All the P7 pupils in the Musselburgh Primary schools gathered at Musselburgh Grammar School on Thursday 22 February to take part in the first transition event of the year, to help them prepare for the move to secondary education in August.

The event was planned and organised by the schools’ Enterprise Co-ordinators and a group of P7 pupils, who represented all the schools. On the day the pupils, who were arranged in mixed school groups, were supported with their tasks by a very enthusiastic and helpful group of S3 and S4 pupils from the Grammar school. Working with the older pupils was a very good experience for the primary pupils.

The pupils engaged in three activities – a thinking skills task, an art activity and a problem solving task. While the activities were much enjoyed by the children, the emphasis was more on getting to know new people, working together in teams and building confidence about the move. Initially the children were all quite quiet and reserved but this did not last long and soon there was a happy, noisy buzz in the hall as everyone became more relaxed with each other.

Invited guests and some secondary school staff came along to support the event, in addition to the primary teachers and support staff who had accompanied the children, making it a good opportunity for the adults to get to know each other too.

At the end, everyone agreed that the event was a great success and much enjoyed by the pupils. As a transition event, it served its main purpose of going some way to helping prepare the children for this big change in their lives.