Student In-Year Admissions

Considering Calthorpe Park – First Contact with School: 

We appreciate that the process of changing school is a stressful time for families. At Calthorpe Park we try to ensure that support and guidance is provided throughout the process, from the initial contact with us, through to looking after new students if they are successful in joining us. 

Prior to the official offering of a place here, we welcome contact with the parent so we can arrange a meeting to talk through the relevant steps the family need to take and to help us to prepare for a potential new student.  Our Admissions Officer will review the Admissions Criteria and offer help and advice about the next steps in the application process. 

In the event that a space in the requested year is not available, a letter will be sent to the parent advising them of the situation.  At this point the child’s name will be added to our waiting list.  When a place becomes available with the child’s name at the top of the waiting list, and the place still being required, the offer process will begin.

Applicant parents should contact our Admissions Officer, via Reception, at school.

In-year applications are made at this link.

The sections below outline the various stages of the In-Year Admissions process.

Admissions Meeting: 

To begin the process once a place is available for your child and alongside the receipt of an application, we will arrange a meeting with the family – the applicant parent(s) and child – and a senior member of staff. During the meeting we will:

• review the application process and consider the next steps to take,
• cover the reasons for the interest in a place at school,
• share information about the child’s school experience to date,
• and provide an opportunity for the family to ask questions about our school.

We will talk about the key expectations that we have and discuss how the student and parental expectations align with these, such as:

• the student’s engagement with learning
• attendance, punctuality
• uniform
• behaviour management
• responsibilities balanced with expectation
• our Learning Charter
• our e-Safety Charter
• any specific medical aspects
• any pastoral or academic support needs the child may have.

Following the meeting, we will contact the child’s current/previous school for further pastoral and academic background information. 

Where agreed, a second meeting may be arranged to further discuss the child's place and educational requirements.

A formal start date, with the Induction Day, will be discussed at this point.

Here are the current options books giving GCSE choices being taken by students:

• Year 8
• Year 9
• Year 10
• Year 11

 

Induction Day:

The first day in school for the new student will be their Induction Day.  The exact arrangements for the day are tailored to the needs of the new student.  We will include some assessment tests (not entry exams) which concentrate on core reading, writing and numeracy skills (most students do some of these tests every year anyway).  We may include some topic tests, covering aspects of Science and other subjects.

The new student must

• wear full school uniform
• have all the equipment with them that they need to support learning, and
• have a positive approach to their start at a new school.

During this first day the new student will not have any classroom lessons in the morning, they will be supervised by one of our support staff who has been trained in looking after new students during their Induction Day.

To help the new student settle in to our school, we arrange for “buddies” to help during the first few days or weeks.  These buddies are selected from the new student’s Tutor and class groups.  The buddies will be a familiar face during the first few days.

Tours are arranged to show the new student around the key places on site, such as the location of the restaurant and cafe,  where the toilets are, classrooms on their timetable, the HUB (Pastoral area with the Pastoral Assistants and Heads of House), Medical Room, the playground and such like.  We do provide a map but it is nice to have a tour round as well.

 

First day of Lessons

The next school day, after the Induction Day, will be a ‘normal’ day of lessons. By this time the new student will know their buddies, have a timetable, visited most of their classrooms, and be ready to continue with their learning at our school.

If the new student is worried, lost or needs further help they will know where to go for assistance.

 

Transition Period:

The new student’s teachers, Form Tutor, pastoral and senior staff keep a look out to make sure all is well.  

The transition period is around 6 to 8 weeks and this is usually concluded by a review with the new student. This is conducted by the Tutor, Head of House or a senior member of staff.  There is no formal report at this point but either school or the parent may wish to arrange a follow-up meeting to discuss the current success of the student transition. The overview never ends of course as we will continue to monitor and nurture all students at school. 

 

Additional Help and Advice

At any point during the process outlined above, if a parent would like further help or advice they should contact our Admissions Officer at school, via Reception, either by phone or email.