Helping small fish into big ponds

By Paul Greer
BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire show

Settling in at a new secondary school can be a stressful and unforgettable experience.

After the comfort and security of primary school, many children can struggle to make new friends and find the confidence needed for being a small fish in a very big pond.

Callum has made some new friends

So how do you get shy, anxious Year Seven children to get to know each other quickly and build their self esteem?

The answer, it seems, is you get them out of the classroom, navigating rivers, climbing cliffs and burrowing through tunnels.

The results are remarkable says teacher Ian Creswell from Cantell School in Southampton.

He said: "Three or four years ago we had students turn up and they would be sitting around in their previous primary school groups.

"They wouldn't really speak to each other and you would have different groups going around the school.

"But now things like this, where you force them to be together and work together, means they have to know everyone else, and they make friends where maybe they wouldn't have done previously.

It's hard for us to get used to the size Callum on 'big school'

"The year group clicks so much quicker. They are happier, our attendance has gone up, our exclusions have gone down and it's all just getting better and better."

For activity centres who lay on these "transition" courses it is good news as well.

David Drew, who runs the council-owned Woodmill outdoors centre in Southampton says September and October used to be very quiet months for business.

"Now it seems more and more schools are realising there are huge benefits in helping children make a positive start to their secondary school life."

He says: "If you have made good friends at school the whole experience is better. We used to get one or two schools coming along to do these courses. Now we get about thirty."

'Be brave'

Eleven-year-old Callum says coming to terms with "big school" takes a while.

"It's hard for us to get used to the size. All secondary schools are bigger. You have to go up and down corridors, up and down stairs and then of course we used to be at the top in our primary schools and now we are at the bottom. So it's a big change."

At Woodmill, pupils have the chance to leave double maths and science behind for a while and just spend time with their new classmates.

Teachers deliberately split up friendship groups to ensure students have to work and rely on people they barely know.

"That's the whole point of it," says Mr Creswell, "we hot-house friendships and it really works."

To test this I ask Callum if he can name the other people in his canoe.

He smiles and points: "That's Josh, he says, that's Ben, and that," he says, turning to look, "is Catherine."

He adds that paddling a canoe would be much harder if everyone in it did not talk to each other.

"You just need to be brave and confident and be who you are."