Moving to our Senior School

Moving to our Senior School

Specific preparation for moving up to our Senior School takes place in Years 5 and 6, although arguably the transition process begins from the moment your child joins our School.

This transition is a milestone moment for any child and ensuring they are prepared and excited is an essential part of our role. We strive to ensure the process is as seamless as it can be, and we encourage our children to see this as a 4-18 journey.

Our Transitions Manager (Mr Batten) organises a number of events and ensures parents are also well informed about the next steps. Such examples include: ‘Step Up to Senior’ evening, which is firstly aimed at parents, Breakfast mornings, Taster sessions, Shared Activities and Clubs and Senior School pupils mentoring pupils in Prep.

As an all-through school, most of our pupils naturally make this transition as part of their journey with us. The proximity of the two schools ensures it’s a relatively easy one. Pupils will have already had many opportunities to visit the Senior School to use their facilities, and they will know it well. Additionally, a number of Senior Colleagues help deliver lessons to the Prep pupils.

Our pupils do sit the entrance exam, but this is for internal monitoring and evaluation, and we aim to remove any academic performance-related stress and paves the way for a positive experience for which they are entirely ready.

We do not feel a one-off isolated assessment defines their learning journey and we liaise closely with our Senior Colleagues sharing previous reports and achievements. They have the comfort of being familiar with the environment and the staff team, but the excitement of a change of scenery and a new level of independence and learning. We wish for each child to be up and running as quickly as possible as they move to that next stage of their education.