THE call 'back to school' comes as a great relief to most parents who work so hard in the summer holidays to keep their children entertained, amused and happy.

However the feeling can be all too different for their offspring, especially when going up to "big" school.

Youngsters can feel fearful inside and small anxieties concerning who they are going to sit by in class or whether they have got the right sports kit, can magnify into gigantic proportions.

They may not admit as much to their parents but the big step from being a big fish in a small pool to being a minnow in an ocean can be all too daunting.

Parents are vital at this time to give their children the confidence and re-assurance they need to pass through the new school portals without trepidation.

Once inside they will be far too busy being welcomed and given all sorts of information that they won't have time to worry, according to Bernard Roberts, head of Prince Henry's High.

He said: "The first day they are given an information booklet and a map. The first lesson is given over to handing out timetables and going through the school rules, then it's straight down to work with homework for the first night."

He said pupils were also told which teacher to go to if they have a problem.

Mr Roberts said: "We try to put them as much at their ease as possible with the pastoral staff having a high profile in the first week or too."

He said the children and parents would have already visited their new schools well beforehand and heads of middle and high schools would also have visited the children in the lower schools to allow plenty of opportunity to get acquainted.