Year 6 to 7 Transition

Transition Day

• Is the Transition Day on Tuesday 30 June 2026 from 9.00am to 3.15pm for my child? Yes, this is for all students and is the Transition Day set by Surrey. If your child is not available on this day, please let us know. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer an alternative date.
• What does my child need to bring on Tuesday 30 June 2026? She should wear full primary school uniform, bring a packed lunch, a refillable water bottle and a pencil case.  Full details will follow.
• What time do parents collect their children? The day finishes at 3.15pm. As you're aware, our position at the end of Elmbridge Lane makes parking impossible. Please park at Woking Leisure Centre and walk to school; or allow your child to walk from there to school by themselves. Parents will not be allowed on the school site to drop-off/pick-up their child, please wait on the pavement outside the school gates.

Starting School & Daily Routines

• What time does school open in the morning? Students can arrive from 7.45am. The Fast Supper (the school canteen) opens at 8.00am, or students can go to the Hub. The school day starts promptly at 8.50am; all students are expected to be sitting in their Form room at this time for registration.
• What should my child do if she feels lost or unsure where to go? Staff and student leaders are always available to help, and students are encouraged to ask any member of staff. They can also ask other students— everyone is very friendly and will be happy to help them find their way and settle in.
• Will my child get homework every day? Yes. The homework timetable can be found on our website and will be communicated with you and the students in September. It always starts off gently but students should expect to be doing 50 minutes of subject homework plus 20 minutes of reading each night, Monday to Friday. 
• What happens if my child forgets equipment or homework? Staff will support students as they adjust, but we encourage good organisation. Repeated issues may result in a sanction in line with school policy.

Pastoral Support & Wellbeing

• Who should my child speak to if they have a problem? Their Form Tutor is the first point of contact and will see them every day when they arrive at school.
• How do you support students emotionally during transition? We provide support through tutor time, PSHE lessons and pastoral care to help students build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging. 
• How do you deal with bullying? We are proud to say that incidents of bullying are extremely low and are dealt with and managed quickly and efficiently as per our policy. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and harassment including racism, homophobia and misogyny. It is important that families understand the difference between bullying and normal friendship disagreements, which are part of growing up. We explore healthy happy friendships in our PSHE lessons and as a school we run programmes which helps students to understand the challenges that can come from friendships as they move into their teens. In some situations, it is necessary to sanction students, however our approach is always to educate so that we do not see patterns of repeated behaviour.
• How do you manage friendship issues? Friendship disputes can be a normal part of growing up. At SJB we have a positive culture and our core values of "respect", "integrity" and "love" that help frame this. This permeates through everything we do. When necessary, Form Tutors will hold restorative conversations to help build and restore friendships, and also the Head of Year may intervene if disputes are disrupting students’ learning.

Learning & Curriculum

• Will students be set by ability? In Year 7 we do not generally group by ability. We do run a Transition Programme where a small number of students with additional learning needs are grouped based on their KS2 data, discussions with their primary school teacher, the primary SENCO (if relevant) and further assessments that we conduct on the Year 6 into 7 day in June - this enables these students to settle in and develop confidence in a smaller class whilst following the same curriculum as everyone else. In addition, Maths will band students towards the end of the autumn term to ensure that all are able to achieve their potential.
• Do students take tests? Students complete some assessments during the June Transition Day and early in September to help teachers understand their needs. These are not tests to worry about, but help the teachers to understand their current ability and potential barriers to learning.
• How do you support different abilities? We have high expectations for all students and build in appropriate challenges to all of our learning activities; providing scaffolding for individuals as needed so that they can access the learning. The iPads are a hugely powerful tool in this regard and your child will soon learn how to use it to really support their learning and independence. We are fortunate to have highly skills teachers, learning mentors and learning support assistants who are all very well trained and know how to guide and support your child with their learning. We use our SJB 7  every lesson every day which really enables us to get the best out of your child. We also offer a range of enrichment activities to ensure each student has the opportunity to widen their knowledge and skills set.
• My daughter needs extra support—what should I do? We will receive information from primary schools in relation to any prior learning need, but you can also email the admissions email account with any further information or share this at your meeting in June. All of our teachers are highly trained and able to plan and adapt learning accordingly.
• How do I find out about my child’s progress? The first opportunity to come in and meet your child's Form Tutor will be on Thursday 5 November at our Year 7 Welcome Mass (more details to follow in September). You will also have one parents’ evening where you can speak with all of your child's teachers. You will also receive two reports after each assessment period, which will provide detail on their attitude to learning, behaviour, homework and attainment in each subject. If you have concerns, you can contact class teachers or the Form Tutor.
• Can I choose the language my child studies? You have already completed a form ranking your preference for language and notifying us of whether your child is already fluent in another language. Our MFL department will contact all families where you have indicated that your child is fluent in one of the languages we offer to help determine where best ot place them next year. There are no guarantees that you will get your highest ranked choices. 

Friendships & Social Integration

• Can I request that my child is placed with her friends? We do not take friendship requests. This helps students build new relationships and supports those joining independently.
• Can I request my child is kept away from another student? If there are safeguarding reasons as to why your child needs to be kept separate from another child then we would expect this to be communicated to us via your child's primary school when we meet them. Alternatively, you can email the admissions email account to alert us of any requests you may have.
• Do you encourage students to travel together? We do encourage students to travel to school on public transport or by foot where possible and naturally students will often walk together with their friends. During the induction days in September students will get to know their Tutor Group and find out more about they are travelling from and if this might be a convenient way to travel to school.

Clubs, Activities & Opportunities

• When will we receive the list of clubs? We use a platform called Avalon to publicise all our clubs; it is also where students can sign up to attend and record their participation. It's a great way of also receiving recognition for clubs and activities done outside of school too. Once they have received their iPad they will be given a login and will be able to sign up to clubs. This is normally about 3 weeks into the autumn term - don't worry they won't miss out, none of the clubs start until after this point!
• Can my daughter take music lessons? Yes we do offer a wide variety of peripatetic music lessons. You can enquire about what is on offer through our website.
• What trips are on offer? We have a wide variety of trips and visits across the year, information about these will be communicated by departments as the year goes on.

Food & Practical Information

• How do free school meals work? You will need to reapply for this to continue into secondary school. Please email info@sjb.surrey.sch.uk and the School Office will be able to assist you.
• Can my child buy food during the school day? We have a cashless catering system at SJB. Each member of the school community has a catering account. You will need to pay money into this account before your child starts at SJB and then top it up regularly as they spend it. You will receive a letter before September giving your individual registration details relating to your child. You can activate your account by using the unique link in the letter.
• What are the rules about using the toilet during lessons? Students are not allowed to use the bathroom during lesson time or between lessons. There is a break every 100-125 minutes throughout the day so we ask that students use the toilets during this time. If any student has a medical condition, please do let us know so that allowances can be made.
• What school uniform does my child need? All the information can be found here
• How can I sign up for a school locker? We have installed vandal resistant lockers throughout the school fitted by Prefect Lockers. You can book a locker for the new academic year by visiting https://www.locker.rentals. The cost will be £23 per year and you will need to renew this each academic year. On receipt of payment a code will be sent via text or email.
• What if my child loses something at school? Please ensure all items are labelled with your child's full name; ideally sewn on so that it cannot come off! If they are labelled we will endeavour to return anything that is handed in. Encourage your child to check lost property by going to the School Office. We have strict policy that we only keep unlabelled items until the end of the following school week (ie. a maximum of 2 weeks). At this point items will be recycled, sent to charity or disposed of.

iPads

• When will my child get issued with their school iPad? This will happen at some point in September. We purposefully do not give them out on day one as it's important that all students have had their first Computing lesson before they are ready to set it up.
• Will it be all set up for them? They will spend 50 minutes in school on the day that it's issued to them doing the first stages of the set up process. They will then be asked to take it home and finish the set up themselves; we do this as it will often take an hour or two to download all the apps. They will be given clear instructions on how to do this and we will send them home to parents too on the day they receive their iPad. This is normally very straight forward, but if there are any problems please do send them in to see the Network Team in school who will be happy to help them complete the process.
• Will they be shown how to use it? The week after it is issued during Form Time they will undergo basic induction training where they are shown how to access our core apps - Arbor, Goodnotes and Showbie. Then over the coming weeks they will be exposed to more apps as they start to use it in lessons and for homework. More information can be found here.
• Is it safe? The school iPads are incredibly safe as students can only download apps that we allow them to; they do not have access to the regular App store. We filter the internet access continually so the levels of safety in school are replicated outside school too. We do not allow any social media or messaging apps and YouTube is only allowed between 8am and 8pm as it is often needed for school/homework work tasks; explicit content is filtered.
• Can parents lock it down outside school? Yes - we would strongly encourage you to do this from day one! You can take control from 4pm each day remotely from an app that you download onto your own device, disabling specific apps or shutting it down at a particular time; find out how here. Set out really clear parameters for your child's use of this device outside school from the start - our suggestion would be to; ask them how they have been using it in school; look through their work and photo reel together daily; complete all their homework in a space where you are around and can have some oversight; do not let them keep/charge it in their room overnight. 

Mobile Phones

• Is the school phone-free? Yes. In line with the DfE Mobile phones in schools’ guidance (2026), we do not allow any Year 7 to 11 students to have a mobile phone in school. If a mobile phone is seen/heard under any circumstances, it will be confiscated for 2 weeks and a ‘Negative Comment’ issued. You can read our full guidance to parents here.
• What is your policy on smartphones? We are clear in our guidance - it is not the hardware that is the problem, it is unrestricted internet access, social media, messaging apps like WhatsApp and online gaming.  We firmly believe that all parents must actively control their child’s access to the internet, social media and online gaming to protect and safeguard them from harm (on all devices, not just mobile phones). As a parent you have to choose whether or not your child needs a mobile phone, if they do then you have a further choice - buy a brick phone that simply does not have access to the internet etc. or a smartphone that you actively lockdown and control. The guidance linked above recommends as a minimum what restrictions you place on that device. Ask anyone on the safeguarding team in any secondary school and you can be certain that they are or will make one of these choices for their child because they sadly see the all too real consequences of not standing firm. We hope that you make a positive choice for your child's future wellbeing, learning and safety.
• Are smartwatches allowed? No. Smartwatches are not permitted.
• What if I need to contact my child during the school day? You can contact the school office, and messages will be passed on.
• What if my child needs a smartphone for medical or safeguarding reasons? Exceptions may be granted in exceptional circumstances, with prior written approval from the Headteacher (or delegated senior leader).

Attendance

• Why is good attendance important in Year 7? Excellent attendance is key to a successful transition into secondary school. Attending every day helps students build routines, develop friendships and feel confident in their new environment. Students who attend regularly settle more quickly and are better able to keep up with their learning.
• How do I report my child’s absence? All absences should be reported via the Arbor Parent app. This is the school’s main system for attendance, and parents are expected to log absences directly.
• How will I access the Arbor app? Parents will be given access to the Arbor app before the start of school. This will allow you to manage attendance, view information and receive key updates.
• What happens if my child is unwell during the school day? If your child becomes unwell, they should inform a member of staff or go to the School Office, where they will be assessed and cared for. If necessary, the school will contact you and make appropriate arrangements for them to go home.
• What is the school’s expectation for attendance? We expect all students to attend school every day unless they are unwell. High attendance is essential for a successful transition into secondary school, as it helps students build routines, form friendships and feel confident and settled in school life. We find that students who attend regularly are happier, more engaged in their learning, and quickly develop a strong sense of belonging within the school community. Good attendance also ensures students do not miss important learning opportunities. We ask parents to support us in maintaining excellent attendance from the very start of Year 7.
• What if my child needs to take medication in school or is injured outside school? Please do not send your child to school with medication unless you have notified us. Information on who to contact can be found on our website.  

Our Transition Days are the perfect chance to explore the school, meet new friends, and get to know your teachers before September!

You can find the dates linked below, please make a note of them as we expect all students and/or parents to attend.

Year 6 to 7 Transition Dates 2026

In addition, throughout May and early June our Head of Year 7 and the SEND Team spend time visiting all students in their primary schools. This enables us to meet them and find out more about them from their Year 6 teachers.

The SEND Team are busy planning additional bespoke transition for those students with EHCPs; they will be in touch with parents in May with further details and dates.

Full details of our stance on mobile phones, clear guidance for parents and our policy can be found below.

Mobile Phone Parent Guidance & Policy

Full details of our iPad Scheme can be found below.

iPad Scheme Information - Sept 2026

Full details of our SJB Club and how you can join can be found below:

SJB Club Welcome Guide - Sept 2026

The Student Charter tells you everything you need to know about SJB before you join; it outlines what you can expect from us and what we expect from students and parents. We ask all students and parents to read it carefully and expect all to follow it.

Student Charter 

Your completion of this form enables the school to check for Free School Meal Eligibility and also if additional money (Pupil Premium) can be claimed from the Government.

FSM-Eligibility-Application-Form.pdf