Back in July we welcomed our new Year 7s to Northgate for a jam packed week of transition activities. They all had the chance to experience a range of lessons including Maths, Science, PE, Drama and more. They were helped along the way by our great team of buddies who are now in Year 8 and 10, who escorted them to lessons and were on hand if they had any questions or worries. Students also had the chance to meet their new tutors, visit their tutor base and find their way around Northgate – it can seem quite daunting having so many different classrooms but everyone was on hand to show the way. It was a fantastic start to High School life and students couldn’t wait to come back and start the new school year, in their smart uniforms, and get to know those in their new teaching sets.
Mrs Graves, Head of Year 7 and Transition, tells us about how they have all settled in so far:
‘Year 7 students have been the youngest members of our Northgate family for just over four weeks now; they are settling well into High School life, with all the opportunities that brings.’
Students have enjoyed a variety of both new subjects and ones with which they are more familiar, but now being taught in specialist teaching rooms. Adjusting to being a member of a tutor group and a teaching group is a very different experience to primary school; learning to make new friends and get along is a key skill in High School and prepares students for adult life. The Year 7s are managing all of this admirably. They have earned a total of 2613 merits so far to spend on their rewards; this highlights their confident, hard-working approach to their learning. Well done for an excellent start to the year, Year 7!
Mr Mason, Head of School, has already made lots of visits over the last two weeks to local Primary Schools, inviting Year 6s to our Open Evenings this week. Many of them in the past have attended exciting events at Northgate or taken part in workshops, some may have also been visited in their schools by our specialist teachers and already been taught by them. We are looking forward to welcoming them on Wednesday and Thursday and showing off our school and everything it has to offer the prospective Year 7s. There is also the opportunity for students and their families to visit us during our Open mornings, to experience the school in action and visit some of our lessons.
