Welcoming new Year 7 pupils

[Seniorschool]

I have been asked to create a 'welcome pack' for new Year 7 students. What did your children get and does anyone have any tips of what works or doesn't work please? Boys and girls - co-ed indpendent school. Thanks.

Map, detail of any after school clubs or benefits available to them and how to sign up, photos and names of teachers and support staff they may need to be able to recognise.

Map
list of all stationary and equipment required
list after school clubs/lunch time clubs, even if the exact time table is not out yet, it gives at least an idea and whom to contact for information
library opening times
homework club/space/computer usage
topic list by subject. DD especially found it useful to know what was covered in the first term

It's worrying you have to ask tbh

Toilets
lockers
where can coats / PE kits go

Who to go to if any problems.
my dc school had a year 7 lunch time drop in for problems which was well used.

Are you a member of staff ?

What are the FAQs you currently get ?

Would you be able to involve some parents to ask them what they would have liked to know ?

It is for parents, in the weeks before they start, or is it for pupils, on the first day in September? (In which case, can you ask the pupils who are now at the end of Yr 7) ?

Why? We’ve always given the same things each year (much of this already suggested - thanks so much to all of you for ideas and suggestions) - most of which is information for pupils and parents but thought I’d see if there’s anything that we are missing/could do better. And yes we have asked our pupils and parents too but though I’d broaden it out to see if anyone is doing something we could learn from. New role for me so that’s why I’m keen to explore. Why is it ‘worrying’ to ask a question?

There are actually loads online if you have a Google.

My kids had the same as above but also some quizzes and stuff that they completed on their induction days. They also had a printed bag (which has never seen the light of day again).

There's stuff on Twinkl too if you have membership.

Is it just supposed to contain information or items they might find useful too?

As a parent I appreciate a "Who's who and who to contact" that the school send each year.

This includes details of key people in school and also explains who you should contact if you have x issue/question. So it's different if it's pastoral or academic or general query and there is a chain of people you can work through.

So many threads on MN say "contact the headteacher". I can't imagine in any but a small secondary schoool that contacting the headteacher is the correct initial course of answer.

Dont be daft. She's looking for what actually reassured other people's children.

My ds has just finished y7 at a co-Ed indie. He got a short book about the history of the school, a leaflet on the school's values and ethos and expected behaviours, a metal pin badge to wear so that other kids would know he was a new yr7 kid, a map, a welcome postcard with the first names and surname initial of all the 160 or so yr7 kids on it.

A ' what to do if....' page.
A quiz /factfind. Where is this room? What's a pigeon hole? etc.

Ours also got a lovely postcard from a current year 7 welcoming them/positive message on it.

I think Yr 7 and Yr 8 had made them as they could take a couple

School day timing in detail.

most useful thing in my experience would have been the tiny details of how to contact people etc - not just 'see the office' or 'see Mrs Jones' or whatever, but how. Main reception was separaate and then there was this open-plan office nearby with various people who dealt with different things, and it terrified me, not knowing whether to knock and wait, just to go in, how to get the attention of the right person, etc. Same with things like the music room - you might want to see the music teacher, but you had to go into a room where older kids were playing instruments or hanging around or looking like they belonged and were doing stuff, to see if the music director was in an office or something. Were you supposed to just go in and interrupt all of that, or wait, or what.

Details of where you'd go and how to sign up for clubs, where the lost and found was, what the system for choosing/paying for food was, who was allowed to go where at what times - canteen, field, playground, benches etc, sometimes seemed reserved for certain year groups.

Something from older students with a reassuring message, maybe telling them the 'unofficial' way things might work

I was so nervous about making a fool of myself, being in the wrong place, not knowing how to 'go in' to rooms and offices, where I was allowed to be, etc.

This.

She doesn't say she has to ask, just that she wanted to know what things other people's children have found helpful that she might not have thought of. If everyone assumed that they were already doing everything perfectly already, then things would never change or improve.

I'm sure she'd have done just fine without input from anyone here, but why not be open minded and see if people have other ideas as well?!

Because:

a) it's a bit late to be putting this together now especially if it's an independent school as the pupils will almost certainly have broken up for the summer

b) the OP has taken on this pastoral tole so should be able to use their autonomy

Thanks for all the helpful comments and ideas - much appreciated.

To cocksstrideintheevening and Meem321 - I’m glad that your schools are obviously so together than they never need to explore other ideas or try anything new. Please don’t worry - we already do much of what’s been suggested - but as I’m new to this responsibility, I simply wanted to explore whether there was anything that others had found helpful that we might be able to add or include - or things that are obvious to parents that schools sometimes forget or miss.

To the rest of you - many* *thanks for replying in the spirit that the question was intended.

I'll tell you what key info our secondary school misses out:
Might they need their PE kit on the first day? In our case answer is no, never. The first PE lesson of the academic year is always an orientation lesson.

Are they allowed back to their lockers/do they carry everything around/do they have backpacks in the hallway.

Where do they go when they srrive/are they allowed in classrooms before the bell or the play area or canteen.

When do they sign up for clubs?

How do they queue for food. How much is it etc. Does it run out.

Do they take a snack for break.

Is there anywhere to hang out after school if mum's coming later?

What do you do if you miss your bus/are office happy with people "ringing home."

That its okay to get lost, that teachers will be kind in yhe first few weeks about this.

That most people are nervous about making friends, even if they don't look it. Smile, try chatting to person next to you. We normally find people have friends/settle in really quickly /etc. If you're not join a club /see x... etc

My school always tries new stuff. We just don't take to Mumsnet to ask for professional help. We talk to each other and do academic research. But each to their own.

My DS is starting senior school in September (Y9 in 13-18).

He has been invited to 3 events. The first one of these was before the selection process was finished, so not all the boys there would be joining. The second one was a whole year group thing on a Sunday with a carousel of activities they could sign up to using the labs/ workshops/ studios/ sports etc and the third was a new Y9s + buddies + prefects house thing on a Sunday morning/ lunch. Parents were invited to this too.

He's had 3 'packs' in the post at various intervals. They have contained a newsletter with a section specific to his house, novelties like school branded stationery and a cap and latterly postcards from his 'buddy'. The packs come in nice, school-branded, cardboard boxes.

The new Y9s will be the only people in school on the first Sunday and Monday of term. They have a schedule of induction activities planned for them. The rest of the kids arrive on the Monday evening.

FFS… if you can’t be polite why don’t you step away from the computer? Life’s hard enough.

To clarify, my comment was for Meem321.