Finding my way around school
Starting secondary school can feel like a difficult time for students, who have to find their way around a new and bigger school with a lot more people, classrooms and rules. Worrying about getting lost and being late to class can contribute to feelings of anxiety and stress, which can impact on a student’s wellbeing.
There are lots of simple things schools can do to support new students in finding their way around. Taking the time to orient students to their new surroundings, being flexible with rules and expectations during the first month, and setting up supportive networks are practical ways to help students feel supported at this time.
Top tips for supporting your students
- Encourage students to learn the layout of the school by walking from room to room with others from their class. It won’t feel so daunting, then, if they get lost. It’s also a great way to form new connections and to create a sense of belonging and support in your classroom.
- Provide students with a map of the school. Encourage them to highlight on their map the rooms and locations they need to know. It can also be helpful to mark key help-seeking locations in the school, such as the office, staffroom, school counsellor and library.
- Talk openly and honestly with your students about what to do if they get lost at school. Provide an opportunity to problem solve, as a class, some practical strategies to use if they find themselves lost.
- You may need to be flexible in your expectations around students getting to class on time in the first few weeks. Students who continue to struggle and are often late to class may need some extra support in getting their books and resources organised. Buddying them up with an organised student can support this process.
- Share with your students practical strategies they can use to manage stress and anxiety, such as breathing and mindfulness exercises.
Classroom activities
Emotional awareness and self-regulation
Teaching students how to recognise and cope with a range of emotions such as frustration, happiness, joy, fear and sadness is essential in developing their resilience.
Acceptance
Instead of seeing themselves as victims, or their situations as negative, learning acceptance can help students to feel empowered about the things they can do.
Positive vibes
Students realise that focusing on positive emotions lessens the opportunity for negative emotions such as anger and frustration to dominate their thoughts.
Rephrasing for a growth mindset
Students learn to rephrase negative statements into positive thoughts to encourage a growth mindset.
Resources for students
ReachOut works with young people across Australia to develop content. You could share some of these resources with your students.
7 tips for dealing with change
Dealing with change can sometimes be uncomfortable, stressful or even scary. Learn some things you can do to make coping with changes in your life a little easier.
A step-by-step guide to problem solving
Having to deal with problems can really suck, making you feel paralysed and out of control. Whatever the scale of your issues, there are steps you can take to feel more in control. And while you might not always make the right choice, you can learn how to feel comfortable with the decisions you make.
How are you going?
Take a moment to check in with how you're feeling, with our simple online quiz. You'll get a good sense of how you're going, plus we'll give you some good help pathways should you need them.
5 steps to talking to someone you trust
The best way to deal with an issue is to talk to someone you trust. Read ReachOut’s step-by-step guide to reaching out to someone.
Resources for parents and carers
ReachOut works with parents across Australia to develop content that helps them to support their young person. You could share some of these resources with your parent community.
Transitioning to secondary school
The transition to secondary school can be scary for both parents and their children. Suddenly your child is the little fish in the big pond again and there are new rules and responsibilities for you both to learn. You can make the transition as smooth as possible by using ReachOut’s ‘Transitioning to High School’ checklist.
School, education and teenagers
Your child may feel under pressure to perform well in exams, maintain a healthy social life, and start making tricky decisions about the rest of their life. It’s normal for teenagers to go through rough patches at school, but if you’re worried about your child, there are things that you can do to help.
Teach your teenager coping skills for wellbeing
You can do some simple things to teach your child coping skills and help them to put these skills into action. It’s never too early or too late to learn how to do this. It’s a good skill for life.
Teach your teenager to be resilient
Setbacks, problems and failures are an inevitable part of life. As your teen matures and takes on more challenges work-wise, they will experience more setbacks. Teaching your teen resilience – the ability to recover, adapt and keep going – will help them to get more from life, both personally and professionally.