Secondary school for little James, it's said, for starters not a success, introduced with hesitation (9)
I believe the answer is:
gymnasium
'secondary school' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'little james it's said for starters not a success introduced with hesitation' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'hesitation' could be 'um' (um is said in hesitation) and 'um' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gymnasium that I've seen before include "Physical training facility" , "Building dedicated to physical exercise" , "European school" , "... German school" , "Work-out room" .)