Transition
From Nursery to Primary School
Children joining our Academy all have the opportunity to build relationships with us and learn about the next stages of their education prior to starting with us in September. Once we have offered a place for your child and you have confirmed, you will then be invited to a number of stay-and-play sessions in the summer term where you and your child can meet us and join in the activities in the Nursery. We have found these stay-and-play sessions invaluable in helping children become familiar with the nursery setting, and staff, and in providing time for parents and staff to meet and share information.
You will be given an admissions pack that contains forms for you to fill in regarding your child, such as, your child’s likes, dislikes, medical needs etc. Depending on the information contained in this, we may then arrange to meet with you to discuss this further to ensure that we have all the appropriate information necessary to support your child when they start nursery.
Induction policy
Before starting Nursery in September staff will conduct a home visit for each child where any concerns will be addressed and questions answered. In order to ease transition from home to Nursery we have a well-established and successful induction procedure during the first week of the term.
This takes the form of a phased intake over a period of a few weeks adapted to suit your child’s individual needs, but also takes into consideration the routine and the needs of the other children in Nursery.
In your child’s first week they will be invited to stay for either: one morning OR afternoon session, (your child will not stay for lunch during this week.) During these sessions you are more than welcome to support your child by staying with them if necessary. If your child is happy to be left in Nursery then we ask that you do so that they can become independent.
In your child’s second week of Nursery they will stay for their morning/afternoon session and will also stay for lunch. You can choose to either provide a packed lunch for your child or have a school meal. If your child is happily attending Nursery during this week then they will attend for a full day in their third week.
We build this number of sessions up until your child is happily attending Nursery for their full hours. However, the length and number of sessions can be adjusted depending on how well your child is settling into Nursery life. We try to accommodate each child’s needs.
Children new to our Reception Class will have the opportunity to visit our school with their parents in the summer term. They will meet the staff, and be able to explore the classrooms and learning areas, so that they are familiar with the environment when they start school in September. It is our hope that the children joining our school will feel comfortable and excited by their new surroundings, ahead of their first day of school. This allows for relationships to be developed and any questions or concerns to be answered in good time.
We also do home visits for new pupils joining us in Reception so that children may meet with their teachers in their own home, and feel special in this vital transition period. If necessary, we may visit your child in the setting which they attend currently, so that we can gather any additional information which will enable us to settle your child more easily.
New to Reception children start school on the Monday of the first full week in September, and attend full time, staying for lunch. Staff will spend the first weeks focusing on settling them in, getting them used to routines, and helping them to feel happy, safe and comfortable in our school.
It is our priority to support you and your children, therefore we welcome any feedback and support from parents and carers on making this process successful.
Going into Secondary School
We work in partnerships with our local secondary schools to ensure that our young people feel confident about their next destination. Making that move into a new environment is challenging enough without knowing you'll be the youngest and newest ones there!
Through meetings with a teacher from your destination school happening at the Academy, we hope to help ease some of those nerves for our children. We therefore ensure that every child in our care gets the chance to meet with somebody from their chosen secondary school before the summer term is over of Year 6. We also encourage this to happen in groups so that pupils are aware that they are not going to be alone.
Visit days are arranged with the local secondary schools, where one of our teachers or support staff will accompany children to and from their new school. They will get the chance to explore their new learning environments and meet thier whole class, making friends before the start of September.
We strongly encourage parents with any concerns about the the transitional periods to come and speak to our Principal.