Coping with the transition to high school
Starting high school can be a scary yet exciting experience. Speak to your former primary school friends and find out what high school is like for them.
Graduating from primary school leads to a big transition – high school, which requires adjustment as you grow into your teenage years. For many learners, starting Grade 8 (or 9) means a new school, teachers, friends, a wider variety of extracurricular activities and bigger buildings to navigate – not to mention the heavier school workload.
It can be overwhelming for many if not most learners, however it is doable and before you know it, you will feel more comfortable with the surroundings, the bigger school tuck-shop, getting used to many teachers and their classes.
Many high schools allocate a girl or boy in Grade 12 to take Grade 8 learners on a tour round the school, showing them the basics, from teachers and media centres, to toilets and everything else in between.
• Do not drown trying to figure out or remember everything by yourself, speak to other learners, or your siblings who were there before you.
• If you struggle to make friends easily, play sports or join extracurricular activities such as public speaking or debating – this could help increase your self-confidence.
• You could also volunteer at your school library or the media centre. Everyone who needs a book or some printing done, will have to go through you.
• Pay more attention to your studies and go for extra classes if they are available.
• Believe in yourself and don’t succumb to peer pressure. Being popular is not all there is to high school. There is a big, real world after high school, so don’t do things to please others; and don’t agree to something you don’t believe in, such as smoking or bullying others.
• Ask if there is a school counsellor that you can speak to if you help with something that is bothering you or hindering your learning.
• Remember the people who ‘have your back’, like family, and speak up about everything.
Putting these tips into practice should help you to adjust easily to high school.
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