Secondary School Discovery Day
The Secondary School Discovery Day was promoted across all local state Primary and Middle Schools to support their activities preparing Year 5 children for their transition to Senior School.
This free event was open to all Year 5 children. The day began at 9am with a welcome and assembly followed by a shortened version of a typical day at school. A free, hot school lunch was provided and children were collected by parents at 3pm.
All the activities were designed with Year 5 children in mind and included fun opportunities to explore some curriculum topics that the pupils may not have experienced before including a Physics and Biology laboratory as well as other more familiar subjects like Art, Drama and English. The day also included activities involving sport and arrangements to use our main school dining room – parts of school that we know can be areas of worry for some children. The children also had the opportunity to meet local storyteller John Edgar as part of the School’s Library Outreach services.
Aims
Wolverhampton Grammar School knows from its own experience of supporting Junior School children with the transition to Secondary School that children (and parents) are often unsure what to expect. Year 5 children are also often nervous about a senior school environment.
The aim of this project was to provide an opportunity to introduce children to classrooms and laboratories. This would then help them get over those initial fears about what their secondary school might be like.
The School decided to extend its usual discovery day opportunities to any child or family who wanted to experience a day in the life of a senior school.
Resources
Wolverhampton Grammar School provided free use of its facilities and teaching staff for the day. Administrative and event management support was also provided by the school to help promote the event, register attendees, provide support on the day and follow up with the schools involved.
Impact
The effectiveness of this project was measured from state school participation and from an evaluation carried out with children who participated in the day.
Schools have already been in touch asking when we will be repeating this event.
Pupil Involvement
The Secondary School Discovery Day was promoted to all local Primary and Middle Schools across the local area. The School limited the event to 100 participating children so that form sizes and the classroom experience was as real as possible. All participating children were in Year 5.
Although the event was capped at 100, there was a significant waiting list of children from state schools who wanted to take part.
Frequency
The first Senior School Discovery Day was on Saturday 16th May 2015. Wolverhampton Grammar School is intending to deliver this opportunity as an annual event and the next day is scheduled to take place on Saturday 14th May 2016.