PRIMARY school children have been receiving help from their elders in a pilot project designed to help ease the daunting jump to secondary education.
Darlington School of Mathematics and Science hosted the event organised by Darlington Borough Council and involving more than 200 Year 6 pupils from West Park Academy, Cockerton Primary, Mount Pleasant, and the Federation of Abbey Schools.
School nurses, Health Improvement Service staff and Family Support workers were also involved in the sessions which were aimed at encouraging young people to explore any fears and uncertainties they had about growing up.
Topics included bullying, self-esteem, smoking, emotional issues and risk taking.
Primary school children prepared a host of poignant questions which Years 10 and 11 students had time to consider in advance of the peer sessions.
The event was held to complement the annual transition fortnight during which primary school children attend respective secondary schools.
DSMS students also visited the Federation of Abbey Schools leading pupils at their school with peer-led sessions tackling the same issues.
Assistant head teacher at DSMS Emma Hickerson said: “The transition from primary school to secondary can be daunting when it doesn’t need to be as there is an incredible amount of support from teachers, support staff and students.
“The fear of the unknown is far worse than the reality and sessions like this go a long way to breaking down perceptions and myths so we were delighted to offer our services for the pilot scheme.”
Darlington Borough Council project co-ordinator Catherine Shaw added: “It has gone incredibly well and all the students enjoyed it, benefiting all ages massively. It deals with the anxiety and the excitement of the transition.”
DSMS student Liam Pape said: “Moving up to big school can be scary and it is really rewarding for us to share our experiences and allay any concerns they may have. I think we all remember our first day at secondary school and hopefully in future those memories will be nice ones.”
The pilot will be evaluated by staff, children and facilitators and if deemed successful could be rolled out across the borough.
