Afraid of seventh grade
The size of the building. Determining the pecking order. The transition to seventh grade is impressive, for some students it is even hell.
Picture: Type tank
'My daughter started in seventh grade this week. Last Monday it started to vomit before she had to go, cry. I expected it, because she always has trouble with changes and letting go of the old. She had a very good time at primary school with many friends and she doesn't know anyone at the new school. She came back fairly positive. But last night it started again: "I don't know anyone, if I get lost now, don't go home at noon." I try to show understanding and not to go along with her too much, some relaxing jokes, etc. But it is eating at me now too. '
Just a mother on the forum of Parents Online. About a very normal step that approximately 190 thousand teenagers take every year, but which does not happen by itself. 'What a hell for children the first months of secondary school', the human & society teacher Wera de Lange sighed in her last school year. Education magazinecolumn. “I see year after year that sweet little children are frightened by a few violent children,” she explains now. “Every year in my first-year mentor class there is someone who operates outside the lines like that - aggressive, busy - which makes others afraid of him. Other children wonder, "Good heavens, is this going on like this?" And also: 'What will my survival strategy be?' They look for a way to feel safe. As a follower, as a runner as an ostrich. ”
Every year there is someone in my freshman mentor class who operates outside the lines
According to De Lange, 'hell' is not in the transition to that larger school, where everything is organized differently. "The hell is in the turmoil, in determining the pecking order." At the same time, she notes: “I didn't see hell with my own son when he went to gymnasium. He loved it all. So I think it varies a lot by education type. I look at first graders through the eyes of someone who works in the lowest echelons of VMBO. ”
Negative
Marie Croes, English teacher, studied the transition from primary school to the Spinoza Lyceum (MAVO / HAVO / VWO) in Amsterdam two years ago as a research teacher. She found that the way in which students experience the transition to secondary school does indeed differ per type of education. “Satisfaction surveys showed that more than half of our seventh graders experienced the transition as 'very big'. First of all, I investigated with a colleague whether 'very big' is something negative. That turned out not to be the case in three quarters of the cases. For many students, 'very large' mainly meant 'very different'. But for a quarter of the students who indicated that the transition was very great, that meant something negative. ”
'You can't prevent a new start from being difficult'
The problem turned out to be mainly in the amount of learning and customization. “We saw that MAVO students quickly mastered doing homework. Havists take a little longer to do this, but it is also relatively easy for them. Pre-university students appear to have the most difficulty getting used to making and learning work ”, says Croes.
“We see more and more smart students who have managed to hold their own for a long time on their wits, but who lack study skills and therefore get stuck in secondary school,” says Renate van Leeuwen of Spectrum, a center for care and education that also provides bridging training. “Some smart children have never had to do homework before and have not learned how to take in large pieces of material,” Croes adds.
Mentor hours
That is why Spinoza has increased the number of mentor hours per week in the first nine weeks of seventh grade from one to two. "This gave room to talk about how such a large school works, but also about how you should plan." They also tried to take some of the pressure off at the beginning of the year at the Spinoza. “We spoke to teachers: is it really necessary for them to do so much in those first nine weeks? We have also created resit opportunities for the first tests. Later in the school career, students cannot resit, but to have them immediately kick off their first report with a 3… Making mistakes is now allowed. We want to let students land just a bit softer. ”
"I had a seventh grader last school year who said, 'Ma'am, I really feel like a Lilliputian here.' That image is illustrative," says Neomi Lotte, Dutch teacher and mentor at the Oranje Nassau College in Zoetermeer. "Fresh first graders have fears such as: If only I become nice; if only I can find my way. we already get to know each other at school. Then you already see a kind of hierarchy of leaders and followers emerging and I also see who I have to keep an eye on. It is often the quieter children who crawl under my wing. I always try to For example, if they indicate that they are afraid of getting lost, I tell them to see getting lost as an adventure. They always end up at the right room. Think of the detour as an exploration, you will always meet someone whom you can ask for directions. If you make these kinds of potential problems a bit lighter in class, it will also become less heavy in their heads.”
If you lighten up potential problems in the classroom, it will also become less heavy in their heads
Safety
"The loners, that's what breaks my heart," says columnist De Lange. “What makes a big difference for students is whether they have supporters. They only need one or two to feel safe. ” Until that supporter has been found, according to De Lange, you as a teacher should radiate that time heals. "But that is difficult for a twelve-year-old to comprehend," she admits. "It is a variant of pating and drinking."
Then to the seventh grade training? These are available in many places in all kinds of variants and in ditto price ranges. One course focuses on resilience and social skills, while the other focuses on school skills. "At Brugklas Bikkels, we give the students practical tips such as what to wear and what are good opening sentences if you want to start a conversation," says bridges coach Van Leeuwen. “For the social side, we use principles from cognitive behavioral therapy. Many insecure children have automatic thoughts such as: I can't do that anyway. We want to teach children to recognize those thoughts and put them into perspective. "
"If such a training can take some of the tension, it's great," says Lotte of the Oranje Nassau College. “On the other hand, high school is a first step on the road to adolescence. Children will have to take a lot of these kinds of steps in their later life and they will always be accompanied by tension. ”
Columnist De Lange is of the same opinion. “Sometimes you just can't make something very easy. It breaks your heart, but you cannot prevent it. ” That is different from ignoring it. “As soon as something arises, you have to get started, whether you are a mentor or a teacher. Because if you let it run, you let a kid sink into shit. You have to find a balance that a child can live with. But you cannot prevent a new start from being difficult. ”
