Human Bingo!!! Find someone who… Each person will get a card with a number of different statements. You need to find someone who matches each of the statements on your card. When you find someone you need to write their name on the relevant box. You can’t use the same person twice. The first person to complete all of their squares need to shout out ‘bingo!’ for a Green e-ref.

Find someone who…

Starting Secondary School Learning Objective: To explore feelings of anxiety during the transition from primary to secondary school. I can communicate what made me anxious about starting secondary school. I can explore what is meant by the term anxiety. I can advise Year 6 students who are going to secondary school next year.

Starting Secondary School Each table will need to look at a list things that make some people feel a little anxious about starting secondary school (on the following slide). The list was compiled by a group of Year 7 students from the Mind, Body and Soul focus group. In your groups you need to rank them from what makes you most worried to what makes you least worried. If you think anything is missing feel free to add it to your list. You will need to be able to explain your choice to the class. Show students the list of what can make people worried on the next slide. Ask them to write them out on post it notes or on separate pieces of paper so they can rank them on their tables. Sorry we haven’t made this activity as a card sort – it was logistically too expensive for so many classes!

Starting Secondary School Feedback Time! Class discussion – ask students to feedback on where they have placed each card. Do they agree/disagree? Why have they put a particular card near the top/bottom? Has anything been missed off the list? Do they feel less worried about these things now – why?

Starting Secondary School Learning Objective: To explore feelings of anxiety during the transition from primary to secondary school. I can communicate what made me anxious about starting secondary school. I can explore what is meant by the term anxiety. I can advise Year 6 students who are going to secondary school next year.

Feeling Anxious – what is it? Anxiety is a completely normal experience and a natural part of life. It only becomes a problem if your feelings of anxiety are very strong or last for a long time. Anxiety is a word we use to describe feelings of unease, worry and fear. Anxiety includes emotions, physical sensations, and thoughts we might experience when we are worried or nervous about something. Although we usually find it unpleasant, anxiety is our normal biological reaction to feeling threatened. It is the body’s way of responding to a danger, even just thinking we are in danger is enough to trigger the system to go go go!

What keeps anxiety going? Avoidance It makes perfect sense that we avoid things that make us anxious, as being anxious can feel really unpleasant. However, by avoiding the things we are anxious about, we never get the opportunity to learn that it may not be as frightening as we think. 3. Safety Behaviours Safety behaviours are things we might do to make our anxiety go away. Some examples are avoiding eye contact, carrying something with you to make you feel better, only leaving the house if someone is with you. Safety behaviours stop us from learning that we can cope with our feared situation and that it is not as frightening as we thought. 2. Unhelpful Thoughts People with anxiety have unhelpful thoughts about their feared consequence and attempt to predict outcomes. People may underestimate their ability to cope with a situation or overestimate the danger of the situation. For example, thinking ‘I’m not going to be able to speak to the class, they will laugh at me and think I’m stupid.’ This can mean that they might avoid the situation or over analyse their performance.

Relaxation Techniques There are relaxation techniques you can do if you start feeling anxious about something. Let’s try some now! Progressive Muscle Relaxation Find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes and let your body go lose Focus on one muscle group in your body, for example your right hand Take a slow, deep breath and squeeze the muscles in the hand tightly for about 5 seconds After 5 seconds release your muscle and let all of the tightness flow out of your muscle. Breath out as you do this. Repeat the process of tensing and relaxing other muscle groups; feet, entire leg, stomach, neck, shoulders, forehead. Square Breathing Breathe in through your nose while counting to four Hold your breath while counting to 4 Breath out through your mouth while counting to 4 Repeat Ensure that you can see your stomach moving in and out while you do this. It might help to think about drawing a square.

Relaxation Techniques Quick Recap!!! Tell the person next to you in 1 minute what we have learnt about anxiety, what keeps it going and relaxation techniques.

Starting Secondary School Learning Objective: To explore feelings of anxiety during the transition from primary to secondary school. I can communicate what made me anxious about starting secondary school. I can explore what is meant by the term anxiety. I can advise Year 6 students who are going to secondary school next year.

A Letter of Advice Think back to what it was like to be in Year 6 and how you probably felt a mixture of excitement and worry at the thought of starting a new school. You are going to write a letter to them that includes the following: Give examples of things they might be worried about but explain how it isn’t always as bad as they might think, e.g. it doesn’t take long to find your way around Practical advise of ways of coping with things they might be worried about, e.g. make sure you pack your bag the night before so you don’t forget things, homework clubs Encourage people to have a go at things that worry them, don’t avoid them, e.g. go to an after school club even if it makes you a bit nervous turning up for the first time End with an encouraging note – think of all the great things about secondary school and tell them about it!

Starting Secondary School Learning Objective: To explore feelings of anxiety during the transition from primary to secondary school. I can communicate what made me anxious about starting secondary school. I can explore what is meant by the term anxiety. I can advise Year 6 students who are going to secondary school next year.

Who can you speak to if you are feeling worried about something? Before you go… Who can you speak to if you are feeling worried about something? Before students leave remind them of the support network they have: family, friends, tutor, head of year, pupil support.