Summer School 2022

Posted at 10:33 am on 20th September, 2022

Dedicated Event to Support Transition

As soon as we closed our doors at the end of the Summer term, we reopened them to welcome new Year 7 students for an exciting week-long Summer School.

Wellacre’s Summer School has run successfully for a number of years and is proven to help ease transition for both new students and their parents/carers.

Over 80 students joined a Transition team to enjoy a timetable brimming with activities and lessons, to meet new classmates and staff and to familiarise themselves with the school site. 

 

Mr Thomson, Director of Transition, said:

“We aim to help ease the concerns of students and their families and to build their excitement at becoming part of the Wellacre community.  All the activities are designed to boost their confidence and camaraderie; we can really feel the positive impact it has on students when they join us in September.”

The week’s activities began with meet and greet, a tour of the school grounds, and a transition workshop to talk about making friends, managing emotions and setting personal goals.  

The timetable of the week also included curriculum taster lessons; in English, students developed their writing skills to introduce themselves, and in a workshop supported by Trafford Thrive, students talked about mental health and wellbeing.

PE and team building exercises involved utilising students’ communication and problem-solving skills as they tackled an Escape Room Challenge and navigated an obstacle course blindfolded.  They also experienced several high energy and new team games including curling, boccia ball, ultimate frisbee, handball, and boules. 

  

Students experienced their first House events, which saw them performing in a Talent Show and competing in Hungry Hippos, Scavenger Hunt and Skiing!

Mr Thomson added:

“The House events rallied all our students and they competed with incredible enthusiasm! It was a pleasure to see friendships forming and confidence building throughout the week.”

Certificates were presented in recognition of hard work, effort and positive contributions throughout the week.  House event winners were as follows:

Turing - Escape Room, House Multi-Sport and Team Building Challenge

Pankhurst - Talent Show, House Skiing and Hungry Hippos

Lowry - Tower Building Challenge, Scavenger Hunt and Ultimate Frisbee

Year 7 Summer School attendee, Jack, said:

“I really enjoyed Summer School!. We did lots of Sports, much more than I did in Primary School. I came with friends from my primary school and made some new ones too. I think Summer School is really good for people joining Wellacre, it’s not as scary as you think and all the teachers are here to help you.”

Parental feedback was extremely positive too:

“Summer school was great for alleviating anxiety about the school routine, physical layout, lessons and logistics.”

“A really good experience for the family and getting the bus home with friends was a really great thing to do too.”

“A great way for my son to become more confident starting in September.”

“It’s been a great experience for my son; he made lots of new friends.”

“A really good opportunity for my son to meet staff and new friends.  Thank you for your ongoing support.”