The Brain Smart® Transition Project

Engaging Year 6 students in mental wellbeing through Performing Arts

The transition from primary to secondary school is one of the most significant changes young people experience.

There are many ‘unknown’ factors that can cause a great amount of anxiety and stress in young people – including which school they might get into, whether they will struggle to make new friends, or even how often detentions are handed out! These factors – combined with their age-related development and external pressures such as SATs – can lead to a decline in mental wellbeing during Year 6 and in the lead up to Year 7.

The Brain Smart® Transition Project provides an ensemble approach to learning which allows students to understand the collective nature of their anxieties and that what they are experiencing is a common feeling amongst all, therefore reducing the feelings of loneliness and despair that can often accompany anxiety.

Through various drama games, students discover the root cause of their anxieties and are then taken step by step through a simple toolkit to help them get into Smart Mode.

You can find out more information via the Brain Smart Transition website.

Great fun workshop which captured all the children’s attention through interactive games, practical advice and enthusiastic instructors who are clearly passionate about supporting young people through this transition.

H Riley, Year 6 Teacher

How it works

The course takes students back 2.5 million years to the time of the first humans as Hunter-Gatherers. Facing life endangering threats every day, our brains were constantly in Threat Mode, endlessly triggering the Fight, Flight or Freeze response to keep us alive. By using Performing Arts inspired ice-breakers and games, we help students to realise that their fears and anxieties around moving up to secondary school are a natural and normal response to their brain’s behaviour.

Students are given the opportunity to open up through The Line of Positivity and are then reassured by videos of past Year 6 students who prove to them that they are not alone.

We teach them how to manage these feelings with a simple toolkit to become Brain Smart® and provide teachers with the resources to further embed these concepts in the classroom – ready for them to fly the nest in September!

All students take part in a Brain Smart® Graduation Ceremony where they receive a personalised certificate and goodie bag.

Impact

They develop a clearer understanding of their emotions, greater confidence in new environments and practical skills they can carry with them as they continue their learning journey.

The aim is not to deliver a fixed outcome, but to provide knowledge that young people can draw on as they navigate change, supporting positive development.

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Case Study or Short Story

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> Link goes here if needed

Hear from a Year 7 teacher

Julie, a Year 7 teacher, shares her reflections on the Brain Smart® Transition Project and the difference it makes once students arrive in secondary school.

Hear first-hand how the programme helps young people understand their feelings, settle in with confidence and make the most of their new start.

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