I am so pleased to say that I am very impressed with how well the Year 7 students have settled into Hume so far and I would like to thank the students, parents and Homeroom teachers for being so supportive to each other during this important time. We all know that during transition, students face changing social contexts as they leave behind the known for the unknown. Their experience usually includes moving from a smaller primary to a larger secondary school and from interacting with one teacher for several subjects, to different teachers for each subject.

To assist the students so far, Orientation Day was run before their official starting day. This day proved to be a great success; students organised themselves with the help of their Homeroom teachers, made new friends and sampled some subjects.

Further to this, I also have the firm belief young people who experience a positive transition into their new school are more likely to:

• feel comfortable, relaxed and valued
• feel excited and motivated to learn
• have good relationships with others
• develop a sense of belonging within the school community. 

In order to support the above ideals, we began the year with the program ‘Big Fish into Little Fish’. This presentation delivered via Zoom occurred late last week and helped to ease the transition from primary to secondary school for the Year 7 students. The program was presented by Natalie Borg who has worked with Year 7 students for the past five years, helping them minimise fears about starting secondary school and maximising their collective hopes for the year and their school journey ahead. 

The session develops strong foundations for coping with change, overcoming challenges, supporting one another, promoting self-worth, discovering new ways to engage positively with peers and develop cohesion among the year group. 

I hope that the students left the session feeling less anxious and more comfortable as they embark on their secondary school journey.

Looking ahead, the Year 7s have a lot to look forward to this term; interschool sporting opportunities, the school production, swimming carnival, excursions, camp, and an exciting workshop called ‘Elevate’. Elevate's high impact seminars and workshops have been known to help students improve their study techniques, increase motivation, build confidence, and lift exam performance, so hopefully the students will find this program very helpful.

I am very much looking forward to seeing the students continue to grow, develop and learn during 2021!   

Deborah Rakatairi - Year 7 Coordinator       ​​​​​​​