To my delightful Year 7 Students,
In the past three and a half weeks, you have been creating your own personal history. You have faced all sorts of new challenges and have coped with them all!
As I was reading your workbooks, I noticed how many of you used words such as “daunting”, “confusing”, “nerve-racking” and “stressful” to describe your situation and your feelings on your second day. Yet at the same time, many of you also expressed delight at all the new experiences of secondary school, including having such a range of subjects and teachers – and most of all, having many new friends.
Now that you have your own personal gadget, your trusty laptop (I hope it won’t let you down in moments of need), you can revisit what you wrote on your second day in History class and update it. Type a comment in which you look back at that “primary source” from Day 2. How do you feel different now?
We teachers, it may surprise you to learn, also feel a little anxious on the first day of every year, but it is always a pleasure to encounter a class like yours.
Warm regards from Ms Green
On day two, I felt excited about high school and I was eager to find out more about my new friends. I was just a little bit worried about homework. Now, after almost a month of high school I’m (quite surprisingly) slightly disappointed in the homework situation. It’s been about 3 weeks and we’ve only gotten two homework tasks, a 200-word passage and a poster. But other than that, its been going really well. I already have favorite teachers and really good friends!
Oh Yulia, you WANT to do more homework! I was just like you when I started high school. One day soon, you will think that you have far too much. The second half of term is always far more challenging than the first half. Until then, I am sure that you will achieve a lot in regular classes – let me know if you would like me to give you something extra! (We teachers are not supposed to give year sevens too much homework, you know. We are trying to smooth your path into high school.)
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! – Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
What’s changed?
On my first few days I wrote that I was feeling excited and nervous, but I was having a good time. I liked walking around in a new environment and new people. I said it was hard to be on time with all my needed belongings.
Since then, I have made a lot of new friends and got to know my way around the school and gotten the hang of using my locker. After a month of school, I’ve realised that I am going to have a great education at this high school.
My highlights so far have been making new friends, learning in History and English and making biscuits in Food Tech.
Lovely, thoughtful comment, Olivia! I am so glad that you have settled in confidently and that you feel optimistic about both the present and the future. – Ms Green
High school life – then and now
I feel way more confident in this new school environment. I feel safer and more supported, getting to know my teachers and making new friends. I have now gotten into a routine and I feel I belong in high school. High school is a great opportunity and I can’t wait for next term to experience new subjects and meet new teachers. I never pictured high school to be like this.
Kind regards
Gabby
It makes me happy to read about how positive this experience has been for you, Gabby! – Ms Green
HIGH SCHOOL-CHANGE AND CONTINUITY
It’s so much easier now because I know where most of the classrooms are and I’ve made a lot of new friends. It’s less scary and nerve-racking, and the school seems less daunting and massive. Also it’s so much easier to open the locks now!
I am really glad that you have settled in so well, Bea! – Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
What’s changed since day 2
On the first day, I was nervous but also excited because you get to meet new people and explore a new environment. There is so much more you can do compared to primary school.
Now I have made loads of new friends and I don’t really get lost around the school. I am pretty organised with my stuff as well.
Yay, Mieke! You have settled in brilliantly. – Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
Every since my first day at school, I have felt like I’m part of the school.
I feel relieved about that and I have new friends.
Now, after nearly a month of high school life, I feel I have gotten used to the school.
I am very pleased to read these positive remarks, Sam! – Ms Green
High school so far
On day 2 I was still a little nervous but I had settled in, I had made some friends and had already found my way around.
Almost a whole month later, my circle of friends has grown and I still haven’t gotten a detention. I am looking forward to the challenges ahead.
You have settled in really well, Natalie, and I am very impressed by your enthusiasm and positive attitude. Keep it up. – Kind regards from Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
What’s changed? (since day 2):
I felt a bit anxious and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get my locker open. I missed my friends a lot and the holidays were boring (like always). I was looking forward to starting high school.
I thought we would have personalised timetables for high school, but we get personalised timetables in terms 3 and 4.
Now that there has been a month of surviving high school, I feel more comfortable with the school, and I’ve made some new friends as well. It took me quite a long time to get my locker open, but I eventually got there. (I still get lost though). I’m also slowly ‘transitioning’ into a new friendship group.
The highlights so far have been… making new friends, learning my teachers’ names, learning my way around the school and experiencing new things.
Dear Selina,
What a thoughtful and beautifully expressed response to the question. You have explained all the tricky aspects of high school life very clearly. It sounds to me as though you are coping very well with all the complexities and challenges of high school existence. Well done.
Kind regards from Ms Green
High school – Change and Continuity
What’s changed? (since day 2)
On day 2 of high school, I was feeling very anxious and I was scared that the same thing would happen in high school that had happened in primary school. The lockers were very frustrating, and they were very hard to use. No one from my primary school came to high school with me, which was sad. ;-;
I was looking forward to making new friends and starting all over again, and I was excited to see what high school would be like.
Now that it’s been nearly a month of high school survival, I feel like it hasn’t changed much (either for the worse or for the better) and I’ve gotten used to it already. The lockers weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, and maybe moving around with your books to different places wasn’t as bad as I assumed it would be.
But the thing with making friends is that I’m not so good at it. Sure, I’ve made friends and all, but I still feel like nothing has changed with the friend system.
I still feel like that I’m not so involved with the group and people are still leaving without me and talking about things I don’t understand and slowly making me feel slightly depressed. That happened in primary school, and I was hoping to start over again, but I guess some things never change. I still feel lonely and I think it may stay that way.
But mostly I just had to learn my teachers’ names and try and get around the school without getting lost. High school is fine, in my opinion, but I’m not looking forward to homework. :3
Dear Katie,
I think you are a very deep thinker and a sensitive person. You know, friendships never stop being tricky and complex, even for old people like me! Even at my advanced age, I still find friendships unpredictable and confusing at times. Just hang in there. Friendships develop very slowly, over years and years.
Thank you for your very thoughtful and beautifully expressed response.
Kind regards from Ms Green
High school – Change and Continuity
What has changed? (since day 2)
On day 2, I felt like a piece of chicken! In other words, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea where anything was like the classes and basically everything in the school.
I thought I was going top get lost every session and forget my locker code, but you can find your classes and the locks are easy after all.
I was worried that the work would be too hard for me but it’s not – I’m too smart for life and school.
I was looking forward to sport and making new friends.
Now after a month of school I feel like I’m a part of the school and I know where everything is
The highlights so far have been camp when Louie sang… It was 100% not bad. 😊
Oh Charlie, this is such a funny, expressive and positive response to the question. I loved reading it. Well done and thank you! – Ms Green
My second day of high school was better, because I made some friends. I was still a little confused about the map and where to go but I got better at it after some time. We had History and English, it was quickly enjoyable but it was mainly just introductions about the lesson or teacher. I made some more friends on the second day.
I now have many friends and feel more comfortable here. I know the whole map and where to do. I know what to do when I’m late or leaving early. I know how to borrow books. I went on camp with my friends.
A thoughtful and positive description, Alyssa. I am glad that you are settling in so well and feeling so confident. – Ms Green
What’s changed since day 2?
On day 2 of the school year, I felt nervous about making new friends and I didn’t have any friends until camp. I thought that I would never make any friends and I would be lonely all my high school life but then it turned out that it wasn’t true. I was worried about bullies too.
Now after nearly a month of high school life, I feel confident and I think my life is going to be great. I am glad I am in high school. The highlights are my friends.
Hi Niran,
I love your last sentence. Friends are indeed the highlights of one’s life. I am thrilled to hear that you began to make new friends on camp and that your life is looking more and more positive and promising. – Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
Since my first day of school, a lot has happened. A little catch-up is that high school is a repeated lifestyle of boringness, but I do enjoy History so much, Sport is all right but I dislike dodgeball.
Now I’ve made friends with my class mates and not just individual kids. Now I had to go back to my old lock for my locker because in the first days of school my locker was so hard to open that I got a new lock. Then my lock literally disappeared so I had to go back to using the school’s lock so that I could open my locker.
Dear Grace,
You’ve had a few ups and downs with day-to-day issues like your locker, but I think you have settled in really well all the same. Your description of high school life as “a repeated lifestyle of boringness” is sadly quite accurate! School is like Groundhog Day sometimes; each day can seem exactly like the last one! I’m so glad that you like History and Sport. – Kind regards from Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
On the second day of school (30/1/20), I felt very happy and thought High School was very enjoyable but I said it felt like I had stepped into somebody else’s shoes because it was a whole new experience from Primary School. I have been forced to change a lot of things but overall, I have had a lot of fun though at times it has been chaotic.
My highlights from the past couple days have been the new classes, teachers, friends, and even waking up earlier. The lockers are also good and better than I thought.
Currently, around a month later, nothing has changed that much, and I have liked High School more because I have had most of the subjects and I like them all!
Kind regards,
Kunson
A clearly written, perceptive and positive response, Kunson. Thank you! – Ms Green
What’s changed?
This school is very different from primary school. High school is bigger and it is a bit more confusing to get to classes on time. Back in primary school I was at the top of the school but now I am at the bottom; everything seems so big so it’s really different from primary school.
On day 2 I felt excited to go to school. The first day was amazing so I wanted to come back. I thought that getting to classes was hard but now I’m used to it. All the classes are easy to get to because all the teachers helped me. I was worried that I would be late to my classes and I would get in trouble with the teachers but it turns out that the teachers are really nice. I was really looking forward to sports and P.E sessions at school and camp.
Kind regards,
Sutthirak:)
What a thoughtful and positive response, Sutthirak! Thank you. – Ms Green
High School – Change and Continuity
On day 2, I felt very happy and excited. This was a big change but I was not sad or nervous.
Now I am no different but I have a laptop and that is exciting.
Kind regards,
Avyaya
Thank you for your thoughtful remarks, Avyaya. You have made a promising start and you are very positive about everything! – Ms Green
On my first day I wasn’t nervous. Instead, I was excited and confident. Even today, that attitude hasn’t changed and it never will! The only thing I was nervous about was Maths and it is the only thing I am not good at in studies. But that fear went away ages ago because the way that my teachers teach me is amazing and I feel good about Maths now.
You are filled with the joy of life and you are developing new confidence, Dharm! Well done. Thank you for your comment. – Ms Green
On Day 2, I felt that high school is obviously better than primary school because you get introduced to a lot of new things, which makes it exciting and confusing at the same time. I thought that a lot of things were different but I was wrong. I was worried about making new friends but that didn’t take too long. All the same, I don’t think that I can completely trust them just yet. I was looking forward to all the new and old lessons and the practicals in all of the new subjects.
Now,that I have experienced a month full of life in high school, I feel that it is 110% better than primary school just because it is a much new and better way of learning and I actually feel motivated to go to school.
It makes me very happy to read this, Tanmay. Thank you for your thoughtful and well expressed comments. – Ms Green