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Welcome to Year 7
We believe an effective and successful transition from primary to school is incredibly important. We actively encourage our families to remain an active partner in the learning of our young people.
The transition process includes opportunities for students and families to meet key staff and find out about Chailey School before children begin with us in year 7 and throughout their learning journey with us. We know the best guarantee of success is when we all work together.
We have a static staff team looking after the transition process and year 7. This means they get to know our primary schools and colleagues and make sure transition is as good as it can be.
The presentation shown at our New Family Information Evening can be viewed below.
New Family Information Presentation
| Our transition team are: | |
|---|---|
|
Mr Atherall Head of Year 7 |
Mr Atherall is a Teacher of English. He is responsible for creating a positive and kind ethos in the year group and in looking after the learning of Year 7. He line manages the Year 7 Tutors and organises challenges, competitions and events. |
|
Mrs Julia Downs Student Support Manager Year 7 |
Mrs Downs is our Pastoral Lead for Year 7. She looks after the welfare and well-being of our students. |
Once we are made aware of our Year 7 intake (around March) our Team start making contact with primaries. Our intake can consist of up to 40 primary schools but we visit most of them to meet with the incoming Year 7 students. During this visit, everyone gets to take part in some fun transition activities, as well as sharing some information about themselves for their new teachers at Chailey. We also have two whole days where the incoming Year 7 students come to Chailey and spend the days getting to know one another and their tutor, and finding out about the school. Students will also get to take part in taster sessions in some of the subjects they will study in Year 7.
We always have some students who are the only child, or one of only a few coming to us from their primary setting. Where this is the case we always invite the students to attend an extra session so that they make friends with other children who are in the same position.
We train a group of Year 10 students to be Peer Mentors to Year 7 students. These older students get to know our new 7s and support them as they start life at secondary school. This begins on the two-day induction in July.
2023-2024 Peer Mentors
Once students arrive with us in September, they will find that everyone is really friendly, and will be doing their very best to make sure that all our new students settle in quickly, and make lots of new friends. The Peer Mentor team take a leading role in this.
Each Tutor Group has two Peer Mentors. For the first week in September the mentors take students to take you to and from all lessons. This means students do not need to be scared that they will get lost! They also take students to buses. To support transport to and from school we also have Year 11 bus prefects.
Once a week, your Peer Mentors will come along to your form room and run a session for you all. This may be a discussion, a quiz, or just a simple game. We have found this to be a brilliant way of helping everyone to bond as a team and make friends.
The job of the Peer Mentor is to help our new Year 7 students to have the same positive experience of Chailey School that they have all had. They will be there to listen, help and will always have a smile.
Below we have listed some questions that we regularly get asked. If you have any others for us you can email Mrs Downs through the link below.
Mrs Downs - jdowns@chaileyschool.org
FAQs by Year 6 Students
What time does school start and finish?
School starts at 8.35am and finishes at 3.05pm.
How will I know which bus to catch?
You will receive a bus pass from East Sussex school transport before you start at Chailey. That will give you the number of your bus. For the first week, Peer Mentors and bus prefects will escort you to your bus at the end of the day. There are always teachers on duty though, so even after that first week, there will always be someone to ask if you are not sure.
You can contact the East Sussex County Council Transport Team if you have any questions.
School transport | East Sussex County Council
For further information on transport see the link in Chailey Families.
How many lessons are there every day?
There are 6 lessons every day. Each lesson is 50 minutes long. You will be escorted from lesson to lesson for the first week, so you won’t get lost.
| 8.35am - 8.40am | Roll Call |
| 8.40am - 9.05am | Registration and Community & Culture Time |
| 9.05am - 9.55 | Period 1 |
| 9.55am - 10.45am | Period 2 |
| 10.45am - 11.05 | Morning Break |
| 11.05am - 11.55am | Period 3 |
| 11.55am - 12.45pm | Period 4 |
| 12.45pm - 13.25pm | Lunch |
| 13.25pm - 14.15pm | Period 5 |
| 14.15pm - 15.05pm | Period 6 |
| 15.05pm | End of School Day |
What happens if I get to school late?
If you arrive to school after the bell for any reason, it is really important that you sign in at the main office. Try to make sure you get to school on time in the mornings. If you are persistently late for no good reason, this could result in detentions.
What are the rules on mobile phones?
Mobile phones are banned in school. Please see our policy on mobile phones.
What can you do at lunch times?
You can buy food from the canteen at lunchtime. There are also clubs most lunchtimes that you can join. This is a great way to meet new friends.
How will I keep up with home learning?
You will only get Maths and English home learning for the first few weeks. It is always good to do the home learning as soon as it is set, so that you don’t get a backlog. If you find it easier to work in school, there is home learning club four days a week in the library. Here you can get support from a teaching assistant. You will need to arrange to get picked up afterwards though, as the buses do not come back for you!
If you have any more questions of your own, please email jdowns@chaileyschool.org and Mrs Downs will get back to you.
