Stuart Park Primary School celebrates ‘Middle Schoolers for the Day’ as term 2 breaks
Thousands of public school students across the Territory are eagerly awaiting the mid-year holidays, as some ‘Middle Schoolers for the Day’ prepare for the years ahead. SEE THE PICS.
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Thousands of public school students across the Territory are eagerly awaiting the mid-year holidays, celebrating the end of Term 2 on Friday.
Festivals, splash parties, creative arts, disco nights and circus workshops are some of the more than 500 school holiday activities in the June July holidays.
At Darwin’s Stuart Park Primary School, year 6 students were also looking to the years ahead, participating in a new program aimed at easing the transition to middle school.
The Middle Schoolers for the Day program places the students in mixed groups, with a new timetable and different classes to simulate life in middle school.
School captains Lili Johnston and Austin Robinson said it was a fun way to make the move to big school less daunting.
“It has made it seem less scary because now we understand what to do and the teachers have made it much more comfortable and not as nervous,” Lili said.
Asked what he’d miss most about primary school, Austin said: “easy work”.
The Middle Schoolers for the Day program was launched this year and occurs once a week.
Education Minister Mark Monaghan said it was “innovative and effective” but “clearly shows there are significant barriers between primary and middle schooling”.
It comes as the government aims to reduce those transition barriers and improve attendance by phasing out middle schools for in favour of a comprehensive secondary school structure.
Stuart Park Primary School Principal Danielle Hall said the program was developed in response to students’ anxiety, and had been well-received by the grade.
Friday was Ms Hall’s last day at the school, a surprise farewell assembly wishing her well for her move to Bakewell Primary School.
SEE THE PICS
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