January saw the introduction of Positive Transitions to schools in Midlothian, providing sessions on topics like coding to help young people discover what they enjoy and prepare to transition from primary to secondary school.
Every week, Youth & Family Coordinator Natasha runs sessions for young people at primary schools in Midlothian. Together, they engage in activities that let them discuss their concerns about secondary school, such as playing with slime, creating art or making stress balls. These activities create a relaxing environment and a safe space for the young people to speak about what is on their minds and make new friends.
We’re delighted to be expanding our Positive Transitions service into Midlothian. We have seen the profound positive impact the service can make for schools, young people and their families as we support them in the transition to secondary school. Our interventions allow their voices to be heard and help them feel comfortable meeting new people, tackling different emotions and building their confidence. Since 2016, we’ve continued to innovate within the service through research and collaboration across sectors.
The next generation of coders
Positive Transitions aims to give young people new insights into some of their favourite hobbies and even discover new ones. Thanks to recent funding from Safe Deposit Scotland, we purchased a set of “Marty the Robots,” an interactive tool and toy that helps teach coding to a younger audience. As digital becomes ever-prominent in modern life and new jobs are created in these fields, it’s important to help improve young people’s digital literacy.
By introducing Marty to our group sessions, young people can learn about coding from a much younger age, igniting new passions and explaining in simple terms how the devices they’ve grown up with work. Marty’s can be programmed to complete sets of movements based on the code that is implemented. While one person could operate Marty, our sessions show young people the importance of working as a team, using problem-solving to combine their codes and give Marty multiple sets of instructions.
The future of transitions
Our team of experienced Youth & Family Coordinators have developed these sessions based on consultations, feedback, and suggestions from young people across Edinburgh and the Lothians. Innovation is the key to creating an environment that supports growth, and funding such as this allows us to invest in new ways to spark the imagination of young people, inspiring passions in STEM, the arts and more.
As we continue to listen to and learn from young people, teachers and schools, we discover new opportunities to further develop our support of young people, just as we did in 2014 when we interviewed over 700 young people in the first consultation that led to the creation of Positive Transitions.
The support we provide in Edinburgh and the Lothians provides us with local experience of the realities of the transition from primary to secondary school. Alongside wider research undertaken with the University of Edinburgh, we aim to influence policy to ensure positive transitions for all young people in Scotland.
Help us continue to invest in ideas, people and technology that supports young people by supporting People Know How through a subscription to the Scottish Children’s Lottery. We’ll receive 20% of the cost of your ticket, while you’ll have a chance to win up to £25,000 and other prizes.*
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