With the majority of Warwick Junior School boys making the transition to join us at the Senior School each year, as a parent of a boy who is coming from a different school, it would be completely natural if you were to have reservations around how your son would assimilate. 

And, as your son takes the next step in his educational journey, knowing that he will feel a sense of belonging in his new environment is likely to be of paramount importance to you.  

Thankfully, a sense of belonging and community is something that is integral to our education provision at Warwick School, and something that we are deliberate about fostering at all levels. Indeed, one of the four key elements of The Warwick Way — our unique vision of education and the values that underpin it — is belonging. We know that young people thrive when they feel known, valued, and part of a community, and so we aim to create this feeling for every boy, in an environment that they can enjoy and in which they feel celebrated and safe. 

Each year, the boys who take the through-journey from Warwick Junior School to the Senior School typically only make up around half of our Year 7 cohort. Out of the Year 7 boys who joined us in September 2025, for example, 55 pupils joined us from schools outside the Foundation, with 29 of those pupils being the only person from their primary school to come to Warwick. Undoubtedly, it is completely normal for boys to join us from a diverse range of schools and environments across the county and beyond each year. 

Despite this, we know that starting at a new senior school is a big step for both you and your son, and so we make every attempt to ensure that not only is the transition process as easy and enjoyable as possible, but once your son joins us, the process of assimilating and making new friends feels completely natural. We aim to achieve this through the aforementioned culture of belonging and community that underpins all that we do, but also through a series of deliberate opportunities for you and your son to become familiar with the school and those within our community. 

Moving Up Day, for example, is arranged in the summer term for new Year 7 boys. Many subject-based activities take place, including music, drama, and sports, as well as an induction into more practical matters such as registration, the school timetable, and how to use the library. We often find that the boys enjoy mixing with each other so much during the day that they have made a set of friends before they have even officially started! 

At the beginning of term, in September, Year 7 boys attend an induction morning before the start of term, and soon after, they go on an overnight Belonging Trip to Oaker Wood to take part in fun outdoor activities and team-building activities, helping to cement these new friendships further and to create new ones. 

Whilst most boys join in Year 7, others also join in Year 8, 9, or in the Sixth Form, for those joining in other year groups, arrangements are made for boys to meet their Form Tutor and gather any relevant information before starting at school. New Sixth Formers are invited into the Sixth Form Induction Week in July. 

With events such as these, but also through our experienced staff who help pupils to mix both inside and outside of the classroom, our boys have no problem making friendships, no matter where they have joined us from. These friendships last all the way through school and, often, for life. 

We would love to welcome you and your son into the Warwick community. If you have any other questions regarding the transition process, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly Admissions Team: WSS-Admissions@warwickschools.co.uk