Transition to the Middle Department

When children move into the Middle Department from the Junior Department, we want it to be as seamless a transition as possible. Teachers build on familiar activities and themes which are already in place to support the children as they move into Year 3.

As they join our Prep School in Year 3, pupils are at an exciting stage of their education, developing in independence and ready to appreciate the many new opportunities and experiences that lie ahead: new routines and procedures, new friends and teachers, a wider variety of After School Activities and sporting fixtures against other schools. Before they arrive in Year 3, pupils are already familiar with many staff, and are also already familiar with many areas and facilities of the main school: dining rooms, the performance hall, computer suites, surgery, sports hall, swimming pool etc. and the school grounds which are used extensively in the Junior Department.

Many of the PE, Music, Drama and French specialist teachers from the main school will already have taught the Junior Department children on a weekly basis. The transition process gathers pace during the Lent and Summer Terms in Year 2, when Year 2 pupils may do the following:

• Join Year 3 assemblies;
• Spend time with their Year 3 Form Teacher;
• Watch the school production;
• Pay visits to the Library and other parts of the main school building;
• Have music lessons in the Music Department;
• Visits to the Year 3 classrooms;
• Receive a copy of ‘My Guide to Year 3’;
• Meet the Year 3 teachers in Forest School.