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The Transition from Elementary to High School

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In this info sheet

The transition from elementary to high school comes with a lot of questions—for young people and their parents.

  • Which school to choose?
  • What are the different programs?
  • How do students make a choice?
  • How will my child experience their transition to high school?

Your teen and high school—a time of change:

  • A bigger school with more students;
  • A heavier workload: homework, projects;
  • New friendships;
  • Many teachers in the same schoolyear;
  • Classroom changes;
  • Often, transportation to go to school.

While your preteen was among the oldest in their previous school, now they’ll be among the youngest.

And to top it all off, your preteen will be going through puberty, which comes with physical and psychological changes.

Wow! That’s a lot to adapt to.

Preparing for the transition from elementary to high school

With support from their parents, most young people have a positive experience in their transition from elementary to high school.

However, it’s a period when young people are most at risk of experiencing difficulties, such as:

  • Being less motivated at school.
  • Feeling anxiety and isolation.
  • Getting lower grades.

That’s why preparing for this stage is so important.

Before starting high school

Beward of performance anxiety!

Some schools use entry tests to choose their students. This could lead your child to experience anxiety.

Your child should make their best effort, but the important thing is the effort not the result!

To learn more about performance anxiety, consult: How to help your child manage performance anxiety at school

For more information, consult our video Comment avoir des attentes réalistes envers nos préados?

When starting high school

Extracurricular activities

Encourage your child to participate in an extracurricular activity that interests them.

Extracurricular activities often enable young people to:

  • Increase their attachment to their school.
  • Build friendships.
  • Better adapt to situations.
  • Get higher grades.

For a complete kit on the transition from elementary to high school, consult the Boîte à outils pour les parents d’ados. La transition vers le secondaire by Benado (in French).

Practical resources and tools

1. To support you

You are dealing with a situation that worries you? Ask for help:

2. For more information

This fact sheet was written in collaboration with Roxanne Brosseau, co-director of Benado.

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