Secondary Transfer

Preparing Children for Secondary School

Transitioning from primary to secondary school is a landmark step in a child’s journey towards maturity and independence. In addition, moving from a smaller school, where everyone knows each other, to a larger environment in which children are taught by several different teachers and in several different rooms can also bring its challenges.

At Kenmont we believe that it is important to prepare children carefully for these changes, in order that they have the best chance of making a smooth and confident transition, by focusing both on the skills sets required and the opportunities that such a change presents. We start preparing the children at the start of Year 6 – the children are encouraged to become much more self-reliant in their learning, to think about how to organise their learning and manage their time, how to evaluate their work and to identify the next steps in their learning journey.

Transition information for parents

It is acknowledged that transition from primary school to secondary school may be just as big an event for parents as it is for children. Therefore, we share information with parents at the start of Year 6 when we go over admission arrangements and give advice on choosing a school.   A power-point for LBHF residents with information on the 2024 transfer process is available to viewed belowLBHF Secondary Transfer PowerPointHammersmith and Fulham Council produce the booklets and leaflets for parents to support the secondary transition process called Hints & Tips and Moving On Up.  These will be updated to the 2024 documents when they are published by LBHF.   These along with full information on how to apply as well as information in other languages can be found on the: LBHF School Admissions websiteBrent Council also produce a booklet for parents to support the secondary transition process.  Further information can be found on the Brent Website.

Spending time at secondary school ahead of transition

Experience of the secondary school environment is also very helpful. At various points throughout Years 5 and 6, children gain experience of local secondary schools as we participate various activities held at different Secondary Schools – enabling pupils to become more familiar with the physical surroundings, as well as meeting pupils and children from other schools.