Principal Adrian Farrer welcomes Year 7 students at their Induction Service
Roaming Free Transitioning to the Senior School When we think about transition, the concept of change comes to mind. For many, heading into secondary school will conjure up feelings of excitement, opportunity, new friends, and new beginnings. Others may experience feelings of trepidation, a sense of being overwhelmed or anxiousness about things unknown, such as ‘How will I manage the homework?’. Typically, many of our boys entering Year 7 are likely to field a mixture of emotions as they commence in the Senior School. For the Year 7 team of Form Teachers and Heads of Year, it is important to acknowledge these differences and aim to nurture and scaffold the journey for all our boys as they learn about and expand their knowledge of ‘The Trinity Way’.
14 | THE TRINIT Y GRAMMARIAN
Secondary school may seem like a whole new world for the boys entering Year 7. Whether from the Junior School or brand new to Trinity, the students have new structures and routines to learn, locations to explore, teachers to meet, and House activities, new clubs and wider school ventures to immerse themselves in, not to mention keeping track of belongings and attending to the daily learning experiences. Our skilled Form Teachers work tirelessly in the early weeks of the year, supporting the boys to become comfortable with the school’s expectations and the tools required to function independently in Senior School. For many boys, the greatest worry is getting lost and ending up in the
wrong classroom with the wrong class, and the wrong teacher! To allay these initial fears, in the year prior to their commencement in the Senior School we begin the navigational trail with a tour of key locations on Orientation Day. This is followed up with a more comprehensive school tour, timetables in hand, led by our trustworthy Peer Mentors on Preliminary Day. The boys are challenged to locate classrooms and key school buildings using maps and prompts, allowing prior knowledge, initiative and independent thinking to guide them. The Year 7s are encouraged to work collaboratively, to ensure that when on their own, without the mentors, they have strategies and resources to aid their endeavours.
