Moving from primary to secondary school can be a daunting prospect for Y6 pupils. To help reduce the anxiety and maintain the achievements of primary school, Andrew Marvell College has an extensive transition programme in place.

The programme begins before Y6 with our staff working closely with our partner primary schools on a range of activities designed to help pupils get to know us and the College better. At the start of Y6 in late September there is a parents’ evening held at the College to showcase our facilities and the work we do. Parents are welcome to come and ask questions and there will be current Y7 students helping to show them round to talk about their experiences of moving to secondary education.

Once the College has been notified by the Local Authority of those pupils who have chosen us as their choice of secondary education we begin a detailed programme designed to gain as much information about the new pupils as possible.

This involves:

• Talking with pupils’ current teachers and gaining from them detailed information about pupils.
• Receiving from the Local Authority detailed information on each pupil, including academic grades, attendance, SEN, etc.
• Meeting with pupils at their primary schools.
• Meeting with parents and pupils in July at a special parents’ evening where tutors get to meet their class for the first time. This meeting is an important one in developing the close working relationship between tutor and pupils and parents because the tutor is the first point of contact at the College.
• Inviting pupils into College in the final week of term to take part in an extensive programme
• Of transition activities. These are planned to help pupils get to know their tutor; know other staff in the College; begin to understand what they will need for their daily life at the College; to be acquainted with other members of their Year group.
• At the start of the September term we understand that children may take different times to settle into secondary school life. All children are different. For this reason there is a range of support given in the first months designed to help all pupils attain and then surpass the levels of achievement they had at primary school. For parents there is an opportunity in October to visit the school and talk with your child’s tutor about how they have settled in and the progress they are making.
• Every half term there is a data collection held to help review a student’s progress. This is a useful tool in helping parents gauge if their child is settling in well.
• The Phase office is an important part of the transition process, helping tutors achieve their tasks and supporting pupils where necessary in a variety of ways.

The transition programme we have at Andrew Marvell College we believe offers the pupil the right balance of support and opportunities to develop their confidence in order that they become successful in their secondary school career.