They’ll also have to learn to find their way around the campus and get to class on time with the right books and materials. They might also have to remember how to get to and from school on public transport.

These changes can be particularly challenging for children with disability or other additional needs, and children living in rural or remote communities.

Feelings 

It’s natural for children to have mixed feelings about moving from the familiar to the unknown and learning new ways of doing things. For example, children might be:

• excited about new friends, subjects and teachers
• nervous about learning new routines, making new friends or wearing a new uniform
• worried about handling the workload or not fitting in.