Ask Sam letter

Hello,

Thank you for your letter.

Moving from primary school to high school is a really big change in your life and change can often make us feel worried. It sounds like you have lots of different feelings and emotions that are happening all at once about this – a mix of feeling sad, upset and excited.

Being at your primary school has been a very big part of your life and perhaps the first place that you’ve met new people and made some very special friends. I wonder if you’ve been able to talk to your friends or someone else close to you about how you’re feeling since you started your summer break.

It may be that some of your friends feel a similar way to you even if they look more happy and confident. Talking things through can really help instead of keeping everything bottled up inside. You’ve taken a positive step to decide to talk to me.

You’re feeling excited about going to high school and I wonder if there are things that you could do over the summer break to prepare yourself and help make the move go smoothly? It may be useful to remember that everybody else in your new year at high school will be going through the same thing as you and they may not look it, but they could be just as nervous as you are.

It’s good to remember that adults can get nervous too when they start a new job or meet new people, so all these feelings are normal. It might be helpful to talk to your parents, carer or another adult in your life – they were once in the same situation and might have some helpful tips for you. You might also want to read the school page in Explore – it’s got some advice about moving schools.

If you don’t feel like you can talk to your friends or an adult you could talk to ChildLine and there are different ways to do this. You can call free on 0800 1111 and the number doesn’t show up on a telephone bill. You can log on for a 1-2-1 chat which is a bit like instant messenger or you can send an email.

Take care,

Sam