Transition – Overview

At Fearnhill School, we believe that a student’s ability to enjoy and achieve is best enhanced by a smooth transition between Key Stages. It is, therefore, important that transition is well planned and in stages so that students can cope with a huge change in teaching organisation and style as well as a new school environment that is bigger and more daunting than primary schools.

We aim to ensure a smooth and effective transition to Fearnhill School, in order to help all our young people to feel safe and happy, to have their needs met and to ultimately fulfil their true potential.

We aim to achieve this by:

  • Offering staff and students in partner primaries a range of opportunities to visit our school.
  • Ensuring there are opportunities for our teaching staff to visit primary schools in order to build trust, share information and improve continuity and progression in the curriculum.
  • Ensuring the swift and efficient transfer of data and information from the primary schools and its dissemination to all appropriate staff before the start of the academic year.
  • Ensuring that data is used by staff to plan provision, set targets, monitor progress, support and intervene where appropriate.
  • Ensuring parents have named contacts and built in opportunities to communicate with key members of staff to identify any problems or concerns.
  • Listening to student and parent voice through the use of questionnaires and individual interviews, including transition meetings and tours with the Headteacher.
  • Fostering a caring and reassuring environment through the form tutors and tutor groups.

Over the course of the school year, we have multiple opportunities for Year 5 and Year 6 students from our feeder schools to come to Fearnhill. We have students from our local feeders come for lessons such as computing, PE and Maths. Our students also visit several local feeder primary schools to run sports events and take part in reading schemes. We also work closely with our local feeders to support them with their developmental needs and to increase the exposure of Year 6 students to life in secondary school, for example watching the matinee performance of our school production and teaching Key Stage 3 languages taster lessons in their school setting.

We actively encourage and welcome parents and carers to come in and visit during regular school hours in order to get a feel for what the school is really like; so please do email us if you would like to pay us a visit!