Setting Year 7 students up for success
ADVERTORIAL
Redcliffe State High School works closely with local primary schools to ensure a positive and confident transition for students into Year 7, setting them up for success in secondary school learning and beyond.
Junior Secondary Head of Department Jess Murphy says a key part of her role is to develop relationships with partner primary schools including Scarborough, Humpybong and Hercules Road State Schools.
“It starts really early in the year, building those relationships and getting to meet the next (student) cohort. We start as low as Year 4, getting to know those students,” Ms Murphy says.
Staff from Redcliffe State High School visit Scarborough State School to run behaviour and resilience programs with Year 5 and 6 students.
“This year we’ve also started REDDI-Connect which is transition support for students with disabilities and those with mental health and anxiety issues,” she explains.
“We give them extra opportunities to meet our key staff, get to know our school, get to know our processes before the traditional orientation days which most of the students attend in term four.”
Year 7 became part of the secondary school system in 2015, marking a big change for schools and families
“When the Year 7s came up, it wasn’t just bringing a single new grade up to high school. They are a completely unique group, the pre-adolescent age group,” Ms Murphy says.
“It’s really important to get transitions right because the adolescent brain ... from nine years old to about 14 years old ... is that last window of cognitive pruning.
“If we get education right, and we get kids feeling safe, wanted and valued at school, they’re more likely to go all the way to Grade 12 and into further education.”
She says successful transitions also result in better school attendance and engagement.
How it works
There are three phases of the Redcliffe State High School transition program.
“The first is that idea of connection ... and that’s us connecting with the individual, getting to know the kids as individual learners, understanding their needs, understanding their families and understanding the supports that were previously provided to them at primary school,” Ms Murphy explains.
“The second is that curriculum space and understanding their capacity and how they learn, but also how the teachers in primary school are teaching. We’re wanting to connect our learning cultures.
“There’s a similar language of learning, the spaces feel the same, there’s a little bit of an aesthetics similarity with things like learning walls and worksheets, so a lot of that cognitive load for the kids is diminished. It gives them a lot more psychological safety starting high school.
“For a lot of kids, there’s a lot of anxiety around starting high school. There’s a lot of expectation for independence and autonomy with their learning that they don’t have in Years 5 and 6.
“We’re trying to build a bridge between our schools so when the kids come to us, they’re hitting the ground running. There’s a continuance in learning and continuance in the kind of success that we know our primary schools are having.”
Vital collaboration
Teachers from Redcliffe State High School work alongside the Year 5 and 6 teachers to gain an understanding of how they teach, what the classrooms look and feel like and how they can emulate that.
Ms Murphy says there is a comprehensive support framework around students when they start Year 7.
“There is a program we run across those first couple of weeks to help our students become familiar with the school and our systems. The rules will be different, the expectations are slightly different. They’re going from being the big fish (at primary school) to the very little fish,” she says.
Through the school’s Respect program, students are placed in a core class with a ‘Respect teacher’ where they have the chance to get to know each other and engage in ‘house spirit’.
Redcliffe State High School offers support for learning needs and differences through its hub team – a range of specialist teachers who work with students with a disability or who are diverse learners.
There is a space students can go, if they need time out, they also have individual case managers they and their families can speak with.
“We also have a massive student support team – we have a specialised Head of Year 7 whose role is to overlook wellbeing and engagement across the cohort of 250 kids. My role in transitions is to help those teams get a better idea of the cohort ... but I also work as a conduit between all of our support people to provide those supports for the kids,” she explains.
“We also have a dedicated full-time guidance officer, school nurses, chaplains, a therapy dog, a GP, Community Education Counsellor (CEC) and Pasifika liaison officer.
“We cater to all the educational needs but we’re understanding, in the modern age, social and emotional needs of kids are becoming more paramount.
“Teaching them resilience and core skills is now requiring a team and not just a family. We see ourselves as a triad between the kids, the school and the parents. We know if we’re working together, and all three of us work in unison, we have success with the kids.”
Find out more, visit redcliffeshs.eq.edu.au or phone (07) 3897 1111.