What Really Happens When You Start Secondary School? episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 4, 2025 · 19 MIN

What Really Happens When You Start Secondary School?

from Balanced Ambition · host Matt Southam

This one’s a special episode. I sat down with my daughter Serena, just before she started secondary school, to chat through how she’s feeling about the big change — from nerves and new uniforms to favourite teachers and Tiny Tim the turtle. A real coming-of-age moment.👀 If you're a parent, a teacher, or just someone who remembers that moment of growing up... this one will hit home.Let us know in the comments what your first day of secondary school was like!Timestamps:00:00 – Starting secondary school soon01:20 – Reflecting on primary school memories02:50 – SATs pressure and support from teachers04:50 – Fun stories from year 5 and 606:00 – The nerves around “big school”07:15 – Summer school and navigating a bigger building08:40 – Making new friends and first impressions10:00 – New uniform, expensive blazers & growing up12:00 – Sports, Hyrox and dodgeball dreams15:30 – What Serena will never forget from primary17:45 – Shoutout to her teachers and first podcast wrap-up!

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 4, 2025

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