We are really looking forward to welcoming many of the pupils who will be joining us in Year 7 in September to our induction events on either Monday 13 or Tuesday 14 July 2020.

During the morning or afternoon, pupils in each tutor group will meet their tutors and other children in their tutor groups. They will also have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with our school site on tours led by either Andrea Hannis, our Year 7 Year Leader, or Glynn Reed, Assistant Pastoral Team Leader.

To ensure everyone’s safety, we have put a number of measures in place:

1. Only a quarter of the year group will be in school at any one time and tutors will only meet with half of their tutor group in each session while the other half will participate in a tour.
2. Our new pupils will be kept separate from our pupils in other year groups who are currently attending school.
3. We will expect them all to observe our hand hygiene routines and to remain socially distanced.
4. To help us we ask that parents and pupils use the playing fields entrance to the school and use the drop off and pick up point at the rear of the school. Simon Bellamy, Assistant Head and Allison Boucher, Head’s PA and Admissions Secretary will be there to meet the children on arrival and sign them in at two reception desks. To ensure social distancing and encourage independence, parents are asked to depart promptly once they have dropped off their sons/daughters. 
5. Once they have signed in, pupils will be escorted to our Science building which is completely isolated from the rest of the school. Staff will guide pupils through a simple one way system to their classroom which will be well ventilated. Each room has an external door through which pupils will exit. 

Pupils will be put into their groups and introduced to each other, supervised by either their Tutor, Mrs Hannis or Mr Reed.  Once everyone has arrived, our activities will begin.

At the end of each session pupils will be accompanied to the drop off and pick up point where they can be collected by their parents. In between sessions, the classrooms and toilets in Science will be cleaned thoroughly.

We fully appreciate that in the current circumstances we can only offer a short introduction to the school and we understand that not every child will be able to join us. Therefore, to ease their transition to Deer Park, we are currently planning a special Induction Day for all pupils in Year 7 on Thursday 3 September 2020. Further information regarding the start of term will follow by letter once our plans are finalised.

We recognise the move to secondary school is a big step and we hope that even a short visit to the school will help our pupils feel more confident about the transition and ready to learn in September.