Secondary School

Moving to secondary school is exciting, but it can be a bit frightening too. There’s new things to learn, your new school is probably a lot bigger, and you’ve got more teachers and more homework. But hopefully by now you’re starting to settle in, make new friends and have fun!

We know that starting high school can be scary – after all, we’ve been there ourselves! But we survived and we’re now here to help – we’ve put together this handy guide to help things run smoothly. Enjoy!

Making new friends

You might know a lot of people from your old school if you’ve all moved up together, or maybe you’ve gone to a different school from your friends – either way, there’s probably a lot of people you don’t know. Making new friends can be daunting at first, but remember the old saying – strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet! Here’s a few tips to make it a bit easier to find some new mates:

Look for people who seem to have similar interests to you – find out about clubs, groups, sports, music, chess – whatever’s happening in your school, and join in something which you are interested in or know something about.

Helping others is a good way to make friends, so if you see someone who is struggling or lost, ask if they would like some help.

Smile, and show an interest in people. Ask lots of questions and try to be a good listener. A good way to let other people know you are interested is to get them to talk about what they like and what they think. Most people like talking about themselves!

Look for others who are alone or seem shy and introduce yourself. Ask them about their interests. You may turn out to have a lot in common.

Watch out for people who might try to persuade you to do things you don’t want to or that you know are wrong. Sometimes we hang around the wrong people because there’s no one else around. But be patient and keep trying – real friends won’t want to get you into trouble.