This September, we welcomed 205 students into our Year 7 cohort; the largest ever intake of students at The Nottingham Emmanuel School. With students from 36 different primary schools joining the year group, a key aim of the first term has been helping our newest students to settle into the school community by supporting their transition.
A few weeks into term, the first “drop down day” for Year 7 focused on the school values and included an afternoon of teambuilding activities out on the school field, organised by the YMCA. Students took part in their tutor groups and there was a fantastic sense of team spirit across all the challenges, even despite the rain showers!
In October, all Year 7 students spent the day at Sherwood Pines taking part in various activities including shelter building and mini-beast hunting. Our students were able to walk through trenches and hear about what conditions WW1 soldiers would have faced on a daily basis. This tied in with work students were doing on “Private Peaceful” in English and marking 100 years since the end of WW1.
Students’ attendance, punctuality and behaviour have been fantastic in this first term and they have transitioned to life at secondary school extremely well. In addition to engaging in their lessons, there has been a large uptake in the Thursday afternoon enrichment programme amongst the year group. Students have enjoyed the wide range of activities on offer, such as Science club, computing club, basketball sessions with a Nottingham Hoods coach and football coaching with Nottingham Forest Football club.
We look forward to seeing Year 7 continue to excel as the academic year progresses, building on the fantastic start that they have made. In 2019/20 we will be accepting another 205 students in our Year 7 cohort and we are sure that their transition will be equally positive and well supported.
