Ask Sam letter

Hi there,

It can be both exciting and scary moving to a new school, or moving up to higher years in an existing school. It can be a big change for some people and the thought of this might be frightening. Try and reduce some of that anxiety and prepare yourself by planning ways to cope and finding out as much as you can about your new school before you go.

A lot of anxiety about a big change can come from not knowing what it's going to be like for you. At your old school you may have got used to the people and the way things worked - so changing that might make you feel a bit lost. Nobody expects you to know everything when you're new, so it's important not to put pressure on yourself.

You might be surprised how quickly something new can become familiar. Within just a few weeks your old school might feel like an old chapter of your life. We can adapt quite quickly but this doesn't always take away our anxiety. It's good to prepare yourself with coping techniques to that can keep you calm until you feel more at home.

When changing to something new it can help to have something familiar with you. Perhaps you have a favourite pencil case or backpack from your old school that you can take with you. If you took your own lunch at primary school then you could still take your own lunch to secondary school and it might make it feel a bit more normal to you.

It's good to let out how you're feeling so you could also try keeping a diary of your thoughts. Your Childline locker has a journal that you can write in and track your mood. You can also talk to other young people who’ve started secondary school on the message boards - talking to others in the same situation can be very helpful. It might also be that you can help others by sharing your experiences.

I hope this has helped as well though, thanks for writing in.

Take care,

Sam