Move up day offers introduction to life as a Senior pupil
Year 6 pupils from Rydal Penrhos were joined by some of their future classmates from other schools as they got a taste of life on the Senior site as a Year 7 pupil, and had lots of fun in the process!
Moving into Year 7 is one of the key moments of change in a child's life. Compared to the familiarity of primary education, where pupils' lessons are largely delivered by the same teacher, in the same classroom, Year 7 presents a variety of new opportunities and challenges for pupils to embrace.
Of course, while Rydal Penrhos Prep pupils already move around between classrooms and buildings, getting used to different teachers through specialised teaching in subjects like Spanish, PE, Music and Welsh, this is not the case for other pupils joining Rydal Penrhos' Year 7 class from elsewhere.
Even for Prep pupils, the Senior site can seem vast and disparate on first viewing; this is just a natural consequence of having so many excellent facilities for all the subjects, hobbies and sports you can imagine. To make September's new Year 7 feel more at home on site, they were recently invited to spend the day living life like their older peers.
Pupils began the day with a talk from Ms Bollan, the Pastoral Lead for Years 7 to 10. Alongside form tutors and subject teachers, Ms Bollan forms a key part of the pastoral team in place to ensure that pupils settle in quickly and find their way when they transition to the Senior site in September.
Ms Bollan introduced herself to pupils and explained some of the key features of being a Year 7 pupil, including the extra responsibilities and freedoms that will become clear as they get involved in lessons, sports and activities; all the while freely moving around the site between them.
Pupils then took part in lessons, starting with Maths. Mrs Williams, the Assistant Principal and Director of Studies, set up some fun mathematical challenges that pupils tried their very best to crack. Maths is one of the core subjects in Year 7 and pupils spend four lessons a week growing their understanding of the subject.
September's Year 7s then moved onto an English lesson with Mr Williams, the Faculty Leader for Language, Literacy and Communications. Pupils practiced their writing, and, in turn, flexed their creativity, as they responded to prompts set by Mr Williams.
After some serious concentration and a lot of learning new things, pupils were ready for a snack! Visiting the Senior Dining Hall during morning break, the opportunity arose to meet some of our friendly catering team and find out more about nutrition, as well as the practicalities of break-time snack and lunch.
After break, pupils joined Mrs Freeman, who has recently been awarded the prestigious Chartered Teacher of History (CTHist) accreditation, for a lesson on the medieval era, which the incumbent Year 7 class are currently studying.
In a creative and informative taster session in the subject, pupils were tasked with creating their own heraldic shields in the style of those that would have been used in that period of history. Pupils created an amazing array of designs and, most importantly, had great fun doing so.
After History, Ms Bollan returned to give pupils a tour of the Senior school. The walk round allowed pupils the chance to figure out where all the school's different subjects are situated. They also visited lessons, including a Year 7 Science class and Year 8 Art lesson, where pupils were busy clay modelling.
All that walking left pupils ready to fuel up once again! Over lunch, they were greeted by a familiar face; Rev'd Dr Beamish, the School Chaplain. Pupils delighted at the wide assortment of options including meat and vegetarian dishes, soups, salads, and sweet treats!
After lunch, both Rydal Penrhos pupils and their new friends from elsewhere travelled up Pwllycrochan Avenue to the Prep where Year 6 form tutor Mrs Pyves conducted a Geography lesson. At 15:30 they participated in an hour of extracurricular clubs before pupils and parents met with senior members of staff at collection time, including Deputy Principals Mrs Davies and Mr Sutton, Ms Bollan, Mrs Williams and leader of the admissions team, Mrs McLean.
All in all it was a brilliant day full of happiness and discovery for all involved as pupils made themselves at home and forged new friendships. There will be plenty more opportunities for Year 6 and other children joining Year 7 in September to further familiarise themselves with their new home over the coming months. Until next time, Year 6!
