Transitions
Primary students step up to the Academy in great style!
Thursday 22nd July 2010 signalled the end of the first transition programme between Primary Schools and the Isle of Sheppey Academy. After consultation with the Head Teachers of the Island Primary Schools this 14 day programme was agreed and began on 5th July.
The purpose of the extended transition period was to allow students joining the Academy in September to settle in to their new School environment, meet their teachers and ensure that they had a relaxing summer break and were ready to start their Key Stage 3 courses straight away in September.
Students from all 9 Island Primary Schools enjoyed a two day induction designed to introduce the students to the 5 School structure of the Academy. These 2 days were spent with all the year 6 students from their specific School and involved activities to research the origins of their School name.
On the third day students were set the task of following a timetable and they began to investigate subjects including ICT, Science, Maths, English, Humanities, PE and Technology. The students showed considerable courage and ingenuity to investigate the larger Sites of the Academy and get to their lessons on time.
The notes below were completed by transition students who were asked to write a word to sum up how they felt when they first arrived and to cross that out and describe how they felt after 2 days of their induction. The results as you can see were very positive.
Each day began with an assembly with representatives of the Island Churches sharing a variety of messages with the students regarding issues surrounding change and decision – making.
The transition students joined their School enrichment groups from day 3 and were working with mixed age students up to the age of 15 with their tutors. All subject areas created a special 14 – day curriculum for the year 6 students with a heavy emphasis on enquiry based learning and practical activities. The students were a credit to their Primary Schools and behaviour and attitudes to learning were superb. Attendance during the period was very positive and is a good indication of student enjoyment.
The extended transition programme was a bold initiative but the outcomes certainly justified the decision to make it work. That decision was made in consultation with the Primary Head Teachers whose support and advice was invaluable. There was also an Academy road show that visited each Island Primary School and met with students, parents and teachers at every venue to consult and inform about the plans. This road show will be visiting new year 6 students in their Primary Schools in September before the Academy Open Evenings on 6th October (East Site) and 7th October (West Site) from 1800 – 2100.
There was a comprehensive survey of parent’s and student’s views with over 200 questionnaires returned. A selection of the very positive results were as follows:
Parents were asked “In your opinion to what extent did your child enjoy the transition process?”
98% said satisfactory to excellent
86% said good to excellent
Students were asked “What do you think of teaching and learning at the Academy”
95% said satisfactory to excellent
87% said good to excellent