Learning a valuable lesson

MORE than 50,000 Irish children are about to say one of their first major goodbyes, as they leave the safe world of primary school. And with post-primary on the horizon, summer holidays may not be as carefree as usual. It’s a coming of age with its own set of hurdles to be navigated.

It’s a hugely challenging time, says Deirdre Sullivan, training and development officer with the National Parents Council Primary. “Children go from being top of the pile to being bottom, to being the junior infants of post-primary. They stand out a mile because they look smaller and they’re in brand-new uniforms.

“They’re in a bigger school, where the layout’s unfamiliar. In primary, they might have had one teacher — now they could have 13 and it’s the children’s responsibility to move themselves from one classroom to another, to gather their books and belongings and charge to the next class, which could be on the other side of the building.”