We had, on average, 220 pupils per day who were a mixture of both Year 7 and Year 8 students. This year we were able to offer this programme for free to all students who attended, with thanks to the Department of Education’s Summer School scheme. By securing funding, we could ensure our students had the best possible experience. Further details on the funding we received and how we utilised it can be found at the bottom of the page.

Over the course of the week, we created a blend of academic and enrichment-based sessions to support the learning experiences for all students who attended. We wanted to include our Year 8 students with our Summer School programme this year, as due to COVID restrictions, they were unable to have a Summer School experience. This was an excellent opportunity for the new Year 7students to meet students in an older year group, along with supporting academic growth for the Year 8 students in their subjects.

Students were taught sessions by our experienced members of staff in subjects that included Food Tech, Maths, English, Science, History, Arts and Crafts and Outdoor Skills. Our timetable ensured that both the Year 7 and 8 students would only be taught in their respective year groups to maximise progress. To add to this, we also worked with external companies ‘ZestMe’ and ‘It’s A Knockout’ to create an opportunity for the students to collaborate with their peers, build friendships and work together as a team in a fun environment.

For the Year 7 students, Miss Williams, Assistant Head of Year, and the team were very impressed with how the girls managed to settle in and make friends quickly. It was lovely to see their confidence increasing every day with our staff and the school, including how well they settled into a classroom environment.  The programme creates hoped to not only boost the students academically, but to also support the transition process from primary to secondary school, which we can be quite an overwhelming experience. By having them in school with a far less capacity of students, it gave them a flavour of what we can offer them at our school.

For gallery of photos, click here