Big Steps: Upwards & Onwards – A Year 6 Transition Assembly & Workshop
Preparing for Secondary School with confidence, creativity, and excitement
Bigfoot’s Upwards & Onwards programme offers Year 6 pupils an uplifting and interactive way to explore one of the biggest milestones in their school journey, the move from primary to secondary school. Combining performance, discussion and creative drama, this engaging assembly and workshop help students acknowledge their worries, celebrate their achievements, and step forward with confidence and positivity.
The experience begins with the Upwards & Onwards film, a fun and relatable story featuring Bigfoot characters Stephan and Roxanne as they navigate their own transition to secondary school. With plenty of humour and heart, the film explores common concerns such as getting lost, making friends, fitting in, and keeping up with homework, while showing pupils that every challenge has a solution.
After watching the film, pupils join in a guided discussion, working together to problem-solve real transition worries and discover all the exciting opportunities that secondary school brings, such as new subjects, new friendships, new independence and new adventures.
The follow-on Upwards & Onwards Workshop builds on these ideas through movement, teamwork and creativity. Using games, role-play and tableaux, students explore shared emotions and practise turning anxieties into actions. They identify practical “top tips for transition“, learning how to listen, focus, and support each other as they adapt to change.
Longer versions of the workshop include additional creative elements such as devising short performances or creating origami “boats” that symbolise what pupils will take with them on their journey, and what they’ll leave behind. These activities offer a powerful, visual way to celebrate growth and new beginnings.
By the end of Upwards & Onwards, pupils feel reassured, supported and inspired. They understand that while change can be daunting, it’s also an exciting opportunity to grow, and that with courage, kindness and confidence, they’re more than ready to take their next step into secondary school.
This popular programme is often booked in Summer Term 2.
A 45-Minute assembly followed up by workshops that vary in length based on your Year 6 intake
