Transition into Year 7
A Seamless Transition from the Junior School
Throughout their Junior School years, students have many occasions to visit the Senior School for lessons, events and excursions and become familiar with its facilities and many of the teaching staff. Many of our College celebrations are opportunities for the whole College community to come together, to which parents are frequently invited. Girls from the Senior School work together with Junior School students as coaches in many JIGSSA teams and carnivals, as well as educationally through subjects such as Children, Family and the Community, Physical Education Studies, Indonesian, Mathematics and Religious Education. Senior School girls conduct Homework Club in the Junior school library after school throughout the year. All of these interactions contribute to a seamless campus transition for your daughter from Junior School into the Senior School. Junior School girls are also included in every aspect of our Year 7 Transition program.
Welcoming our New Year 7 Ionians
For all Year 7 girls, it is a big step leaving their primary school days behind and commencing their secondary school journey. The journey leading up to actually joining the Senior School begins years prior, when future new students receive the newsletter Iona Insight which provides a window into life in the Iona community. Many months before we officially welcome our Year 7 students in February, the transition for our new Ionians and their families, as well as for those transitioning from the Junior School has already begun. The College places a lot of importance ensuring that all new Ionians feel welcomed, supported and nurtured through this new beginning—and beyond.
The Important Parent/College Partnership
In the August prior to Year 7 commencement, we welcome the parents of all of our new Senior School girls to the Year 7 Parent Information Evening where we talk about our Year 7 Curricular, Co-curricular and pastoral care programs and what to expect as a Year 7 parent. It is an evening of discussion where we welcome questions and input from our parents and it marks the beginning of a close partnership between the Senior School and the parent body. The College aims to ensure the best educational outcomes for our girls in a spiritual and emotionally supportive environment where each girl is an important and valued member of the Iona community.
Blossoming Friendships
Soon after, we welcome our new Year 7 students at Orientation Day—a day which has a strong emphasis on friendship and developing a sense of belonging as we recognise that this is of prime importance to girls coming to Iona from other schools. The girls sample some of the many exciting opportunities they will be exposed to along their Senior School journey. Fun group activities are arranged over the various learning areas and new friendships begin to blossom.
Forming Strong Bonds as Ionians
In early December we again welcome our future Year 7 cohort to the College for Peer Support Day. This is a really exciting day when the girls are placed into their Senior School House groups and meet their Year 11 Peer Support Leader for the following year. They participate in hands-on activities and enjoy lunch together, with strong bonds forming by the end of the day. Their Year 11 Peer Support Leader plays a very important role as a friend and mentor throughout their first year at the Senior School.
Year 7 girls then feel a lot more confident and excited about their journey ahead, and more importantly, they know they are now Ionians!
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