We know there is often some natural anxiety around going away from home to boarding school. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, we have introduced an academic transition program for incoming Year 7 and 8 boarders, to complement the pastoral focus of our boarding orientation program.
Our new academic transition program has been developed in consultation with boarding parents; its purpose is to introduce students to what they can expect of teaching at Penrhos and help us to identify any gaps in learning before the student arrives. There will be more than enough to think about at that point, so knowing the important academic preparation box is already checked will be a real plus for most families.
The program will focus on the areas of literacy, numeracy and digital technologies. Through the six months prior to entry, through Semester 2, incoming boarders will regularly connect with Penrhos staff including our Literacy Learning Enhancement teacher and our Mathematics teacher / Boarding House tutor.
Our team will work with the girls via online subject-specific tools (e.g. Reading Plus), WebEx (video conference) and email to support their preparation for transition to the College. Please note this program is free of charge for incoming Year 7 and 8 boarders.
What’s included in our academic boarders program?
The program is further complemented by our boarding family orientation program, which includes:
- Full day orientation (last Friday in October)
- Activity night and new boarding parent dinner (last Friday in October)
- Early Notebook roll-out for boarders (received at orientation)
- Student and parent buddies (connected at orientation)
- Year 7 early start day (Friday before Term 1 commences for whole school)
- New boarding family welcome lunch (day prior to Term 1 commencing)
- Boarding BBQ – for current and new boarding families (day prior to Term 1 commencing)