Your anxiety must be secondary [Independent.ie]
- Published: 23 May 2011
I had a foretaste of the future the other week. Exam time rolled around to our house for the first time. No, I don't have any candidates for Junior or Leaving Certificate yet; I had a child doing an entrance exam for secondary school.
Those of you who are hardened veterans of parenting through the state exams can scoff; those of you whose children are still safely ensconced in primary school need to just wait until it is your turn and then you can decide to deride me or not.
When I think it through a little bit more, I believe the reason for my anxiety wasn't the exam per se; it was the fact that it represented irrefutable proof that my son is on the verge of moving into secondary school. It made the new school, with its unfamiliar hallways, rooms, sounds and smells, too tangible and real.
I think my son has had a great time in primary school and I wonder is he about to be thrown to the proverbial lions in bigger, brasher, harsher secondary school. Will he cope with the new social mix? Will he cope with the new subjects and so many different teachers? Will he settle in?
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