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Induction Days Welcome
Year 6 pupils join us for their two Induction Days
We were thrilled to be able to welcome our new Year 7 pupils to Deer Park for their two Induction Days on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 July 2021. After an incredibly difficult 16 months, and following guidance regarding Covid-19 safety measures related to induction events, our team worked hard behind the scenes to review plans to ensure everyone’s safety, and we were pleased that so many of our new cohort were able to join us.
These pupils, currently in Year 6 and from over 50 different primary schools, were able to spend time getting to know their tutor and other members of their tutor group, as well as navigating the school grounds on a tour. After the ‘Getting To Know You' sessions, pupils followed their September timetable and participated in a wide range of lessons, including PE, the core subjects English, Maths and Science, as well other areas of the curriculum including Design, Drama, Humanities and IT.
All pupils were a credit to themselves and were impeccably behaved, as well as displaying a huge amount of resilience. It can be daunting to come to your new secondary school for the first time, but also very exciting! We are grateful to all staff involved in making these two days happen, especially our Senior Year Leader Mrs Hannis, who had previously spent time getting to know each of the 210 new individuals over the phone.
Year 7 Senior Year Leader Mrs Hannis: 'Wow! What an incredible 2 days we have had! Lots of learning, laughing, friendships and new experiences, whilst taking part in Science, PE, Design and Expressive Arts lessons to name a few! We’ve toured the school, shared fabulous lunches and started to get to know many of the school staff. I am so grateful to every pupil, parent and staff member who has made these 2 days so happy and successful! Our new Year 7s have been amazing. We can’t wait to see you all in September.'
Pupil quotes:
'Geography is my favourite lesson because we had to guess Miss Bluett’s favourite place and I did code breaking' 7NI pupil
'I loved my induction days, it was great meeting new people and making friends' 7JE pupil
'It was new and amazing, I loved every minute of it' 7LI Pupil
Parent quotes:
'Thanks so much again for yesterday. So glad the children got the opportunity to come in to you - makes transition so much easier.'
'Can I say thank you so much to everyone involved with the transition days for enabling this to go ahead. We are hugely appreciative of the effort that will have gone in to making this happen when so many other schools have cancelled similar events.'
'Please extend my thanks to all those staff who made the transition days so fun and reassuring for the incoming Year 6 pupils. Our son and his friends from primary school seem to have had a really great couple of days. I am in awe of your fortitude in putting those days on.'
I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet many of our new pupils when I was on lunch duty each day. They were polite and courteous and most had definitely enjoyed their first experiences of learning at Deer Park. Although some were a little overwhelmed by being in such a large setting, it is clear that they made an excellent first impression and many made new friendships. This was especially evident on Day 2, when there was much more mixing of groups on the field and more games of football taking place!
Ms Henson, Headteacher
We hope the pupils had an amazing time and have a lovely summer. Remember that our Heads of Faculty have put together some transition work if pupils are interested in finding out more about what they may be learning in September. We look forward to seeing everyone again in September.