The lower school is made up of years 7 and 8. The move to secondary school can feel daunting, so our main aim is to make the transition as welcoming and straightforward as possible, and to make the start really exciting and fun! Our priority for these first two years is to imbue the pupils with a real delight in learning for its own sake and to help them develop strong friendships.
We have a full induction programme to ensure pupils settle in well. In addition to a welcome event in the summer term, year 7 pupils start the autumn term a day earlier than everyone else. This induction day allows them to meet their forms and their tutors and to familiarise themselves with the school building, helping them to feel comfortable and confident in those early days. We run weekly transition sessions with the year group for the first half-term, sharing important information and introducing them to key staff. We also run a day of team building activities to help everyone meet as many girls as possible. Staff are well-versed in continuing this induction process during lessons and keeping a close eye on the pupils during those first few weeks and months.
During years 7 and 8, pupils are given many opportunities to mix with peers from the other form groups. This ranges from during lesson time – specifically during modern languages and games – to more informal opportunities through attendance at clubs, societies and house events. Lower school pupils throw themselves into the many co-curricular activities on offer. Favourite clubs include robotics, debating and the Taylor Swift society, to name but a few, and our music ensembles and sports squads are very popular. There are regular house events, including house drama, music and sports day, which allow for further mixing across the year group. We know the pupils appreciate these opportunities to build relationships with their peers, developing a truly integrated year group. It also helps pupils build confidence in making new friends, an essential life skill.
There are a number of leadership opportunities for pupils in the lower school, harnessing their natural enthusiasm for helping others. Each form group has a form captain and a deputy form captain who attend Lower School Council (run by our Head Girl Team) and also meet regularly with their heads of year, sharing feedback about the pupils’ experiences. There is a wide variety of other leadership positions, such as charities reps, digital leaders, wellbeing reps and sustainability reps. Year 8 pupils can also act as mentors for year 7s, helping with organisation.
Lower school assemblies are an important time for the section to gather and the lower school values of ‘be kind, get involved and take accountability’ are often a central tenet of the message being delivered. Assemblies help foster the supportive and inclusive environment we are so proud of here at City. The lower school PSHCE curriculum also complements the hard work done in form time and assemblies, with its focus on some of the key challenges faced in the lower school as well as readying the pupils for life beyond City.
There is a very strong pastoral support network at City, comprising form tutors, student mentors, heads of year and heads of section. This is in addition to the support offered by the study centre, the coaching team, the pastoral wellbeing advisor, the school nurse and the school counsellors. Parents and pupils are encouraged to bring any concerns they may have, academic or pastoral, to the lower school team, so that we can work together to ensure the happiness of each individual pupil.
To discover more about the curriculum in the lower school, please visit this page.
Elly Nicoll
Head of Lower School
