'Virtual tour' provides safe insight into two Luton academies

Even in less trying times they will anxiously look for reassurance: Where do I go? What is it like? Will I make friends?

But Covid-19 has made it more important than ever to put children and their parents at ease about the transition to secondary school.

The Shared Learning Trust has risen to the challenge and arranged two ‘virtual’ Open Evenings to demonstrate its commitment to being ‘The perfect choice for secondary education in Luton.’

On Thursday, October 8, parents and their children will be able to log in to its websites for a comprehensive insight into the facilities, staff and culture of both Chalk Hills Academy and the Stockwood Park Academy.

For each of the two schools they will be able to:

Watch a live stream of the Head of School’s address Enjoy a 360 degree fisheye tour of the facilities Download the prospectus Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions And hear from a selection of students who have made the transition to Year 7 this September.

Louise Lee, Executive Principal of both schools, said: “Chalk Hills is oversubscribed in Year 7 and Stockwood Park has only a small number of vacancies so it is important that parents have confidence in us about their children’s journey to high school, and know about the support that is there.

“We offer a very robust transition programme from Year 6 into Year 7.

“Our schools have fantastic sports facilities with external 3G pitches, excellent modern new buildings and very high spec libraries and we very much focus on our use of modern technology.

“During the opening evenings there will be an opportunity to watch a film based on the type of learning episodes that take place within the schools, the chance to see life science experiments, watch teaching in action and also hear from our Year 7 students about their current transition process post-Covid.

“Visitors will also hear from myself and heads of school Clare Chambers (Chalk Hills) and Mumin Humayun (Stockwood Park) as well as the transition team.

“With the 360-tour they can look at the classroom, sports and catering facilities, and outdoor spaces.”

As well as downloading the prospectus, parents will also be able to click to see all the questions that parents frequently ask.

“Although we are not doing actual physical tours we will put an address on the website so if there are any questions that we haven’t covered parents will be able to email the academies directly,” said Louise.

“We get a lot of parents of children in Year 5 and Year 6 that are looking to transfer and start high school in September 2021 and beyond.

“For the majority of the parents their primary school will be a lot smaller than the secondary school.

“Their children are coming from where they will be the oldest in their primary school to what will now be a totally different environment, because the schools are very, very large and we have children aged from 11 to 18.

“We put in place measures to make them feel welcome, support them with their learning and also to help them make friends.

“We do a lot of early transition events, with class teachers getting to know you, and at the beginning of every September there is an ‘immersion day’.

“This is where as well as their timetables and maps of the school, they get the opportunity to undertake some bridging work and activities so they are ready for when lessons start and they need to move around the academy.”

Common questions asked by children contemplating the step up to Year 7 include:

How do I find my way around high school? I am going to be studying things I haven’t studied before. What do those lessons involve? What are the rewards? What is the food like? How do I log in? Will I be given homework? How does that work?

“We use a number of online platforms for students, teachers, parents and carers,” said Louise. “One is Show My Homework.

“If you have a child in Year 7 and you want to know if they have had any homework in, say, history of geography for the past week you can actually log in and see the assignments that have been set.

“So we have a very strong, blended learning and home learning programme.”

Once families have requested a place they will get their final choices in the new year. All accepted children get a welcome postcard so they know who their head of year is, and the senior leader who looks after Year 7.

At this point details are sent out regarding kit and uniforms.

“We arrange meetings for parents in small bubbles, so children can come and try on their uniforms to ensure they get the right size,” said Louise.

“There will be ‘pop-up’ changing booths with all the uniforms for both mainstream school and PE kit.”

To join the open evenings, log in at either www.stockwoodpark.thesharedlearningtrust.org.uk or www.chalkhills.thesharedlearningtrust.co.uk

Said Louise: “The virtual open evenings will give parents and children an absolute insight to what our academy is like without having to leave the comfort of their sofa.”

Sport plays a crucial role

Sport plays a key role in education at Chalk Hills and Stockwood Park.

Both schools have very strong facilities, with football and cricket academies.

Executive Principal Louise Lee said: “We offer a lot of sports clubs – for example, basketball, trampolining, tennis and fencing – to Year 7s when they join us, especially if it is a sport they have never done before but would like to try.

“We also run clubs and enrichment for Year 7s very early on, so there are lunchtime offers where if they are interested in coding, computer club, drama, or have a love of dance or debating, we offer a lot of real interactive opportunities.”