Transition

A message from the Headteacher

We are really excited and honoured that your child will be joining us in September as one of the very first founding cohort of Year 7 pupils, our ambassadors for years to come.

It is extremely important to us that both children and parents feel ready to make the step from primary to secondary school and arrive with the confidence to make the most of the opportunities Brian Clarke has to offer.

I’m really looking forward to getting to know you and your child and I am confident that our transition processes will ensure your child has the very best start.

Allison Ash, Headteacher

The Transition Process – Year 7, September 2022

• Transition Evening: All children will attend a transition evening with one parent / carer.  We ask that families stick to this restriction of one parent / carer where possible due to limited availability of space.  Unfortunately we will not be able to accommodate siblings or wider family members. This year the transition evening will take place at Blue Coat School on Thursday the 23^rd June 6pm – 7pm and we look forward to welcoming you to what will be a very exciting evening.

• Transition Day: All children will attend a transition day on Thursday 30th June 2022 9am – 3pm. For this year only, this will take place at Blue Coat School, where we have kindly been given our own Brian Clarke allocated spaces for the day. On this day, pupils will get to meet their form tutor and the other pupils in their form and will take part in lots of ‘getting to know you’ activities. They will also get to meet a number of their teachers and experience lessons to get them really excited about secondary learning and experiences.

• School Visits: All children will be visited by a member of the Brian Clarke team prior to starting the school in September. These visits will take place between May and July 2022 and are an important opportunity for your child to meet a friendly face and ask any questions they might have about starting secondary school.

• Vulnerable Children: Children with EHCPs, those who are in care, children in need or those on the Child Protection registers will be identified by the end of March to organise bespoke transition plans.

• Communication: All families will receive a transition pack which will include a transition booklet for pupils and a Brian Clarke Family Handbook. This will contain all the relevant information needed to support your child’s smooth transition to Brian Clarke.

• Uniform: For the first academic year, Monkhouse will be our uniform supplier for all branded and bespoke items. Please see our uniform page for more details School Uniform – The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy (brian-clarke.org). Once items are available to order, details will also be available on the Monkhouse website.

• Catering: We are proud to be partnered with Cucina who will be providing our school meal service for breakfast, break and lunchtimes. Cucina offer excellent deals including a fixed price, lunchtime meal deal menu at £2.55 (price correct at February 2022), which can include anything from a street-food wrap and cookie to a full roast dinner with sponge pudding and custard; this menu is available to all, including those children on free school meals. As a cashless school, we will give you more details in the summer term about setting up your online account as well as a guide for how to top up your child’s balance

• Curriculum transition – Academic Transition Skills (ATS): Because we are a cross-phase Trust, we understand the demands of transition across the key stages and ensure the curriculum our pupils encounter at Key Stage 3 builds on their learning and experiences at Key Stage 2. Children will come to Brian Clarke from a variety of primary schools and we understand that there will be different ways primary schools will have taught how to structure extended pieces of writing, learn new vocabulary and analyse texts. ATS bridges those differences by introducing children to a set of consistent approaches and language that will support them in accessing the secondary curriculum. Pupils will have one lesson a week of ATS in Year 7 and one lesson a fortnight in Year 8.

• MyChildAtSchool (MCAS): By downloading the MyChildAtSchool App you will have ready access to your child’s timetable, attendance, progress and behaviour once they start at Brian Clarke, as well as being kept up to date with school correspondence. We will notify you once you are eligible to download the App.
  
  
• Transition Reading Project – Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible. At Brian Clarke we prioritise developing childrens’ ability to read and their literacy skills more generally to ensure they can access our curriculum. As part of transition all children have been given a copy of Homer’s Odyssey and a Transition Reading Booklet. A copy of the booklet can be found here. Children are expected to read a chapter and complete associated activities.  All children are expected to have engaged with six chapters over the summer holiday. To support struggling readers, staff across the Trust have filmed videos of themselves reading a chapter. A link to the videos can be found here. All children will hand in their completed Transition Reading Booklet to their Form Tutor by Tuesday 13th September. The text will then be continued to be read aloud during form times and links to the start of the English curriculum students will meet in Year 7. To support your child in their reading please have a look at this one page help guide for parents here. If you are looking for appropriate texts to support their reading please see this list of books here.

Message from the Head of Year 7