Hannah: What Primary School did you come from?

Adelle: I came from Northcote Primary.

H: Was it scary coming to a new school on your own?

A: It was, but it was also exciting. I really wanted to try something new, and see something different.

H: What did the School do to make you feel comfortable and welcome you in the first few weeks?

A: It was really inclusive! It was really good, we did a lot of activities together but sometimes because we did things in smaller groups we didn’t get to meet other people from the year level.

H: How did you make new friends?

A: I’m a very social person, so I was just thinking; “you’ve got to start somewhere!” You’ve got to talk to people, you can’t say you’re not going to talk to them, otherwise you’re not going to make many friends.

H: What were the challenges of starting Year 7 and how have you overcome these challenges?

A: A couple of days before the first day of Year 7, I was really nervous about what was going to happen. But how I overcame it was when I actually came to school, I felt really comfortable, and figured out that you’ve just got to put yourself out there.

H: Even though it was a long time ago – I still remember coming to the School and feeling like I already fit in here.

A: Yeah definitely!

H: How have you found life at Ivanhoe Girls’ so far?

A: It’s been really good; I haven’t met anybody who is rude or anything! I really like that it’s a community in the School, I do things out of school and you’ve got the community with you there as well.

H: What advice would you give to a Year 7 Solo Flyer in 2025?

A: I would just say that you don’t have to worry about it! I was really close to my Primary School friends but it’s still exciting finding something new, and now I have different friends in all different areas!

H: Did you do any clubs or activities that helped you connect with other students?

A: I’m really excited to do the School Musical next year, I did some ushering this year and it was really cool to see how it came together. Did you do the Junior School Musical last year?

H: I did! I love the musical, I got to know a lot more people. It’s fun practicing for it and performing it, it was a great experience.

A: Yeah, because you’re already in a friendship group but then when you do a Musical, you meet new people.

H: And I went out of my comfort zone a lot, with singing and everything.

A: But how did being a Junior School student prepare you for the jump to Senior School?

H: I knew a lot of people and I sort of knew the School environment and a lot of things about it. But there’s still things I didn’t know, it’s still a big jump but it was comfortable.

A: Obviously you knew the Junior School grounds well, were there areas of the Senior School that you felt that you knew or others that you didn’t?

H: I felt like I knew some of the places, obviously the Sports areas in the Senior School I knew well. But classrooms in the Science Wing were a bit confusing so I had to find my way around there in the first few weeks.

A: Yeah that’s nice! You were a Junior School Co-Captain in Year 6, did that experience make the transition to Year 7 easier?

H: I think it did, because I knew a lot of people. In terms of public speaking, it helped me know how to talk to people more than I would before. It helped me a lot.

Hannah and Adelle
Year 7