What the children say
'Visiting the school will make it easier for us to find our way around.'
Here are a number of models showing how schools different organise induction days.
Induction days are often followed by Open Evenings where parents can visit the school to find out exactly what is expected of their child when they arrive in September.
Model 1
Model 2
Model 3
Model 4
Model 5
Model 6
Model 7
Ideas
Organisation
All pupils receive a day planner in which they can record the timetable for the day and their own impressions. The planner also includes information they will need for the start of the new term.
6th form helpers assist teachers and stay with the children throughout the day.
Timetable
9.30 - 10.00: Registration. Teachers set out the ground rules for the day, introduce themselves and the 6th form helpers. Children are given their day planners and fill in their own details and the timetable for the day. They are told about fire, break and dinner procedures.
10.00 - 11.00: Lesson
Morning break: Children can go into the main hall or stay in the quadrangle area below the main hall
11.20 - 12.15: Lesson
12.15 - 1.15: Children are taken to the dinner hall early where they can buy a meal or eat their packed lunch. After lunch they can go to the Sports Hall for organised games. They will be collected by 6th form helpers and taken to the first lesson of the afternoon.
1.15 - 2.15: Lesson
2.15 - 2.40: Registration and review. Students fill in the pages of their planner and record their feelings about their lessons. If they have received signatures from the teachers they worked with, they receive a certificate.
2.40 - 3.00: Children meet in the main hall and are dismissed at 3.00pm
Induction day planner
This breakdown shows the contents of the induction day planner.
| Page | Contents |
| 1 | Pupil's name and group |
| 2 | Welcome message from the head of Year 7 |
| 3 | School information: pupil write in their name, year group, names of head of year, head teacher, form teacher and 6th form helpers, registration room number. School address and telephone number are pre-printed |
| 4 | Pupils write in their timetable: period, times, room and teacher/subject |
| 5 | Space for pupils to record their impressions of individual lessons and to collect teachers' signatures. Parents also sign the page. If the pupil collects three signatures, they receive a certificate |
| 6 | Equipment list, information about school planner, policy on mobile phones |
| 7 | School uniform for Years 7-9, PE kit, policy on jewellery and make-up, provision of lockers |
| 8 | First day details: date and time school starts, where to report, what equipment to bring |
Children who will be the only new pupils from a feeder school come in on the day before induction day so they can get to know each other. They take part in various activities to encourage them to make friends and feel familiar with the school before induction day
On induction day, children spend the day with their form tutor. They are shown significant places such as the hall, form room, school office, first aid point, etc.
They are given folders which they will use as their portfolio during their time at the school.
Induction day takes place after Years 10 and 11 stand down and only half of Year 9 is in school so the premises are quieter and there are fewer older pupils
Year 6 children have one sample lesson. These are given by volunteer teachers, not necessarily teachers they will have but the lessons are planned specifically for them
They also have a quiz that helps them to find their way round the school
They are told which classes they will be in and have a ten-minute chat with their new form tutor
They are given a quiz book about the school to complete during the holidays. If they complete this and bring it back on their first day they get their first school star. The book includes activities such as how to read a timetable, equipment they will need, teachers names jumbled up.
There are two half-day moving up sessions.
On the first half day there is an assembly with the head of school. Children are then split into groups with buddies and a senior members of staff, and watch a drama performance.
On the second half day, teachers are asked to select a favourite subject for each pupil and they are given sample lessons in subjects such as drama, food technology, design and technology and science. This helps the head of year to select children for their classes according to interest rather than purely on friendship groups.
On induction day pupils are left in their primary school groups.
Children attend assembly and then have taster lessons.
They are given CATs tests to gauge their reading ability and this test is used to put them into classes and sets at the beginning of the autumn term. There has been some debate about the appropriateness of testing on induction days, but providing the children are prepared and know it is nothing to worry about, the system does not appear to disturb them.
All children are given a name badge when they arrive at the school. They are put into mixed groups (not their form groups).
They have assembly and taster lessons such as food technology and science.
The sixth form produces a live TV programme which Year 6 pupils watch.
After lunch they go to the sports hall to play sports activities or board games.
Form tutors take the children on a walk round the school so they can familiarise themselves with the layout.
The head of year talks to the children.
They are allocated classes over the summer. Regardless of friendship groups, this system has worked well as it has been a fresh start for all children and they have settled in and made new friends.
This school has extended its induction beyond single visits. It has an induction day at the end of July where children are given quizzes to do, meet their form tutor and the children who will be in their class.
The school felt that one day and an open evening was not enough to help the children make a smooth transition so members of staff worked with Penny Vine on her scheme Bridging the Circle and it was piloted in the school.
There were three two-hour after-school sessions. During the first visit, Year 6 and 7 pupils used circle time to talk about their anxieties then watched a slide show, which showed different areas of the school. The next session was a treasure hunt where children had to find the answers to several clues. This was designed to help them find their way around school. The third session was on closure; the scheme took the view that leaving primary school would induce feelings similar to grieving and these feelings had to be dealt with so the children could move on.
On the third visit, children were invited to school when other children were there so they could see how busy it was. But the children had already visited the school twice before, so they had built up their confidence.
Primary teachers came with the children for the first session. High school teachers went to primary school to take lessons. The schools made sure that both sets of staff were seen in primaries and in the high school.
This school also created a video. Year 11 children directed and produced it, although it was edited professionally. The video showed different classrooms, teachers at work, interviews with children and included a section where the head and senior staff talked about their expectations of new pupils and welcomed them to the school.
This list shows some of the methods that have been used successfully to familiarise Year 6 pupils with their new school. You may want to try some of them in your own school.
- Pupils write a letter to their new form tutor in which they talk about themselves. Before the term starts, the form tutor writes back to each
child. - Year 7 pupils write to children at feeder primary schools telling them about their high school. The Year 6 pupils are encouraged to reply and establish a correspondence. Letters are displayed in both schools.
- School treasure trail. Children are given a booklet in which there are a number of places they have to find around the school. When they find the place, there is a letter or symbol which they copy into their booklet. When they have collected all the letters or symbols, these will give them a message about their new school.
- Pupils attend taster lessons, particularly in subjects that might be new to them such as languages, food technology, etc.
- School quiz either to be completed during the induction day or during the holidays. One school gives new pupils a quiz book to take home. If they bring this back completed at the beginning of term, they get their first school star.
- Circle time
- Assemblies which include drama, dance and musical performances
- Sporting events that bring primary and high schools together throughout the year.
- Using technology. High schools have produced a video, website material and Power Point presentations to help acclimatise Year 6 pupils.
