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Thanks to the dedication of our staff and the warmth of our secondary students, we’re helping our primary kids get excited about the move to high school! 

At Carramar, we begin the tours of the secondary campus in Year 5 and continue into Year 6.  

Mrs Jen Langley, Deputy Head of Primary – Teaching and Learning, shares the thinking behind this extended engagement program. 

We like our Year 5 and 6 students to experience a little snapshot of what it’s like to be in high school,” says Jen.  “We do it to aid the transition from Year 6 into Year 7, to take some of the fear about going to high school away and to allow our students to feel more comfortable about this move.” 

The students begin visiting the secondary site in Year 5 and then continue into Year 6.  

“Our students get the opportunity to meet some of our wonderful high school teachers. They take part in three different activities ranging from Maths to Drama or Phys Ed ,” explains Jen.  “This gives our students exposure to what it’s like to sit in a high school classroom and be taught by a high school teacher. The students also get to visit their Houses for a special morning tea and enjoy a Q&A session with their Dean, Assistant Dean and the Year 12 House Captains.”  

 Jen explains that these visits help to build connections across Primary and Secondary at Carramar, where the buildings are in relatively close proximity.  

“The students are always excited to see the high school although there is a sense of initial quietness and nervousness. They especially enjoy saying hello to their siblings. It’s always lovely to see the high school students saying hello to our primary students. This puts them at ease.” 

Students are also visited by the Deans every fortnight during Year 5 and 6, who share the Primary team’s commitment to this engagement program.

“Spending time enjoying fun activities with our Year 5s and Year 6s affords us the opportunity to connect and build relationships prior to our students entering secondary school”, said Mrs Suzy Mettam, Dean of Parresia. “This is important in building an open culture whereby our primary students become familiar with the Deans and see us as someone they can approach at any time in their high school journey”. 

Year 5 teacher, Mr Bailey Simms, accompanied his class on their first tour this term. 

“Students experienced the joys of high school drama with Miss Doyle, got a taste of high school HASS with a whole lot crammed into an exciting 30-minute highlight lesson and then put their inquiry skills to the test as they explored insects through the lens of a microscope,” said Bailey. 

“It was an invaluable opportunity for students to relieve their anxiety by experiencing what the high school classrooms look like and meet their future teachers which they then build on again in Year 6. All students are now looking forward to spending some more time in the high school labs and making use of their immaculate facilities before inevitably joining the high school in Year 7. Many students shared that they “can’t wait” for high school!” 

You can see how much fun Jax Richardson (right), Archie Bowden (left) and Zoe Lullfitz (main image) were having in the Science labs! 

“I’m excited to start high school and see all the amazing things you do. I can’t wait to go there and learn new things,” said Jax.

Archie said, “It was a great opportunity to learn new things and prepare for high school.”

“I found it fascinating that there’s more than one class in high school so you won’t always be with the same people like primary school,” said Zoe. “High school will be an exciting new adventure!”

 

 

 

 

A similar program runs at the Duncraig campus, to help familiarise Primary students with the Secondary campus, and to help build the personal characteristics it takes to succeed in high school – responsibility, ownership, advocacy and accountability.