Year 7

Year 7 Pastoral Team

The Year 7 team is led by the Raising Standards Leader, Mr Monksfield, and the Assistant Principal, Ms Gallagher.

The year group is divided up into seven tutor groups, each one led by a form tutor. Every pupil is also a member of one of the four Hurstmere Houses - Caxton, Chaucer, Cobham, and Sidney. Each form is linked to a house and competes throughout the year in various events to gain house points for the overall house competition.

 

Form Tutors

Pupils will spend 20 minutes daily in registration with their form tutors, at the start of the day. This is a great time to reinforce our high standards, raise any concerns they may have about their time in or outside school, and gain support when required. It is also a time when form tutors will pass on any messages to pupils, planners are checked, and when year group assemblies take place.

Caxton Y Madame Marchioni

Chaucer X Ms Benedetti

Chaucer Y Mr Giddings

Cobham X Ms Payne

Cobham Y Mrs Owusu-Taylor

Sidney X Ms Hoang (co-Tutor: Mr Joyce)

Sidney Y Ms Warren

Every member of the Year 7 team can be contacted via the main school number 0208 300 5665.

 

Year 7 Tutor Time Programme

Monday: Pastoral Monitoring and Organisation

Tuesday: Character Education

Wednesday: DEAL (Reading)

Thursday: Week A: Current affairs; Week B: Careers

Friday: Assembly

 

The Transition to Secondary School

Year 7 is an important time, as pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school. During their first year, pupils will have the opportunity to partake in a range of activities to help them settle into their new school. At Hurstmere we have seven core values that all students should expect to develop during their time with us, these are: respect, teamwork, resilience, ambition, integrity, leadership, and self-belief (Hurstmere RTRAILS).

Moving to a new school can create feelings of anxiety and it is important for pupils to ensure they speak to staff when issues arise. Our pastoral team are here to support your son through his journey at Hurstmere and provide him with the tools he needs to reach his full potential. As parents, we encourage you to take an active role in your son’s education, assisting with homework, ensuring deadlines are met, developing organisational skills, and supporting the school. Maintaining a positive home/school relationship is a way to foster trust and develop the understanding that we all have the student at the centre of our decisions. Having a growth mindset is the key to success.

 

Support

We offer a range of support which includes: Early Intervention Team’s Referral programme, Accelerated Reading, Peer Mentoring, SEMH support, Educational Psychologist, Student Welfare Access Panel – SWAP, Place2Be, Counselling and the School Nurse. We can also support pupils by recommending external agencies such as GPs, CAMHS and EHCP along with Bexley student support. Pupils in Year 7 may also be selected to take part in other supportive programmes run by a variety of staff at school.

We are eager to support our pupils and rely on open communication to ensure we can quickly deal with any issues that may arise. Please contact your son’s Form Tutor in the first instance if you have something you wish to discuss with us.

 

Our Ethos

At Hurstmere, we are a telling school and members of staff are only too willing to assist pupils in resolving any issues they have during their school day. Pupils can speak with their classroom teachers for issues that occur during lessons. During their 20 minute registration boys can also liaise with their form tutors and inform them of any issues they may have in the corridors, between lessons and to or from school. As teachers we can work with your son to get the best out of them, we ask that you support us in what we are trying to achieve and take an interest in what they are studying by assisting them in completing homework and resolving conflicts that may occur during the school year.

Remember, “if we don’t know about it, we can’t help you deal with it.”

Extra-curricular Activities

The school provides a wide range of activities outside of conventional classroom time and it is important that pupils make the most of the opportunities on offer. This helps pupils to settle in, make new friends and develop their social skills. Activities take place at lunchtimes and after school, and timetables are available in every classroom. It is recommended that all pupils take part in some form of extra-curricular activity to help them feel a part of their new school.

 

Achievement and Rewards

As a school we like to focus on the positive achievements of pupils in lessons, around the school, and any extra-curricular activities performed. Pupil achievements are recognised and rewarded by gaining house points which are allocated to them individually, and their house, throughout the year. We monitor the totals for the week and the Raising Standards Leader will issue a positive postcard home to parents for the top 10 students in the year group. The cumulative scores are then used to support the reward system within the year group, with certificates (Bronze, Silver and Gold awards) being sent home. We will be displaying and recognising the efforts of each week’s “Top Ten” on the achievements notice board. Each house point awarded is also added to the annual house competition which is concluded at the annual sports day event in the summer term. Pupils in Year 7 can also receive letters and praise postcards from teachers and their tutor for their efforts. Rewards are run on a termly basis for the top 10 pupils throughout that period, and include rewards such as: pizza parties, laser tag, combat laser games, bowling and karting.

 

Home School Contact

Every pupil is issued with a school planner at the start of the academic year. This is an excellent resource for pupils to keep themselves organised. It also is a useful vehicle for maintaining close contact between home and school. Teachers may use the planner to communicate with you and you are of course welcome to do the same. Please ensure you check and sign your son’s planner at least once a week. All members of staff can of course be contacted on the main school number.

 

Microsoft Teams

All Year 7 pupils will be issued with their own login for our Microsoft 365 Platform. Each subject will have an area on Teams which they can use to communicate with pupils and set homework assignments. Pupils have access to Microsoft programmes through this platform. If you have any concerns about this, please contact our IT Department on itsupport@hurstmere.org.uk or info@hurstmere.org.uk

 

Important events for Year 7

Parents Information Meeting – Thursday 7th September 2023

Year 7 Welcome Evening – Thursday 28th September 2023

Year 7 Parents Evening – Thursday 21st March 2023

 

Mr J Monksfield

Raising Standards Leader for Year 7 and Teacher of Geography

Hurstmere School