I don’t know about you, but I quite like shoes and the feeling of getting new shoes. I was talking to some children about this and they said that new shoes can make them feel a bit more grown up, because they have physically grown, Some said that they felt proud and walked a bit taller. Others said they made them feel smart and ready for the new term and new learning.
The new academic year is rather like that, full of excitement, it’s shiny and new. There are empty exercise books filled with promise, stories yet to be written, history yet to be learned and problems still to be solved. The new year has so much potential, so much waiting for us. We are proud because we are getting that bit older and hopefully a bit wiser; perhaps we have some new responsibilities that make us walk taller.
But there is sometimes a problem with new shoes ….. sometimes they may rub a little bit, or feel a little bit tight, maybe even squeak a bit or be unbending. A new year can be a little like that, strange, unfamiliar and a little bit uncertain. Reacquainting ourselves with our friends and perhaps not quite knowing what to say. Getting used to a new form teacher who does thing differently to your last one. Perhaps there has been a step up in the work and things are a bit tricky sometimes. Finding resources in new places in a different classroom and getting used to a new routine and timetable. All of these things are little pinches and rubs and can make us feel a bit off balance and maybe a little bit uncomfortable – rather like that new pair of smart shoes.
Perhaps we can go back to the old pair that were so comfortable? But that would be going back to where we were, and we have progressed since then, in so many ways. Every scuff and scrape and frayed lace is a sign of how much we have done. And remember that those comfy shoes , last year were brand new, shiny shoes – a little bit tight in places, but they quickly became comfortable.
The new school year is like that and teachers will help make your metaphorical shoes more comfortable, so that there are fewer pinch points and fewer rubs that make things sore. Friends will support and help one another to adjust to the change, we know that friendship and understanding is so important. You will soon get used to the new teachers, the new friends, the new routines and you won’t notice your shoes any more. School will be your very comfortable place all over again, very soon.
“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world!
Marilyn Monroe
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