Merstham Park Year 7 Transition Handbook 2022

PHOTO

Merstham Park YEAR 7
School TRANSITION

HANDBOOK

www.mersthamparkschool.org

Igniting
a passion
for learning

CONTENTS 2

OVERVIEW 3
WELCOME FROM KEY STAFF AT MERSTHAM PARK SCHOOL 4

Welcome from Head of School - Mr Ward 5
Welcome from Assistant Headteacher - Mrs Strachan 6
Welcome from Head of Year 7 - Mrs Cronin
Welcome from SENCo & Assistant Headteacher - Mr Briggs 7
KEY TRANSITION DATES
Transition Day 8
PARENT & CARER INFORMATION EVENING 9
MPS Summer School 10
First day at secondary school 11
Liaising with primary schools 12
Support for students with SEND 13
VIRTUAL SCHOOL TOUR 17
Meet the Departments
General information
Uniform
TIMETABLE INFORMATION
School day
SCHOOL VALUES
CLASS CHARTS
WELCOME LETTERS FROM CURRENT YEAR 7 STUDENTS!
FURTHER INFORMATION

OVERVIEW 3

We have produced this guide to help ease the transition process so that Year 6 can start to get to know their new
school, the sta and students.

If you have any questions please email us at: [email protected]

We would also encourage you to follow us on social media to see all the great things we do. We are on facebook
and twitter and please also have a look at our website www.mersthamparkschool.org

WELCOME FROM KEY STAFF AT 4
MERSTHAM PARK SCHOOL

Welcome from Head of School - Mr Ward

A warm welcome to all our new Year 7 students to what, I am sure, will be
a fantastic 5 years for you here at Merstham Park, or MPS as we refer to
ourselves.

I am immensely proud to be Head of School and I hope you are excited about
joining the MPS family and becoming part of our community. It is likely that a
lot of you will be feeling a little nervous about joining a secondary school.
This is perfectly normal and is to be expected. Our friendly sta will help to
make sure your transition from primary school to MPS is as easy as possible for
you. At MPS, our ethos is simple: to ignite a passion for learning in all of our
students. We want you to be excited about getting up every morning and
coming to school for another day of learning and improving yourself.

We are a values driven school and we expect you to model our school values both when at school and on
your way to and from school. You will hear a lot more about our values in September. I look forward to meeting
you soon.

Welcome from Assistant Headteacher - Mrs Strachan

Hello new Year 7 students. I am very excited to meet each and every one of
you as you begin your transition to secondary school.

As Assistant Headteacher I work very closely with the Head of Year 7 and
Learning Mentors to ensure that you are happy, safe and well behaved at
school, as well as ensuring that you are making progress across all of your
subjects. I hope this handbook gives you a avour of what life is like at MPS.

We completely understand that the transition from primary to secondary is a
nervous time for some of our new students, however once you have met our
community of friendly sta and students, I am sure you will feel at ease and
ready to succeed at MPS!

Merstham Park 5
School

Igniting a passion for learning

Welcome from Head of Year 7 - Mrs Cronin

Welcome to our new Year 7s! I am honoured to have the opportunity to work
with you all as your Head of Year.

As your Head of Year, it is my job, along with your learning mentors, to
support your transition into secondary school.

Whether you are excited, nervous or a little bit of both, you are joining a
wonderful community that encourages one another to succeed.

We already have high expectations of each of you and I am excited to see
what your futures hold, and relish the opportunity to be a part of shaping
that with you.

Welcome from SENCo & Assistant Headteacher - Mr Briggs

Hello Year 7. My name is Mr Briggs and I am an Assistant Headteacher.

One of my jobs is to make sure that you get the support you need if you are
struggling with your learning, so please do speak to me if you need any
extra help.

We have a brilliant team of Learning Support Assistants who will be in many
of your lessons, and they can help if you are unsure of what to do; they also
help before school and after school in Study Space, so do go along and get
some support whenever you want!

KEY TRANSITION DATES 6
& TRANSITION DAY

TRANSITION DAY KEY TRANSITION DATES

This will take place on Wednesday 29 June WEDNESDAY 29 JUNE
2022 from 9.30 a.m. - 2.30 p.m. Transition Day

You should attend wearing your primary WEDNESDAY 29 JUNE
school uniform and bring with you a bottle of Parent & Carer Transition Evening
water and a pen.
MONDAY/TUESDAY 25/26 JULY
Your lunch will be provided for you but if you MPS Summer School at
wish to bring a packed lunch, you are Lime Tree Primary School
welcome to do so.
FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER
We are a nut free school so please ensure that First Day at MPS
any food brought into MPS is free of nuts.

Please note: You may also be invited to a
separate afternoon of transition if you are
coming from one of our small feeder schools
or if you have any special educational needs.
You will receive an email, as this afternoon is
by invitation only.

PARENT & CARER TRANSITION 7
INFORMATION EVENING

Parent & Carer Transition Information Evening

This Transition Information Evening is for parents and carers and will start promptly at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday 29
June 2022 in the hall at Lime Tree Primary School. There will be a presentation from Mr Ward, our Head of School
and Mrs Strachan, our Assistant Headteacher overseeing transition, as well as our Head of Year 7, Mrs Cronin.

MPS Summer School

We will be running a 2 day Summer School with a range of activities on Monday 25 July and Tuesday 26 July 2022.
This will be an opportunity for you to meet new friends who will be starting secondary school at the same time!
We would encourage all students to attend.

First Day at MPS https://forms.gle/6zoQENiPKyzEmwLcA

Your first day as a Year 7 student will be on Friday 9 September 2022. This will be a normal school day starting at
8.45 a.m. You will receive a free school lunch on this day, but if you prefer to bring in your own packed lunch,
please ensure that it is nut free.

Liasing with Primary Schools

We will be meeting with all of your primary school teachers throughout the summer term before you join us,
hopefully in person, but if not, virtually. This will help us to understand your individual needs. By talking to your
primary school teachers we can ensure that we are finding out how we can best support you as well as gathering
information on your strengths and areas for development.

Support for students with SEND

Some students with special educational needs may have questions around what support will be o ered to them
at MPS.

We work very closely with primary school SENCo’s to ensure that as much information as possible is gathered so
that students’ needs are met.

We would recommend that if you have any additional questions or concerns that you email our SENCo, Mr Briggs,
using the [email protected] email address.

VIRTUAL SCHOOL TOURS 8
& MEETING THE DEPARTMENTS

Meet the Departments

Please click through to our YouTube channel here to see our new home come to life and to meet the teachershttp://www.mersthamparkschool.org/1379/information-for-prospective-parents
and get a flavour of all of the departments at MPS.

Art Design & Technology English Integrated teaching Project (ITP)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCinhGUk9P-n_zJBUAoFLPaw
http://www.mersthamparkschool.org/568/curriculum-intent

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Music Physical Education (PE) Science

GENERAL INFORMATION 9

Uniform

Our uniform supplier is YOUR IMAGE who are based on the Holmethorpe Industrial Estate in Redhill.

Your Image will supply your blazer, tie, trousers, skirts, jumper and P.E. kit and they can also supply school shirts or
blouses. Uniform at MPS is determined by the colour of the house you will be in, so please do not order any
uniform until you have been advised about your house.

Your Image: 28-30 Holmethorpe Avenue, Redhill, RH1 2NL Tel: 01737 766106
You can order uniform from Your Image’s website:
https://yourimageschoolwear.co.uk/school/merstham-park-school/

School shoes must be plain black, sensible leather shoes. Students must not wear canvas shoes or trainer
style shoes. Students not wearing appropriate shoes will be loaned alternatives which they will be expected
to wear while at school.

Students are allowed to wear one pair of small, plain stud or sleeper size earrings in the lobes of their ears and a
watch. All jewellery must be removed for PE activities and is brought into school entirely at the student’s own risk.
Nose studs and all other types of piercing are not allowed. Students are not allowed to wear rings. Any other
jewellery will be confiscated until the end of the day.

Make up of any description is discouraged and students will be asked to remove any make up which is
considered excessive.

Nail varnish, gel nails, acrylic nails and other false nails are not allowed.

No bandanas, caps or large hair accessories are allowed.

Only MPS hoodies are to be worn with our school uniform. All other hoodies will be confiscated.

Merstham Park 10
School

Igniting a passion for learning

TIMETABLE SCHOOL DAY
INFORMATION
8.15 Gates open/HW Club (optional)
The two week timetable has 50 hours
of lessons running each fortnight, each 8.45 - 8.55 Learning Mentor time
week containing 25 hours.
8.55 - 9.55 Period 1
The weeks are divided into Week 1 and
Week 2 and these are clearly laid out
on students' timetables.

9.55 - 10.55 Period 2

10.55 - 11.15 Break time

11.15 - 12.15 Period 3

12.15 - 13.15 Period 4

13.15 - 13.55 Lunchtime

13.55 - 14.55 Period 5

14.55 - 15.15 Learning Mentor time

15.15 - 16.15 Enrichment Activities/HW Club

Merstham Park 11
School

Igniting a passion for learning

School Values

Our School values at MPS are, inclusion, collaboration, resilience, respect and success.

All of our values are powerful and have a place in helping us to develop our students into the responsible citizens
we desire them to be in this modern world in which we live. As a community focused school, ‘Inclusion’ is the
bedrock on which our other values sit. Our desire to educate students in more than simply an academic capacity
is clear in our vision at Merstham Park and being a values driven school is a key part of us achieving this.

We consider a values driven school to be one which fully embraces its values and expects all members of its
school community to model these values.

INCLUSION We strive to meet each child’s needs through a personalised, bespoke curriculum
COLLABORATION We respect each other for our unique characteristics and embrace equality for all
RESILIENCE We actively strive to support those members of our community who need our support
RESPECT
SUCCESS We promote leadership skills in our students through involving them in all aspects of school life
We promote teamwork and recognising the power of working together
We encourage our students to be independently minded whilst respectful of others within the community

We inspire a ‘can do’ attitude in our students to support them to overcome challenges
We prepare and equip our students for their future, encouraging them to grow, learn and ourish
We promote courage and resilience in all members of our community

We promote an understanding of others views and show consideration towards them
We value our learning opportunities and approach them positively
We demonstrate respect to all members of our community

We encourage all our students to achieve their aspirational goals
We have high expectations of our learning community
We promote the celebration of shared successes

Merstham Park 12
School

Igniting a passion for learning

Class Charts

At MPS we use an application called Class Charts to help you keep track of your achievements, access your
behaviour report, view assigned homework tasks and track any detentions you may get.

Class Charts for students can be accessed via the Class Charts website, or using iOS and Android apps.

You will be given an access code by your teacher when you start at MPS in order to log in. Your parents will also
have a code so that they can keep track of your achievements too.

Parent Pay

Merstham Park School is a cashless school and we request that all payments for school lunches, school trips and
after school clubs are made using ParentPay.

On starting at MPS, you will be issued with a ParentPay Username and Password which will give you access to
your child's account. If your child is having school lunches, you must ensure that their account is always in credit.

A school lunch costs £2.40 a day / £12 a week.

WELCOME LETTERS FROM 13
CURRENT MPS YEAR 7 STUDENTS

Our current Year 7 students know that making the jump from primary school to secondary school is a bit scary as
well as exciting! These students have experienced the transition and are happy to share their experiences with
you via letters they have written.

Merstham Park 14
School

Igniting a passion for learning

Merstham Park 15
School

Igniting a passion for learning

Merstham Park 16
School

Igniting a passion for learning

FURTHER INFORMATION 17

Merstham Park
School

Igniting a passion for learning

We have developed this transition handbook in order to give some certainty and reassurance for students who
are due to start at MPS in September 2022.

We are looking forward to visiting lots of you in your primary schools. We are proud of our fantastic pastoral team
who will do their utmost to ensure that you have the best transition experience possible.

Have a great summer when it arrives and we look forward to meeting you at the Transition Day on Wednesday
29 June 2022, at MPS Summer School on Monday 25 July and Tuesday 26 July 2022 and on Friday 9 September
2022 for your first day at MPS.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact: [email protected]

Igniting
a passion
for learning

Merstham Park
School

Head of School: Andy Ward
Taynton Drive, Merstham, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 3PU

01737 919 491
[email protected]
www.mersthamparkschool.org

Find out more Follow us on
www.mersthamparkschool.org twitter.com/mersthampark

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