Transition

At The Fernwood School we understand how vital the transition process is for all children and their families. Mrs Morrill - Assistant Headteacher in charge of Behaviour and Key Stage 3 - has oversight of the Year 6/7 Transition and Induction process.

It is our absolute priority to make sure all children settle and feel like they belong at The Fernwood School, and that they feel happy and are motivated and inspired to learn.

Several key activities take place as part of the Transition and Induction process:

• Close liaison between key pastoral staff from The Fernwood School and individual Year 6 teachers
• Assemblies and “Question and Answer” sessions for our 3 main feeder primary schools: Fernwood Junior School, Middleton Primary School, Southwold Primary School
• Close liaison between key pastoral staff from The Fernwood School with all Year 6 teachers from all primary schools with pupils coming to Fernwood (over 40 different schools)
• The 2 Transition and Induction days in July for children and families to have a flavour of what life at The Fernwood School will be like
• An Induction Evening meeting where families can meet their child’s tutor and share key messages about the ethos and expectations at The Fernwood School. This meeting cements how we will all work together to support each child’s pastoral development and academic progress and attainment.

 

Mrs Morrill - Assistant Headteacher and Mrs Steans - SENDCo, alongside the Pastoral Team Leader for Year 7, and Assistant Pastoral Team Leader for Year 7 complete the 1-1 meetings with Year 6 primary staff to form an individual profile for each student coming to The Fernwood School.
 

All relevant medical, SEND, behavioural, pastoral, and academic information and needs are brought together. In addition, pupils strengths and areas for development, character and personality, extra-curricular activities, and friendship groups are also shared.

Each Year group has 300 pupils and children are placed in one of 12 new mixed ability tutor groups which are carefully compiled to create balanced classes taking into account all relevant information shared from the Year 6 teachers - including consideration of friendship groups.

The new tutor groups form the bedrock of the “Fernwood Family” and pastoral support at The Fernwood School. Pupils wherever possible will stay with the same tutor for the full 5 years at The Fernwood School.

We ask that families sign the Whole School Arrangement early on to build and reinforce the very positive and trusting working relationships we establish with all our Fernwood families.