P7 - S1 Transition

P7 Transition at Portlethen Academy

We always look forward to welcoming our new P7s to Portlethen Academy. As you well know, the last few years have been testing for all, with numerous challenges facing our young people and their families post-COVID. We have had disrupted transition for our young people over recent years but we are pleased to say that we, as a cluster, have been working hard since 2021 towards increasing the amount and quality of in-person P7 transition. This has been a huge success, enabling our current S3, S2 and S1 groups to adjust well and become key members of our school community. We are delighted to be able to plan the same, and more, for this year’s P7 cohort.

Mr Drennan, our Head Teacher, and Mrs Law, Pupil Support Depute Headteacher, visit our five cluster primary schools to meet with your child’s P7 class, to introduce themselves and to tell all our new pupils a bit about the Academy and our core values in October each year. They liaise with our primary colleagues in discussing plans for transition and each Primary School in our cluster sends referrals for extended transition by December, which we use to plan with our Additional Support for Learning colleagues, to welcome some young people in for additional transition visits. Mrs Law meets with colleagues in each primary school, early in term 3, to get an overview of all pupils soon to be joining us and their needs and all primaries send us extensive transition information about every young person’s learning, levels, strengths, needs and GIRFEC information. Our Additional Support for Learning (ASL) teachers are tasked with transferring this important information to our Confidential File system at the Academy, ready for welcoming them in for full transition visits in June.

Mrs Law visits our five schools after the Christmas break to share details of the transition timeline and to gather the P7s’ thoughts and ideas on some of the events planned. She uses this opportunity to answer their questions and alleviate any worries they may be beginning to feel about moving on from their school. Senior Academy pupils from our Pupil Leadership Team go with Mrs Law to support with these visits and give all-important pupil voice and views. Guidance Teachers then visit each school with former P7s, who are currently in S1, to share hints and tips about transition and to inform everyone about what Guidance is and what it looks like in the Academy.

All local schools take part in the P7 Quiz in March, which is run by the Rotary who we are proud to partner with. This gives P7s the opportunity to spend time as a full year group in the Academy and get to know the environment and ethos of the school. P7s also take part in the Dragon’s Den event once they find out their classes in May, and then the three day visit for all P7s is in June. This provides an opportunity to have a dress rehearsal of what being in S1 is like. They get to meet their buddies, do three days of their timetable, get to know staff and end the three days with an exciting House Competition to get the ball rolling with the next session’s House competition.

We hold three P7 transition information evenings, in person at the Academy, for all our new parents and carers; one in January, the initial evening, which lasts around an hour. This is an information sharing session and an opportunity for you to ask us any questions you may have about the transition process. The second evening in March has a focus on Pupil Support in the Academy, Guidance, Targeted Supports and Additional Support Needs (ASN). The third parent/carer evening gives you the opportunity to have a tour of the school to see where your young person will be doing their learning over the coming years, and we tend to do this on an evening in June, so it is close to when the P7s come for their 3-day visit.

Below is an outline of this year’s P7 Transition Timeline and will be a useful reference for you and your young person over the coming weeks and months.