For many pupils and their families, joining a new school is an exciting milestone in their educational journey… but it can also feel slightly daunting. This feeling is completely normal, especially for those boys who join us from a school outside of the Foundation, having left existing friendship groups and familiar faces. We recognise this; each year, we routinely accept boys from a wide range of schools, and it is not uncommon for new pupils to be the only one from their previous school. Our family-like environment – underpinned by the experience and enthusiasm of our staff – means that we are well-versed in the best ways to make the transition as easy as possible for both boys and their parents.

Before your son joins us

We provide opportunities for you and your son to become accustomed to the school and meet fellow new starters months before you officially join us. Our Welcome to Warwick day and whole school open event, each in the summer term, gives you and your son the opportunity to tour the school and familiarise yourself with your new surroundings, meet some of your son’s new teachers, and ask any questions that you may have about what the transition to Warwick Junior School may look like. We believe that in the early stages of their journey with us, it is important for boys to recognise some friendly familiar faces around school; in times where they may have questions, are unsure what to do, or even feel slightly overwhelmed, these friendly faces can make a huge difference to how easy this first period feels.

Importantly, the events also give you the chance to meet other boys and their families who may be joining at the same time as your son. We even find that some parents and boys make new friends at these early events and do things together during the summer holiday, meaning that boys have already made friends before they even start!

The start of term

All new pupils have an induction afternoon on the day before other boys start. During the afternoon, boys will have the chance to meet the other boys who will be in their class and from across the year group, and become familiar with their classrooms — including finding out where their seat is and where to put their belongings.

They will also once again have the chance to meet some of their teachers, meet their form tutor, and get an insight into what a ‘regular’ school day may look like once term starts. The aim for the afternoon is to be laid back, give boys the chance to meet their peers and make some new friends, and become more familiar with their new surroundings. Even little things - like knowing what to do when the whistle is blown on the playground - all add up to making the first few days feel a little less daunting!

The first two days of term - rather than being a regular timetable - focus on fun activities, games, and team-building exercises. By designing the start of term to be a more relaxed introduction for boys, we find that this is a more effective approach to help them begin to make new friends, find other boys with common interests, and feel more at home in their new environment than if they went straight into regular lessons.

Our Year 3 BBQ, typically at the end of the first week of term, welcomes both boys and parents and gives them another chance to socialise, get to know each other, and take part in fun activities.

We also aim to catch up with parents within the first two weeks to check in with how you and your son have found the first week, if you have any questions, and discuss how we can best support you and your son moving forward.

Buddy Programme and Playground Pals

Each year, new boys are put into groups of ‘buddies’ within their class. The aim of the Buddy Programme is to encourage pupils to help each other settle in and to ensure that every boy has a trusted group of friendly faces to turn to whenever they may need it. We find that the initiative is particularly helpful for boys who join in Year 4 an upwards or for mid-year joiners, where they may be joining a cohort of existing pupils and who would be even greater beneficiaries of a friendly support network within their class.

Similarly, our Playground Pals initiative also aims to further facilitate a pupil-pupil support network. The initiative sees volunteers – Playground Pals – being given the responsibility to look out for other boys at playtime and identify anyone who may not seem themselves, appear lonely or upset. The Playground Pals will then either chat to them, play with them, or if necessary, alert the attention of a teacher for additional support.

Socialisation across year groups

Besides specific events and initiatives, socialisation across classes and year groups is encouraged across various aspects of school life. Certain lessons, such as Performing Arts and Games, are done as a year group and our wide ranging Co-Curricular programme offers many clubs where boys from different year groups can work together. Through these cross-year clubs and subjects, we aim to ensure that boys do not become too isolated to their own year group or specific friendship groups; making friends from other year groups goes a long way to fostering our whole family-like environment. In other school environments where this isn’t the case, pupils may find the thought of mixing with older year groups daunting, but we find that our approach ensures that boys feel comfortable making friends no matter the age. Our diverse range of co-curricular clubs is particularly effective in fostering cross-year collaboration. Especially in children’s formative years, the strongest friendships are often created through the sharing of common interests and beliefs, and our clubs – whether they are before school, at lunchtime, or after school – aim to facilitate the creation of friendships that last for years to come, regardless of year group.

A culture of support

Our commitment to supporting our boys and their families doesn’t end after the first week or outside of specific events – our culture of support exists at all levels, every single day. Our Form Tutors, for example, meet with boys every day and ensure that each boy is known, understood, and valued as an individual. Form Tutors are there to provide support when required, advise and guide the boys, remind them of our expectations, and help them to make the most of their talents and abilities. However, life can have its ups and downs and, when a child or family are experiencing difficult times, we are able to provide additional levels of pastoral support via our mentoring programme and counselling provision.

Boys are encouraged to build a network of trusted adults to speak to if anything is bothering them, whilst for parents, we always encourage early conversations with staff if you have any queries or support; by addressing any concerns in their early stages, we will be better placed to support you and your son moving forward,

 

We’re confident that with our dedicated events, ample opportunities to make friends, and structures of support, your son will have no problem settling into life at Warwick Junior School – and we would be delighted to welcome him into our community.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, our friendly Admissions Team would be happy to help. Contact them via email at WSS-admissions@warwickschools.co.uk.