Common Questions
Students and parents alike often have a number of questions around starting school and moving from Primary to Secondary School.
Please find below a number of the most common questions, and their answers. If you have any questions that are not below, please do feel free to make a note of them and bring them along to the Parents' Meeting on Induction Day.
Yes, you can have a locker. They are available to Year 7 students from mid-September. Your parents can apply online when they receive their Arbor login details. Lockers are issued on a first come, first served basis. You can keep the same locker until you leave the school.
Please click here for more information.
No, we choose the tutor groups. We talk to your Primary School teacher about you, then we decide on your tutor group. You will be able to meet them, and hopefully your tutor, when you come for Induction Day.
It's important to remember that you will only spend 20 minutes every day with your tutor group, and you will meet lots of other students in your teaching groups.
We have a two week timetable, so you will 
have two timetables - one for Week 1 and one for Week 2. You might find that they are quite similar.
Your tutor will give you your timetable on the first day of school in September. It will tell you what lessons you have, where they are, and with which teacher.
We have five lessons every day and they will be from all different subjects. You will need to move around the school site from lesson to lesson.
Please click on the timetable on the right for more information about your timetable.
The teachers understand that it might take you a little while to get to know your way around, and in the first few weeks they will understand that you might be late because you are lost.
Remember that you can always ask a member of staff or another student for directions, and your logbook will also have a map of the school site inside the front cover.
We do expect you to learn your way around and lateness will be a cause for concern after the first few weeks.
Yes. We have water fountains around the school site that you may use during the day. The canteen also sells drinks at break and lunch time.
You are not allowed to leave lessons to fill up your water bottle, so remember to hunt down a water fountain during break and lunch.
Your tutor or computing teacher will give you a five digit number and a password; these will let you access the computers. You need to change your password when you log on to something that you will remember. Never tell anyone your password.
We have computer rooms open for students to use before and after school, and at lunchtimes. You can use these if you need a computer to do some school or homework, but we ask that you don't use it to play games.
You can! We have cycle stores on site where you can keep your bike and helmet during the day. However, we do ask that you apply for a permit and read the rules that we have about cycling.
You can see these here.
We understand that you might be worried about our older students, but in reality they tend to use break and lunch to spend time with their friends. You should find that they are happy to help you if you ask them, but other than that they are just like you and want to spend time with their friends or at clubs. They were in Year 7 once too!
Look out for the older students wearing a different tie, a red badge and a green lanyard. These are Prefects and are particularly helpful if you have any questions or are worried about anything.
If you feel that you need some help during the day, the best place to go is the Lower School Office. A lady called Mrs Keeping lives here and she has answers to all the most common problems and questions. Your Head of Year and Assistant Head of Year will also have desks here and you can talk to them if you need to.
We also have lots of Student Support staff around, and there is always someone in the Medical Room too.
You will be given a homework timetable in September, which will give you an outline of what homework you will have on different days. Homework will be set based on this timetable when teachers believe that it will consolidate or further extend the learning undertaken during the lesson.
In Year 7, we recommend that a typical homework task should take around 20 minutes.
If you are buying lunch, you do this in the canteen. You may then eat there or outside, if the weather is nice. The canteen does not take cash, so you need to make sure that your parents have topped up your account in advance.
If you are bringing a packed lunch, you may eat in your tutor room (if you are in a Science lab, your tutor will tell you where else you can eat) or outside if the weather is nice.
There are lots of clubs that run at lunch time and your tutor will be able to tell you about these once school starts in September.
As an example, the clubs running at the moment for Year 7 are:
