Year 6 Transition for Parents

Welcome to the Cliff Park Ormiston Academy Transition Hub.

The move from primary school to secondary school can be daunting, we recognise this and understand that students and parents need to feel reassured, happy, and safe during this transition period. We have created this Transition Hub to share information with you and answer any questions you may have before you join us in September.

We hope that you find the information and activities in this Hub useful.
We can’t wait for you to start with is!

Mrs Malley-Chambers

Head of Year 7 & Transition Lead

Welcome from Mrs Malley-Chambers

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Cliff Park Ormiston Academy.
My name is Mrs Malley-Chambers and I am Head of Year 7, with responsibility for Year 6 Transition.

At Cliff Park Ormiston Academy, we pride ourselves on providing our new students and parents with a smooth and successful transition from primary to secondary school and I have already been in communication with Primary leads to support this process. During the forthcoming weeks I will be meeting the students in their familiar settings to talk to them about Cliff Park Ormiston Academy, the transition process and answer any questions they may have. In addition to this, I speak with each student’s primary teacher to discuss any additional needs students may have that require further transition support. Moving from one educational setting to another can be very worrying for the whole family but is also a very exciting time and we will ensure that students are ready and prepared. I would therefore like to encourage you to do the following:

Have a good look through the Cliff Park Ormiston Academy Website.
Register your email with the Principal’s PA [email protected] to receive our parent communication updates. (Please leave your son/daughter’s name, primary school and email address).
Contact me via email at [email protected] with any questions, queries or concerns you may have.

Over the coming weeks, you will receive further communications regarding our Parent Information evening and the upcoming transition days, whereby students spend two days with us in preparation for September to eliminate any worries or fears they may have.

I am really looking forward to meeting you all in person, but until then please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.

Mrs Malley-Chambers
Head of Year 7

Please have a look at this PowerPoint which talks you through: How high school will be different, what there is to look forward to, what you should do if you have a problem and what happens next.

This PowerPoint has been presented to students in their primary schools. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at: [email protected]

Cliff Park Ormiston Academy is a very large site and at times I am sure you will get a little bit confused, but it is important to remember that there are lots of things to help you, such as – the one way system (everyone moves around the academy clockwise), staff are outside their classroom doors at changeover of lessons and stairs are colour coded. There is always someone in the corridor who can help you. You will not get into trouble if you get lost!

This depends on what you are used to. You will be studying more subjects so the chances are that you will have more home learning to complete. However, staff will allow you a reasonable amount of time to complete your home learning and we often use home learning tasks to prepare you for lessons.

Make sure you have a good read of the uniform policy and familiarise yourself, but in answer to your question only a wristwatch and a stud in each ear is permitted. For health and safety reason we are very strict on jewellery and it is important that you follow the guidelines.

No, due to safeguarding. If you are seen with your mobile phone it will be confiscated and an adult will need to come to collect your phone. Please see our mobile phone policy to ensure you are clear. If you need to make contact with home you can ask a Deputy Head of Year. Likewise if a member of your family needs to get hold of you they can contact the academy. Mobile phones are very expensive and we do not want phones getting broken or damaged so where possible it is best to leave them at home.

To begin with you may be late to lessons as you will be finding your way around the academy so this is perfectly acceptable and student leaders will be on hand to guide you in the right direction. If you are continuously late after the first half term then we will look at why this is and put support in place to make sure you make it to your lesson on time.

We will support you to phone home and ask someone to drop it off. If this is not possible, we do have spare kit which may be borrowed. If you forget your kit on a regular basis your Form Tutor will contact home to see what support can be put in place.

This may be different to what you are used to. Break is 25 minutes and lunch is 40 minutes. We This gives you enough time to have something to eat and catch up with your friends. At the end of break and lunch you will move to the line up area for your next lesson.

Depending on what the issue is there are lots of people you can talk to. If you have a problem in a particular lesson you would talk to your class teacher. If you have a more generic problem, friendship issue for example or you have forgotten your tie you can speak to your Form Tutor. Heads of Year are members of staff with no teaching responsibility so they are available outside of lesson times to support you or point you in the right direction.

If you have any questions that have not been answered you can ask questions by sending an email to : [email protected]