For the year 6 students who are transferring to Tuxford Academy, transition week is taking place on Monday 1st to Friday 5th July 2013. The Parents and Carers meeting will take place during the evening of Wednesday 3rd July. You should find out after your child has been here on Monday 1st July, what time you are asked to be here for in the evening on Wednesday 3rd July.
Reflections on Transition Week
It has become a Tuxford tradition to offer Year 6 students from primary schools a week's placement in the summer term so that they can become familiar with the building's layout and meet their tutor group before joining us full time in September. We thought it would be interesting to find out a few students' memories of the experience.
Emma - who came to us from Clarborough Primary - has very clear views of the benefits of the placement: "When I came to Transition Week, yes, I was a bit nervous but the students and teachers were really helpful. I made new friends and Transition Week really prepared me for September."
In contrast, Rowan from East Markham Primary feels that the week did not fully prepare her for what was to come: "It is so different from primary school as I now have six lessons each day. It is very tiring!" When she started school in September she thought it was fun to get a timetable for lessons, "But finding the classrooms was an adventure. Learning Time was also exciting - not knowing who I would be with!"
Charlie joined us from Dunham Primary and he was pleased to discover that the building is not as huge as he imagined: "When I visited in Transition Week I thought the school would be much bigger." When he started in September, he settled quite well: "The older students in Learning Time helped me a lot." The one aspect of Tuxford life he isn't so keen on is his journey to and fro: "I don’t like it when the bus is full."
Harvey from Sutton Primary has had no difficulty in mixing with so many new people: "When I came to school in July to Transition Week, I was nervous but also excited. I made lots of new friends that I might not have met. When I started in September, I made a very good friend from a different primary school to mine."
We asked the four volunteers for their views of Tuxford Academy just a few weeks into their time here.
Rowan told us: "I don’t like waiting for lunch and by the time you get it, it is lesson time!" However she had some positive impressions too: "The teachers are kind and smiley, Miss Gregory especially." Emma too had an opinion of school meals: "What I don’t like is that some days the dinner queue is quite long." What impressed her about the school were the people in it: "If I lost my way trying to find a classroom, older students would help me." Charlie enjoyed the broadened curriculum of secondary school: “I like going to lots of new lessons. The subject I enjoy the most is Science.” Harvey remembers, “When I started in September, it was hard finding the classroom for the first lesson.” He enjoys Technology and Creative Arts and is “looking forward to learning lots of different subjects.”
Rowan’s overview of the move from primary to secondary phase was very relaxed: “I really enjoyed transition as the lessons were fun.” Harvey’s feelings were a little more ambivalent: “When I came to school in July I was nervous but also excited.” Emma remains very positive about the whole experience: “Since I came to Tuxford I have really enjoyed all the lessons and made friends. All the teachers are really kind and I have already learned a lot of new things which I did not know in Primary school.”