Making the jump safely from Primary to Secondary

MANY students in their first year of secondary school usually experience a culture shock. Royette Williams-James, a counsellor for the past eight years said it is because students are thrown into the deep end of the pool, with little or no knowledge of how to navigate these new waters.

“It may have been a while ago, but I still remember the way I felt walking out of my final SEA (Secondary Entrance Assessment) exam. I was elated. I thought to myself, ‘finally! I’m free. The worst is over and I can relax.’ In the interim, our teachers would discuss with us what our academic demands would look like at a secondary school level, but little did we know what we were really in for,” Williams-James said in an interview with Tobago Newsday.

Williams-James, the founder of Positive Mindset Learning and Development Consultants said this “swim or drown” approach may be effective for some, but cannot be expected to work for all.

She said she is tired of hearing of the stresses of young people due to their inability to cope with the transition between primary and secondary school.

To try to assist with the transition, Williams-James has put together a one-day interactive workshop for SEA students and their parents to prepare them for the academic, mental and emotional hurdles that lie ahead. She said this is the first of its kind for Positive Mindset, which has been facilitating workshops and betterment programmes for seven years.

The workshop is entitled Welcome Secondary; Goodbye Primary: Preparing me for High School and will first take place in Tobago on August 5, from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm, at the Bon Accord/Canaan Community Centre.

The workshop will cover issues such as dealing with disappointment, fears, new routines, mental health, time management, building self-esteem, managing conflict and bullying.

Facilitators will include child psychologist Krystal Hosein Jones, counsellor Anisha Hislop and art therapist Marcus Kissoon. Certificates of Participation will be awarded at the end of the workshop.

Williams-James said while her focus is on “grooming” the children, it is also important to her that the parents get as much out of this initiative as their children do. She said the aim is to help parents understand the stresses of the transition from the perspective of the child and to help them to better guide their children through the process. For information call or What’s App 703-7487.