Overcoming challenges
Transition from primary to secondary school involves a period of rapid change that is challenging for both students and their families. It’s a time of celebration and excitement, but it can also be quite worrying and stressful for students and their families if they are not adequately prepared. This lesson encourages students to contemplate all the challenges they may face, in order to better prepare for them. We will also consider where students can seek help for each challenge or what they could do in the situation.
Year level
Transition
Duration
20 minutes
Type
In class activity
SEL Competencies
Self-awareness
Self-management
Relationship skills
Learning intention
Students learn about challenges they might experience when starting at secondary school and potential strategies for overcoming these challenges.
Key outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
understand the challenges they may face when starting secondary school
identify where they can seek help or what they could do in response to each challenge they may face.
Materials needed
Whiteboard and markers
Butcher’s paper for each group
2 different coloured markers for each group
Mapped to
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
Analyse the impact of changes and transitions, and devise strategies to support themselves and others through these changes (AC9HP8P02)
Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities
Personal and Social Capability:
Self-awareness
Self-management
Creative and critical thinking:
Reflecting
Inquiring
NSW PDHPE Syllabus
Examines and evaluates strategies to manage current and future challenges (PD4-1)
Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
Investigate the impact of transition and change on identities (VCHPEP123)
Activity 1
Group brainstorm: Challenges
10 minutes
Explain to students that today’s activity will focus on understanding challenges they might face when starting high school.
Ask students to write in their notebooks their answers to the brainstorm question, ‘What challenges might we face when starting high school?’
Prompt students with challenges they might face when starting at a new school (e.g. making friends, new routines, new teachers).
Split students into their groups, and hand out butcher’s’ paper and a coloured marker per group.
In groups, students discuss their answers and write them on the butcher’s paper.
After a couple of minutes, ask groups to share some of their challenges with the class.
Activity 2
Group brainstorm: Overcoming challenges
10 minutes
As you discuss the challenges suggested by each group, lead the discussion towards what students could do about each challenge.
Ask students to use the second coloured marker to add the question, ‘What can we do, or where can we get help?’
Students write a solution for at least two challenges they discussed.
Students link each problem with the solution, building out the mind map. Some solutions may link to more than one example.
Allow 5 minutes for students to discuss, and write down, how they could deal with each challenge or where they could get help.
Ask each group to share some of the solutions they discussed.
Debrief
No time displayed
Reinforce that while this is a time of rapid change and challenges, it is also an exciting time. Remind students that by considering the problems they may face, they are already better prepared for secondary school and are already armed with solutions to those problems.
