Transition School At Hartsdown

At Hartsdown we understand that many students find the change from primary school to secondary education challenging for academic as well as social reasons.

To ease this process, we have developed a Transition School. It provides the new Year 7 group with their own special area within the college, and creates a forward-thinking project-based curriculum which is innovative to teaching and learning in a secondary school. Students are taught English, Maths, RE, PE and Modern Languages in the mornings, meanwhile subjects like History, ICT Geography, Science and Technology are taught in special projects each afternoon.

Almost all of the subjects that a new Year 7 student will study are taught in their own form room - that way there is less chance for them to lose their way around the campus and they are slowly introduced to the hustle and bustle of life with teenagers. In addition, Year 7 have their lunch at a different time to the rest of the college so that time and space is utilised for their benefit.

As well as a Form Tutor, each Year 7 student has a Transition School Tutor who they will see at least once a day. These two people give the vital support all new students need, especially in their first few months.

Students can get further day to day support from their Pastoral Managers who are assigned to one of the five houses.

All of this makes the change to secondary school far less daunting for our younger students, increasing their confidence and motivation. This helps them become better learners.

Read more about our transition school in the 2008/9 Prospectus.