Cathy Jamieson, the Minister of Education, was one of the distinguished guests invited to preview a show based on Moving On Up, a ground-breaking guidance programme devised by the Borderline Theatre Company for children making the sea-change from primary to secondary education. It has been trialled by first-year pupils of St Andrew’s Academy in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, and P7 pupils at its feeder schools.

The pilot programme began in April in the secondary school’s four feeder primaries in Saltcoats, Stevenston, Largs and Ardrossan. The Ayr-based theatre company’s education and outreach officer, Fiona Milligan, led workshops with the P7 pupils throughout the summer term, exploring the apprehension many of them felt at the prospect of leaving the familiarity of their school for the rumoured dangers that awaited them.

In the second phase of the project, which started in September, the now S1 pupils have used their drama skills to reflect on their experiences and devise a theatre-in-education programme to stage for the present P6 and P7 pupils in the feeder primaries this week.

While last year’s P7s were looking ahead to leaving primary, the P6s were exploring the self-esteem that goes with being school seniors and this term, as P7s, have been considering their next move. The result is a performance entitled “S1, Here We Come”. This was followed by a question session led by the S1s for the distinguished audience at St Anthony’s Primary in Saltcoats.

Bullying loomed large in the fears of those who will be moving up to secondary school. The third scene of the programme, “First Year Do’ In”, featured a head-down-the-toilet bog wash. Sam Taylor, convener for North Ayrshire Council, who introduced the play, remembered suffering such an indignity, as did Peter McNamara, chair of North Aryshire’s educational services, who closed the proceedings, and shared the memory of his bog wash ending with a thrashing from his father for tearing his new school jacket.

These recollections substantiated the pupils’ concerns, which included worries of being obliged to join a gang for protection and having to conform to deviant behaviour, such as smoking, in order to gain acceptance. These scenes, framed by a whole-group tableau and mime to bars of “A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis vs JXL, made an effective focus for the educational programme.

It ended with the questions session, with a panel of S1s lined up as if for a press conference. When they were asked for their advice to P7 pupils, the succinct answer was: “Don’t worry about rumours.”

As Mr McNamara said, the policy of creating primary school councils and youth forums was aimed at encouraging young people to talk more, to their teachers and one another. Fears thrive on ignorance and misinformation.

Ms Jamieson said the drama was “absolutely brilliant” and asked the panel:

“Did it help?” and “Should we do more of it?” The S1 pupils gave the project a fervent recommendation: it had helped them to move up, to cope. One even said that there should be more of it across all of Scotland.

As far as North Ayrshire is concerned, Ian Barr, the evaluation officer for the project, has judged it a success and arts officer Norma McCrone has expressed firm interest in its continuation.