KEY+ Group: Bright Beginnings
Bright Beginnings: Supporting Year 6 Transitions with Confidence, Creativity and Community
A group of inspiring young people took on the KEY+ Challenge with one clear goal in mind: to make the transition to secondary school a little easier for Year 6 pupils. Using their own lived experiences and passion for supporting others, they created a thoughtful and impactful social action project that not only helped others but transformed them in the process.
Their project involved creating guide leaflets with tips and advice for Year 6 students preparing for big school. The team didn’t stop there though! They also took the brave step of delivering assemblies in local primary schools, where they handed out the leaflets and spoke to pupils directly. Through this experience, they developed essential skills like public speaking, decision-making, handling pressure, and communicating confidently with both children and adults.
The idea for their project came naturally, Larissa and Olivia explained:
“We chose this project idea because we can remember our own experiences when transitioning into comp… how nervous we were. We wanted to act on our own experiences and do this project to support other year 6s who are going through the same emotions as we did. To reassure them and support them through this big change. We are also interested in working with children when we leave school, so this was a great opportunity to get into schools and get a taster of that. It felt like a huge accomplishment.”
For many in the group, presenting in assemblies was a completely new experience – and one that pushed them out of their comfort zones. Issy shared: “It was a huge thing to present to the 80-100 students in each assembly, I’d never done anything like that before.”
Despite initial nerves, the group found the experience incredibly rewarding. Larissa said simply: “I loved going into the schools.” And Lucy added: “I really enjoyed going into the primary schools and seeing their reactions – I was so proud.”
And Olivia captured the full-circle moment beautifully: “It felt so cool going back into school and thinking about the flyer we had created, and that all of those year 6s have something that I made, and with my face on it.”
Meanwhile, Erica thrive in the creative side of the work: “I enjoyed planning the project and how we could make a positive impact on the children. It was really fun creating the flyer and having full creative reign of the design, from the colours to the fonts etc.”
This project wasn’t just about helping others – it also gave the team a real boost in their own personal development. Larissa reflected on how the challenge had transformed her: “I have built so much confidence.” Lucy added, “I have never presented to such a big group before, I could do it again.” And Olivia explained how she’d grown under pressure: “I think having to think on the spot when we were in the assemblies has built my confidence, to just trust myself and do it!”
These new skills – confidence, communication, teamwork, problem-solving and leadership – will stick with them far beyond the challenge itself.
Overall, what really stood out for the team was how deeply satisfying the experience was. Larissa shared: “It made me feel successful, and proud of myself to see the children asking us different questions and I was able to answer their questions and put their concerns at ease.”
For Olivia, “It was so rewarding, we thought about it, planned it all, and the whole thing went exactly how we wanted it to go. It has made me think about my future, and what I would want to do as a long term career.”
The team is especially proud of the originality and impact of their idea which Erica summed up perfectly: “Thinking of a new, unique idea that not many other people have thought of, and giving the children an opportunity to talk to real secondary school students who have experienced their worries, and being able to give real lived advice.”
After their incredible journey, they have some advice for other young people thinking about starting their own KEY+ journey: “Just go for it! Be confident!” and “Try think of a project that hasn’t been done before. Think outside the box!”
After reflecting on everything they achieved, the team shared some final words to show how proud and grateful they are: “We have never been prouder of ourselves. [This] pushed us out of our comfort zone and allowed us to make a difference in our community. We also love the fact that alongside doing a social action project, we have the chance to go to Beamish and make a full day of it while we discuss our evaluation, it is such a treat and we are so grateful!”
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