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We were many years on from where we had been, but there were still certain memories that were harder than others.
It was the Year 6 leavers’ assembly and parents had been invited to hear the funny stories and songs.
As I watched them sing with their arms around each other, it was hard to stop the tears turning into sobs.
It hadn’t been easy. It had never been easy. But these friends, these teachers, had been her constant.
And those best friends? They had been the incentive, the pull, the reason she made it through each day.
So as I sat with the other parents awaiting the next stage, I knew ours was going to look very, very different.
This little safety net was disappearing.
They were all moving on.
And it really felt like the end of everything she knew, those friendships that had meant so much.
And the hardest part?
She wanted what her friends would have.
As I sat there in that school hall, I knew she wasn’t going where her friends were going. Primary school was over.
The one part of her life that had looked anything like everyone else’s had come to an end.
She had been hanging on by a thread for so long, and now even that thread was being cut.
As the applause echoed around the hall and the children sang their final song, it dawned on me what she was actually losing losing and I knew that life was going to be very different from everyone else’s now.
Extract from the Sunday Times bestseller Can’t Not Won’t by Eliza Fricker.
The transition to secondary school can bring so many mixed emotions. For some families it is exciting, for others it can be filled with uncertainty, grief, worry and difficult decisions about what comes next.
Join me on Friday morning for my webinar, Transition to Secondary School, where we’ll talk honestly about preparing for different outcomes, exploring the options available, and navigating this complex period with greater confidence and understanding.
Whether your child is moving on with their peers or their path is taking a different direction, I hope you’ll leave feeling more informed, validated and less alone.
All tickets include access to the recording.
Friday 26th June 10am.
