For pRIMARY PUPILS
ERIN BILL
Hi, my name is Erin and I joined Down High School in September 2008.
My primary school, Academy Primary School in Saintfield, was fairly big for a primary school but when I went to the open night for Down High, I was completely surprised at its sheer size! I passed door after door and walked through corridor after corridor and when I finally left to go home I thought; “Wow!!!”
When I woke up on the morning of my first day at school, I was tingling with excitement and shaking with nerves!!! A rollercoaster of emotions were spinning through my head. I started to feel a bit dizzy! I got out of my bed and stared at the strange, unfamiliar sight of a green uniform. My old uniform was navy and it felt peculiar to put on a new one. I pulled on my shirt (don’t you just hate it when the material is itchy?), buttoned my top button and put on the rest of my uniform while I was still trying to get my head around the fact that I was starting a new school. The uniform may feel uncomfortable at first but soon it will look and feel just right!
As I walked into my form class I looked around at all the different faces and thought “This is like starting in P.1 again!” If you are feeling worried or anxious just try to think positively and you’ll fly through the day.
At the end of the day I had met some really nice people and had a ball! If you keep calm and be friendly and open-minded you’ll think you’ve been at school for months (apart from the getting lost bit but you’ll soon know your way around!) Just keep calm… honestly, it really works!
When I looked at my timetable of subjects for the year I was totally confused. However, after about a week or two, I knew it like the back of my hand!
In Games the boys do rugby and the girls do hockey. Some boys may think they won’t like rugby and some girls may think they will not enjoy hockey … well all I can say is just get stuck in and you might find you actually enjoy it! I love hockey; the coaches are very encouraging and they make it as fun as they can. You can also join after school sports clubs e.g. hockey, rugby, netball, squash etc.
My highlight of Year 8 so far has to be the Cultra trip. You do lots of fun activities there and it’s really good craic. They even have a Victorian sweet shop. The sweets inside range from lemon bonbons to pure honeycomb!!! Yummy!!! Another activity is a talent show. It’s great fun and really entertaining! See if you can win over the teachers (sorry judges) and you’re in for a treat. On another day we all dressed up as Victorians. It’s very amusing to see people in these costumes and the teachers join in too! Anyway, enough about me - don’t feel anxious about starting a big, new school. You will soon get to know your class and teachers very well and Down High will feel like home. All I can say is don’t waste a moment at Down High and… enjoy!
