Advice Piece by Lucy Kindred
As one of the newer pupils in Bassaleg School, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share my experience of moving from Year 6 to Year 7 and share some pieces of advice to the new Year 7s. I know a lot of you will have worries as I did but I assure you that these worries soon go away! I hope that this article will help you to feel more confident about being in Year 7 next year.
My Experience
My journey of coming to Bassaleg School was fun and exciting: I got to meet loads of new people and made so many new friends. Finding where all my classrooms were in the first week was a little difficult but there is always a teacher to direct you and help you out. This was definitely my biggest worry but I got used to my timetable and using my planner within a short amount of time and even when I didn’t feel confident, there was always someone around to help. On your first day, you will be directed to your meeting zone by a teacher who will be wearing a high-vis jacket so they will be easy to spot.
Subjects
In Primary School, subjects mainly consist of Maths and English and other subjects would be taught every now and again whereas in Bassaleg, there is a much wider variety of subjects. Another difference is that all lessons are taught in a basic classroom however in Bassaleg, you move to a lab for Science, a kitchen for DT and an Instrument Room for Music. My personal favourite subject would be Art because I get to participate in a bunch of different creative projects and I get to express myself.
Teachers
At Bassaleg School, you will be taught by many different teachers throughout the day. In my opinion, all the teachers are very welcoming and nice, I would make sure that you get a good first impression so that you feel more comfortable asking for help.
Canteen
At Bassaleg School, we have a system where you will all be given a dinner card and your Parents/Guardians will have to put money on it for you to buy lunch. You will have to wait outside the canteen in a line and wait to be let in every day at your year’s allotted time. I have not had a meal from the canteen yet but all my friends say they would definitely recommend eating there.
Forms
In Year 7, your form is a very important part of your school life since you will be with them all year. A form group is basically a group or a class of students that meet every morning in their form room. A form group consists of a Form Tutor (the one who will be leading all of your form tutorials every day of the week except for assembly with the other forms) and then around 30 Year 7 pupils. In Year 7, the majority of your lessons will be with only your form group but that will change in Year 8. Although your lessons are spent with people from your forom, you will make friends with lots of other people from different forms because of lunch times and mixed form lessons such as Wellbeing, Engineering and Maths.
Activities
In Bassaleg School there will be a variety of activities that you can partake in. Some of these activities may include Sports Day or Charity Events. Another form of activity you can take part in is after school clubs. The sports clubs are season dependent so vary. Some of the sports include Athletics, Tennis, Netball and Rugby. There are Music Clubs such as Junior Choir and Wind/String Orchestras to get involved in too. There are other clubs such as the writing group I belong to also. To find out more about clubs, talk to your Head of Year (Miss Greentree) and make sure to listen for updates in assembly.
Worried? Need to talk?
There are posters all over the school that explain your options when it comes to Mental Health support at Bassaleg as it is very important to our school. There is no problem too big or too small and there are lots of people who can help: Form Tutor, Head of Year, Staff at the Hwb and Senior Leadership Team to name a few.
I hope you enjoy Year 7 and remember that everyone is around to help you!