Up and Away Newsround Specials

Hi, my name is Jersey and this is my school.

Everyone gets nervous starting a new secondary school, but it can be

harder for those of us who stand out from the crowd. I remember

being really nervous. I'm awe autistic which makes me different

from most kids. I find it it difficult being around lots of

people. I can be sensitive. In this programme, I'm going to find out

about how some of you feel about moving up into secondary school and

hear some amazing stories about how other kids coped with it.

On the first day of my school, I was worried I would get bullied.

I was worried that I would be quite lonely.

I was thinking, "How am I going to get through this this?" It was OK

in the end, I I loved it. Come with me and discover, whoever

you are, this huge moment which you might have been dreading can be the

best thing ever. No one likes to admit it, but

everyone has worries about going to secondary school. In Scotland, the

new term started a few weeks ago. These guys know how the first day

feels. I couldn't sleep at all last night.

I was really excited, but a little nervous in case I get lost.

There is a lot of people, more than primary.

I didn't really fit in at my last school.

Pretty scary. I am now in year ten, but it can be

nerve-wracking if you are different. Sometimes because of my autism I

can't concentrate and sometimes even worse, the teachers think I am

being rude and they get alangry. However, -- angry. However since

they know it is not the the case. So it is best to tell people about

yourself straightaway. When I was standing outside the

gates of high school, I was thinking, "How am I going to get

through this?" The children are bigger than in primary school. I

thought, "This is going to be bad.". My name is Daniel. I am 12 and I

have restricted growth. I am 1.2 meters tall which is under

four foot. At primary school, there were a lot younger children and

they don't understand. They just used to wit per to their friends or

something -- whisper to their friends and call me nastly names

like a midget and laugh at me. I felt really sad and upset.

When I was going to move up to high school, I thought it would be the

same with people making fun of me. I was trying to say I didn't want

to go to school to my dad. My feign fears he was a small

person going into a big world. That's why we did the letter for

the school. Because of his size children and adults might treat

Daniel as though he is younger than he is.

However, there will be occasions when he will need help.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping all our children

to have a happy and fulfilling life at school and beyond.

I felt very pleased about sending the letter, but when I was standing

outside the gates of high school, my dad had just dropped me and I'm

really nervous. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. I

was wrig and was crying and I held on to my dad, "I don't want to go.

I don't want to go." I thought it was going to be as bad as I thought,

but it was OK in the end. Since they sent that letter, all the

people, they understand about my condition. They don't mind helping

me at all. A lot of children in the upper years were given him high

fives saying, "We'll look out for you." I thought he might be a bit

different, but once you get to know him, he is another friend.

He is funny. You can trust him.

A good player at hide-and-seek. He is a really good friend.

I don't want to be tall. I love my condition. I loved it. It has been

great. Daniel were very worried -- like

Daniel my mum and dad were worried about me moving up into secondary

school. We had to say goodbye at the door.

That was hard because I walked you down to school.

You stalked me! But you spotted me in the hedgerow!

Once I was at school, I believed everybody told the trust and meant

what they said, but that wasn't always the case.

Because of my autism, students sometimes treat me like a baby

which can be frustrating, but some kids who stand out, can have a

tougher time than I did. Secondary school can be a scary prospect and

one of the biggest worries is bullying.

On my first day of going to high school, my worry would I get

bullied because I was different. I didn't think I would make any new

friends. This is Calum, he is 12 years old

and and like me, he looks like any other kid his age. But problems

with his eyesight made life at school difficult. I have got a

number of conditions. My eyes are bad because of the

connection with the brain from the eye. If you like show me like a

busy picture with a cat in the middle, I probably wouldn't see it

or I would see it, but as something different. Before I went to high

school, I did worry about standing out because if I got bullied

because I wouldn't be able to see if I approached people and if they

were coming to bully you or coming to be your friend or something. It

was just a blur of colour. Calum settled in in well on his first day,

but his poor eyesight soon caused him problems outs of the classroom.

People take advantage of my eyesight. It makes me feel singled

out. 123450 when he had difficult

situations at school, it makes him stressed and he gets angry and

sometimes doesn't want to go to school. It has been like quite

upsetting because it is me, like they have been doing it at me and

they used to do it a lot. Thankfully the school stepped in

and sorted out the bullying. Since then, things have been better

for Calum and he has got confident enough to cycle through the park to

school, with a little help from his friends.

When I was diagnosed with my eye conditions, the doctors told my mum

I wouldn't be able to cycle. My mum pushed me to cycle when I was young.

My friends help me out by telling me if there is someone in front of

me or telling me where we are going, rather than leaving me with no clue

with where we are going. I'm not going let my eyesight hold me back.

Life Life can be tough for kids who are zirch and I should know. -- all

the kids in my family stand out for one reason or another. My brother

has autism, while my sister has a rare condition which means she has

physical problems and learning difficulties.

I was born into a family with special needs and I didn't think it

was that big a deal until I realised that not everybody lives

with these disabilities. I love them. I love love them very much,

but for families like us, even going out for a meal meal can bring

a set of problems. People look at Daisy and Lenny and

they point like they haven't seen a disabled person before and it

really hurts his feelings. It can be tough when you stand out

in public. And one of the most public public places in the world

is school. Meet Aya, she has cerebral palsy. A

condition that affects her co- ordination and movement.

I was born premature. My head got squashed when I was born and that

damaged my control system and I have cerebral palsy and I'm 13.

I feel frustrated that I can't run about and jump and skip and do most

things that a normal 13-year-old can do. When I'm getting about and

not in my chair, I tend to crawl on the floor like a soldier when they

are trying to sneak up on someone. I went to a special school in which

I made quite a few good friends. But because she was doing so well

in special school, Aya left many of the friends behind, making the move

to secondary school. Before I went to high school, I had

a number of good friends. The amount of homework I was going to

get, the amount of children, whether I was going to fit in or

not because of the way I look. I was worried that socially I was

going to be quite lonely. They don't have have the facilities that

special schools have and in a way, by throwing her into the cold

water... Thanks. By throwing her into the cold water,

sometimes you would be surprised of the ability that she does have..

first day, I was a mixture of excitement and nervous. One of the

staff came up and gave me a big hug. I remember she she came back home.

She had a big smile on her face. So that was a good thing. There was a

smile of, "OK. It is not that scary as I thought it was. I'm still

alive. I'm still here." At school everybody was a bit wary.

They were talking to me. It's still difficult, but I thought it would

be a lot worse. I think the ice is breaking. I get

a lot more "hi" I'm not scared. I'm a normal person and they're

beginning to like me which I'm happy about. I'm happy about that.

Life in a new secondary school can be tough, but the good news is most

problems disappear after just a few days.

It has been a week since I started secondry school and it has been

very good. I am happy to go to school every morning.

The night bifer started second the night before I started secondary