{"id":12718,"date":"2025-08-29T13:08:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=12718"},"modified":"2025-09-23T08:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:06:19","slug":"the-smart-way-to-prepare-for-secondary-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/childrens-health\/the-smart-way-to-prepare-for-secondary-school\/","title":{"rendered":"The smart way to prepare for secondary school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12719\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/08\/29130403\/vicky-1756472642-Niamh-Clarke-headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/08\/29130403\/vicky-1756472642-Niamh-Clarke-headshot.jpg 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/08\/29130403\/vicky-1756472642-Niamh-Clarke-headshot-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Niamh Clarke<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">ISPCC Community Engagement Manager, Smart Moves<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The free \u2018Smart Moves\u2019 programme can help children make a smooth and stress-free transition to secondary school.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The move from primary to secondary school is one of the biggest challenges that Ireland\u2019s children will face in their academic careers. Thankfully, ISPCC offers a toolkit for schools that can have a hugely beneficial impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-whole-school-approach\"><strong>Whole school approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>ISPCC\u2019s Smart Moves programme takes a whole school community approach. Since its launch in 2021, it has received rave reviews.&nbsp;<a>It<\/a><a href=\"#_msocom_1\">[AO1]<\/a>&nbsp; is a free, resilience and evidence-based programme for both primary and secondary school pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It provokes discussions within the class setting, and this peer-to-peer support can be invaluable for young people who are worried about what the future may hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-teacher-led\"><strong>Teacher-led<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary programme is teacher-led and includes 15 short lessons covering topics from friendship to problem-solving to sleep difficulties. Smart Moves is also teacher-led at secondary school.&nbsp;It involves 24 sessions covering a myriad of topics, including organisational ability, friendship and conflict resolution. Each lesson lasts 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Students and teachers who have <br>completed the programme <br>describe it as a game-changer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-easing-transitions\"><strong>Easing transitions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Students and teachers who have completed the programme describe it as a game-changer. One sixth-class pupil said: \u201cIt made me feel more prepared by talking about my feelings and other people\u2019s feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, a teacher said: \u201cWe could see children&#8217;s confidence grow, and there was a visible reduction in anxiety about the move to secondary.\u201d Another teacher said: \u201cIt allows them to discuss their fears, and these conversations calm them and show them how they can prepare for what is to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tess-recommended\"><strong>TESS-recommended<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Smart Moves has been used by over 1,100 schools and School Completion Programmes (SCPs). It is included in a list of TESS-recommended resources, which can be used for transition work in SCP projects nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a teacher registers for the programme, they receive a guidebook and an instructional video as well as student journals, posters and an introductory letter for parents. There is no additional training needed for facilitators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"color:#32373c;background-color:#00d1b2\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-notice ab-font-size-18 ab-block-notice\" data-id=\"5e5432\"><div class=\"ab-notice-text\" style=\"border-color:#00d1b2\"><p>To register and learn more about Smart Moves, go to <a href=\"https:\/\/eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ispcc.ie%2Fsmart-moves%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CRowena.Walsh%40ispcc.ie%7Cf89efd584c5b46b071d408ddc38c11f4%7Cbb926d5eaf5f4830b812e4d184987285%7C0%7C0%7C638881728555459178%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Enfq5YmeQffocjk%2FiKRX9YxU92o0sKjHSypj9YH5cC4%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ispcc.ie\/smart-moves\/<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The free \u2018Smart Moves\u2019 programme can help children make a smooth and stress-free transition to secondary school. The move from primary to secondary school is one of the biggest challenges that Ireland\u2019s children will face in their academic careers. Thankfully, ISPCC offers a toolkit for schools that can have a hugely beneficial impact. Whole school &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/childrens-health\/the-smart-way-to-prepare-for-secondary-school\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":12720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3099],"tags":[5981],"class_list":["post-12718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childrens-health","tag-childrens-health-wellbeing-2025"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/08\/29130803\/vicky-1756472882-AdobeStock_176682579-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/08\/29130803\/vicky-1756472882-AdobeStock_176682579-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12721,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12718\/revisions\/12721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}