The journey at Westholme Seniors begins in Year 7 and is a major milestone in your son or daughter’s life; it marks those first steps into adulthood and its accompanying opportunities and challenges. It can, at first, appear daunting for some students but at Westholme we pride ourselves on our nurturing and supportive environment. We have an experienced pastoral team, who offer support to students, which enables them to adapt quickly to the demands of secondary school education. We encourage all students to seek and make the most of all of the opportunities available to them. Our provision of Unrivalled Holistic Excellence ensures that whatever skill or talent your child may have, we have something for everyone and all students are encouraged to try new things and challenge themselves from Prep through to the INSPIRED Sixth Form. It is with a ‘try everything’ approach that we strongly believe students can learn just as much from not succeeding at an activity as they can flourishing in it!
Students are supported with the day to day logistics of Seniors and we also spend time on developing respectful and meaningful relationships between our Year 7 students as they begin their long journey together as a year group. Friendships can change over a student’s secondary school career so, from day one we are keen to establish a strong year group identity and collective. We organise and run residential trips away to help establish positive and supportive relationships among our Lower Senior students. We also pride ourselves on our House system, albeit incredibly competitive, which allows our younger pupils to work alongside our Upper Seniors and INSPIRED Sixth Form.
We understand that the move to Seniors can provide new challenges; however, we run a comprehensive induction programme in the summer term of Year 6 to help inform, reassure and settle both students and parents. We understand how important it is for students to see lots of familiar faces on that very important first day in September. In addition to the Induction in Year 6, our Year7’s also begin a day earlier than other year groups so that they can explore the school further and orientate themselves without being uninterrupted by anyone else!
The aim of the Year 7 tutor team is simple: for your son or daughter to wake up happy, excited and confident to come to school each and every day. We believe a positive engagement with school life and our community is paramount to every child’s happiness and well-being. The expectations we have of all our students are high and we work hard to support and encourage our Year 7 students to start their Westholme Senior journey with enthusiasm, interest, determination and a commitment to being the very best that they can be, both in and out of the classroom.
If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached via email moorea@westholmeschool.com or alternatively contact me via the main switchboard.
Mrs A Moore
Head of Year 7