Transition Process
Transition from Primary to Secondary school is characterised by a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Most children will find ways to adapt very quickly, but a minority will find change much harder to cope with.
Here at The Holy Family Catholic School and Sixth Form, we have a dedicated transition team comprising of senior leaders, special needs’ staff and the year 7 pastoral care team to support every child at every step of the way and to ensure that they settle in to Secondary school life as smoothly and easily as possible.
We employ a range of practices to help support children’s transition including: Open Evenings, the sharing of information between schools, visits to primary schools, parents and carers’ induction evenings, distribution of information booklets, and the shoe box project, just to name a few.
Our induction process starts a year in advance with an Open Evening. Towards the end of September we invite all interested pupils and parents to attend our annual Open Evening. Following presentations from the Headteacher Mrs Laws, key members of staff and head boy and head girl, families have the opportunity to tour the school and visit each department. Alternative times can be arranged for people who are unable to attend the Open Evening. To arrange a visit please call the school on 0208 520 0482. For more information please see or Open Evening page.
Once places have been confirmed, our transition team will visit pupils in each of the primary schools, including non-catchment primary schools. The aim of the visits is to set aside any worries Year 6 pupils may have by talking about what to expect, when they join our school in September. The year 6 pupils have the opportunity to ask questions and find out about their exciting new school.
Mrs M. Murray (Transition Coordinator)
m.murray@holyfamily.waltham.sch.uk
Transition Information for Students Joining September 2023
We are very much looking forward to welcoming our new year 7 students in September.
Please find transition information below and key start dates.
Transition Evening Powerpoint 2023
Transition Information for Parents September 2023
First Days at Holy Family
Monday 4th September
- Arrival at 8.40am
- Finish at 3pm
From Tuesday 5th September
- Monday-Thursday: 8.30am-3.10pm
- Friday: 8.30am-2.20pm
Frequently Asked Questions
| Question | Response |
|
Will I get lost around the school? |
Holy Family is probably a much larger school than your primary school however we do everything we can to make sure that you don’t get lost. In the first week of Year 7 you are brought to and from every lesson by your subject teacher. By the end of the first week you will have a good idea where everything is. If you still get lost there is always someone around that you can ask. |
|
I am the only child coming to Holy Family from my primary school, will I make friends? |
Holy Family is a very friendly school and there will be lots of other children that will be in the same position, so please don’t be worried. We will make sure that everyone has someone that they can be friends with and from my experience the majority of children have friends by the end of the first week. If this does not happen and you are feeling alone please let us know and we can help you. |
|
Will I be put in a class with my friends? |
At Holy Family we try and mix all the Year 7s together so you may be in the same class as your friends but you may not. This however has never proved to be a problem as making new friends is one of the best things about starting a new school. |
|
Are the teachers strict at Holy Family and do they shout? |
All secondary schools teachers can be strict but if students follow the rules you should not see any difference. Some teachers do shout but that might be because there are a lot more children and bigger spaces so to get a group of children’s attention in the playground, for instance, they may shout. |
|
What subjects do you do at Holy Family? |
At Holy Family we do many more subjects than you are probably used to at primary school. Here are the subjects that you will be studying:
As you can see we have a lot of subjects to get through so for this reason we have a 2 week timetable, this will be explained more at a later date. |
|
What is a typical day like at Holy Family? |
A day at Holy Family consists of 5 lessons that last 1 hour. We start school at 8:40am and finish at 3:10pm except for Fridays where students finish school at 2:20pm. There is a morning break at 11am for 20 minutes and lunch which is 50 minutes starts at 1:20. Lunch at Holy Family is probably an hour later than you are used to at your primary school so you should make sure you have some breakfast or you can buy snacks at break time from the canteen. We also have a breakfast club each morning from 8.10am, where you can pick up your free bagel! |
|
Do you get any rewards for doing good work at Holy Family? |
We love when students do good work at Holy Family and we will always reward our students. Our system is to award with achievement points and the more you collect the better the reward! |
|
Is there bullying at Holy Family? |
Holy Family is like every school in the country; there will always be some kind of bullying. BUT, what we at Holy Family do, and what we do well, is when we know about the bullying we act straight away and deal with it appropriately. WE DO NOT tolerate bullies and they will be dealt with and punished according to the rules of Holy Family. |
As part of our transition process at Holy Family, students transferring to us are required to complete a summer project, which will be the basis of the work on their first day with us in September.
The project is based around the ideas of the American artist, Joseph Cornell.
Students are asked to produce a ‘shoebox’ piece of art in the style of Cornell (further information on Cornell can be found at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/artists/cornell/activity.shtml. The theme is ‘Looking Back and Looking Forwards’, in other words asking the students to think about themselves at the end of KS2 (successes, memories etc.) and what they feel about secondary school and their future. Students produce a ‘visual’ presentation of their thoughts and feelings in their shoebox.
The students will bring their shoeboxes with them in September and will talk about them in their tutor groups as part of their Induction Programme.
RE Transition Booklet
Maths Transition Work
Numerise have made their Secondary Ready Online Course in maths freely available until September 1. It is designed to help prepare year 6 students starting in September as year 7 - click the image below to visit this great resource!
