This week, week commencing 29 June 2020,  we are looking forward to meeting our new pupils and their parents, albeit virtually in the first instance. We are mindful of the challenges we all face in the present circumstances, but we are determined to ensure no one misses out and have, therefore, adapted out plans accordingly.

VIRTUAL WELCOME MEETINGS (pupils and parents)

Our live online Welcome events are scheduled to take place in MS Teams and we have invited all pupils joining us in Year 7 in September 2020 and their parents to join one of these meetings:

As in previous years, we aim to ease the transition from primary to secondary school by offering reassurance and guidance. During each interactive session, pupils and their parents will have the opportunity to meet key members of staff who will share information essential to learning and being a member of the wider Deer Park community. There will also be an opportunity for pupils and their parents to ask questions.
 

SHORT INDUCTION (pupils)

Following these initial virtual meetings our new pupils in Year 7 have been given the opportunity to join us for a couple of hours on either Monday 13 or Tuesday 14 July 2020. This will give them the opportunity to meet with their tutors and others in their group and re-familiarise themselves with our school site. More information about these events and the steps we will be taking to ensure their safety will follow.

However, to support their induction and aid their orientation of our school site, we have created two short videos with the assistance of our pupils. These provide a guided tour of the school and plenty of tips and reassurance about being a pupil, life and learning at Deer Park:

‘I am immensely grateful to Miss Faux, Music teacher, who kindly edited the videos and to all of the pupils who responded so positively to her call for action and provided really thoughtful observations and guidance. It is clear they miss us as much as we do them and we hope to see them all back in school soon.’ Chiquita Henson, Headteacher.

Furthermore, pupils can now take a ‘Street View’ tour of the school:

Please be aware that at present, this currently reflects the measures we have put in place to ensure appropriate social distancing. We are grateful to Mr Young, a teacher in our Ethics and Computing Faculty, for putting this together for us.

Once we have confirmed their tutor groups, our new pupils in Year 7 will also be able to ‘meet’ and learn more about their new tutors who have kindly prepared short videos of themselves which we plan to share before our induction events on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 July.

We are very grateful to Mrs Hannis, our Year 7 Year Leader, who has personally telephoned every pupil joining the school in September 2020 and their schools to introduce herself, offer reassurance and learn more about individual needs. This understanding and the information we receive from primary schools are helping us put together our new tutor groups and teaching sets.

‘Members of our Pastoral team are really excited about welcoming our new Year 7s to Deer Park before the end of term. Whilst this is not our usual provision we feel it is important that your sons and daughters have the opportunity to meet their tutors and have a tour of the school to help reassure them about starting secondary school and giving them some confidence. We hope they are looking forward to visiting the school and we can’t wait to meet them all.’ Simon Bellamy, Associate Assistant Head.