Teachers Volunteer To Run Summer School To Ease New Pupils Into Secondary Life After Transition Disruption

Claire Stephen, Tollbar Academy Head of Art, will be running eco friendly, bio-degradable Art classes for Year 6 pupils at the Summer School.

Teachers at Tollbar Academy will be spending a week of their annual holidays this year volunteering to run a Summer School for Year 6 pupils who have missed out on transition days due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Primary pupils are due to join the Academy in Year 7 from September. Covid restrictions throughout the entire academic year have meant that the usual transition days, where pupils get the chance to meet their new teachers, familiarise themselves with the school sites and make new friends, have not been able to go ahead.

To make up for this, the Academy will run a week-long Summer School from July 26-30 (the first week of the summer holidays). 

The underlying theme will be getting to know each other, exploring the school site, meeting your Head of House and, in particular, having some fun. The events will all be run by teachers who have volunteered.

Victoria Watts, Tollbar Academy Interim Principal, explained: “In any other year the Academy would have held a number of transition days to welcome our new pupils and familiarise them with what to expect here when they join us in September. This has not been able to happen and we are very conscious of the fact that Year 6 pupils will not have had the introduction to Secondary life that other pupils receive. 

“The Summer School is our way of rectifying that and giving the pupils the opportunity to come along and meet us and take part in some fun activities.

“It will be a very special week and I am delighted that parents and pupils are so enthusiastic about taking part in this and I am also extremely grateful to all of our outstanding teachers who are giving up their free time to make this week a fantastic experience.”

More than 130 children have already signed up for the Summer School in just six days, and the event has also been supplemented with a dedicated Year 6 one-stop shop on the Academy’s website, which provides interactive maps and videos to support orientation and familiarisation with the school. There are videos to introduce pupils to subjects, commonly asked questions by Year 7s, and mini tasks to give pupils a feel for the different style of learning they will encounter at secondary school.

Mrs Watts said: “We have carefully collated information for students and parents on this dedicated Year 6 platform to provide the best possible guidance for everyone. More content will be added as we head through the summer and parents are also encouraged to follow our social media platforms for the latest information on transition.”

Summer School places are still available. Sign up now on this website or call the Academy direct.

PE Teachers Rob Cowie and Lydia Moore are looking forward to welcoming Year 6 pupils to the Summer School to put the fun back into activity. “This is about making activities fun for the students after a year in which a lot of PE has been lost due to the pandemic,” said Mr Cowie.

 Teachers Vincent James and Sareema Elimlahi will share their Textiles expertise with Year 6 pupils at Tollbar Academy’s Summer School.