Dear Parent and Year 6 pupil

I am delighted that you have chosen King James I Academy for the next step in your child’s education and I look forward to meeting you and your child in the coming weeks. Our job is to support your child through a smooth and seamless transition between their Primary school and their new Secondary school. Over the next few months, you and your child will have the opportunity to visit the Academy on several occasions before the start of year 7 in September. In addition to this, one of the experienced members of our transition team will be visiting all the Year 6 pupils who are coming to King James. This will give us the opportunity to meet the pupils and to answer any questions they may have about starting secondary school.
Wednesday 18th June will be the first day of our ‘No Wasted Weeks’ project when your child will spend the day at King James I Academy working on literacy and numeracy-based activities. Further details for this will come through your child’s primary school. The next ‘No Wasted Weeks’ day will be Wednesday 2nd July and then the final session will be part of our Induction Days. These sessions will allow our staff to get to know your child and form an understanding of their strengths and areas for development before September. It also allows your child to form relationships with staff and students from other primary schools.

Our Year 6 Induction Days will take place on 9th -11th July when students will get to try out normal Year 7 school days ready for September. This starts with getting to the Academy for the start of the school day to returning home once school has finished. They will also meet their form tutor and get to know the other students in their tutor group. Further details will be sent out to you nearer the time.

There will also be two Parents’ Evenings: the first is on Tuesday 20th May at 6pm, this will give you the opportunity to find out about the practical aspects of school life such as transport and uniform and you will also be given information about the Chromebook scheme we run for all students in the Academy. The second Parents’ Evening will be on the Thursday 10thJuly when you will be able to meet your child’s form tutor.  It is vital that you attend these meetings, if possible, as important information is given out.

On the website, there is a virtual tour of the Academy if you want to look at the key places ready for the Induction Days. You can also find the award-winning transition programme ‘Be Awesome, Go Big’ on the website. This is a series of activities, short films and texts to help you prepare for Year 7, starting with having a positive image of yourself and then looking at the different issues which you might have to face as you start secondary school. To finish the project, there is a range of challenges which you can complete and then show your form tutor and head of year.

Mr Wheatley, our Librarian will be launching a series of reading challenges during the year 6 Induction Days in July which students will be able to complete ready for September.
I look forward to seeing you at these events but in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information
Miss Stephenson, Transition Lead Teacher