Many pupils relish embracing new challenges, are ready for the move to their new school, and are looking forward to opportunities to use specialised equipment and develop new knowledge, skills and relationships. Some will also enjoy the opportunity for a fresh start, including having a range of teachers and different personalities to engage with as they build on the knowledge and skills already developed in primary school.
However, these changes may have a social and emotional impact on some pupils, causing anxiety about social and academic changes and uncertainty about starting a new school, fitting in, and making new friends.
At this stage, you will have many questions that you would like to discuss and may even have some concerns.
We have created this webpage, to host key information and resources that will support you as we lead up to our main transition days.
At The Birley Academy we offer our new Year 7 pupils two full days of transition. In 2025 these will take place on 8th and 9th of July. During these days students will spend lots of time with their new tutor group and tutor, learning about life at The Birley Academy. In addition they will do taster lessons in several subjects. There will be an opportunity for parents and carers to meet with key staff on Monday 7th July 2025 at 5pm.
Further information for parents and carers regarding transition days will be uploaded to the website once school places have been allocated.
We are thrilled to be welcoming your children to our school in September, and are looking forward to our transition journey between Easter and September!
We know that moving to secondary is a big change, and we are determined to help your child(ren) navigate the transition, and the huge differences, with ease.
At Birley we are proud of our building, our phenomenal school grounds, our amazing staff and student body and our wonderful Birley community. We offer a huge range of extra-curricular/enrichment clubs and activities at Birley (you can find out more about these by taking a look at our website), we provide pupils with the chance to explore learning outside the classroom with various curriculum and non- curriculum-based trips through each academic year. We are increasing our opportunities for overseas trips, with current pupils heading to Barcelona for a Football tour in the Autumn term, and plans in their infancy for trips to Germany (History) and Iceland (Science and Geography) covering a range of year groups, in addition to our next sporting tour which Mr Hurt and Mrs Sleaford are already masterminding!
We also have a very unique and special provision for a secondary school, with not one, but TWO school dogs! Badger and Mouse love working with our pupils and are especially fond of hearing pupils read – and there is lots more about them about to be uploaded onto our school website!
We are passionate about our pupils being part of #TeamBirley and demonstrating our five values of Respect, Kindness, Courage, Ambition and Integrity. We love to celebrate all of the achievements of our pupils on our website and social media platforms, please do follow us and keep up with our activities!
We have a super personal development curriculum which pupils learn throughout each year at The Birley Academy, equipping them with the skills, understanding and knowledge to prepare themselves for their future.
We are committed to ensuring that your child’s move to secondary school is as smooth and enjoyable as possible. We are keen to get to know your child, their interests and talents, in order to create a personalised learning experience for them here at The Birley Academy.
With this in mind, we are thrilled to begin our transition programme.
We will be communicating key dates via our school website: https://www.birleysecondaryacademy.co.uk/transition/ and our school facebook page: www.facebook.com/thebirleyacademy.
| Date | Time | Event | Details |
| Tuesday 15th April 2025 | 4.00pm-5.00pm
Doors open at 3.45pm |
Friendship Afternoon
Tour, activities and refreshments |
Parents will receive a tour of the Academy and will meet with the Headteacher and other staff.
Pupils will be able to meet with staff and learn begin to experience secondary school size and some fun activities! |
| 7th July 2025 | 5pm – 6pm | Parent and pupil presentation | Come and meet the Headteacher and senior staff, and hear about the school and activities your child will undertake over the next two days.
You will also have chance to ask questions and allay fears! |
| 8th – 9th July 2025 | 2 Full days | Induction Days | Your child’s opportunity to meet their new tutor, many of our teachers and prospective classmates, and to find out more about The Birley Academy, as well as understanding the routines of the school day. |
| Individual meetings available | Parent meetings | An opportunity to meet with pupil and parents to discuss any concerns or questions. These will ensure that there is a smooth start for the year 7s in September. | |
| March-August | Ongoing | Primary Visits | Between now and September we will be conducting visits to your child’s primary school. This will involve us getting to know your child and obtaining information in preparation for their arrival, as well as taking Birley students who attended your child’s primary to talk to them about moving up to secondary school and to support them through transition. |
| April -August | Ongoing | Additional transition visits | Following communication with primaries, parents and pupils, we have the opportunity for pupils to come to visit Birley again. This will ensure they feel comfortable with their surroundings and have met as many key staff as possible. |
You may have seen many tips or have been given some advice, to inform you of what you can do to prepare for starting Secondary School. Have a look at the tips provided, to see whether you have considered all of these also. How many of these will you use?
Explore this clip to find out how some students felt when they were starting Secondary School. Do you have the same questions?
