Frequently Asked Questions
What will the three days look like:
We ask all pupils to gather in the plaza area beside Eastern Primary school from around 8:40am each day. On the Wednesday we will take the P7s to the assembly hall first. There they will get a welcome from Mr Hutton and myself, we will talk a bit about the school and then the P7s will be broken up into their classes. Guidance staff will spend the first two periods with their pupils going over the 3 day visit timetable and also getting to know the class and the class each other.
On the Wednesday we have Blazer fitting so your young person will come home with a leaflet with the size of Blazer you can order.
Break is at 10:20 for 15minutes and lunch is at 12:25 for 50minutes. We do not allow P7s out with the school grounds on the three day visit. Sports activities will be laid on for the P7s at lunch-time.
We aim to get as much curricular time as possible for the P7s, so they will be in classes with their teachers for the majority of their time here. They will get HE, Computing, Maths, English, CDT, Science and loads more over the three days. They follow the timetable they will have in August when they come up. Our S6 Buddies will be on hand to escort their pupils between classes, help supervise lunches and are there to help us organise he pupils at the end of breaks and lunches. Our Buddies are really keen and looking forward to meeting your young people.
As well as time in classes we have Tree of Knowledge coming in to work with pupils on resilience. They will work with each house group for 2 periods on Thu and Fri.
On the last period in Grove, Fri 6, pupils will go back to their guidance teachers for a final round-up of the week.
Arrangements for the end of the day.
On Wednesday we will let the pupils out at 3:15pm and on Thur/Fri we finish a bit early at 2:50pm. Please ensure you make arrangements for pick-up on these days.
What are the arrangements for lunches and breaks:
Breaks and lunches, pupils can be in the dining hall and also the assembly hall. We are limited in space, but the assembly hall will be used exclusively for P7s on the three days.
There have been issues however with parent pay. So our colleagues at Tayside Contracts have decided that all school meals over the three days will be free for P7s and this also includes a snack at
How are class lists decided?
We are full this year again, 240 pupils split into 8 classes, 2 per house. Each of these two classes is split further into 3 practical sets, 12 in total. As you can imagine this is quite a big job, however we are guided by the primary schools as to who to keep together. We ask primary schools for mutually supportive groupings, in other words pupils who work well together. Planning for this had started visits to primary schools are taking place. Before lists are decided there will have been meetings with the headteachers and deputes, class teachers, our Support for Learning PT Ms Warden, guidance staff visit the classes and talk with the P7 teachers.
Primaries provide us with groupings of 4 pupils, sometimes more sometimes less, which we do keep together when building the class lists. Lists are due to us at the end of March and we usually have them back to primary school for checking sometime in May.
Our primary schools put considerable time and effort into this process, using their knowledge of groupings to give us as accurate a picture as possible. Sometimes however pupils are kept apart because as a friendship group they do not work well together and at times could be distracted from learning in classes.
How do pupils find out what class they are in?
In normal transition years pupils will be placed in their classes on the first day of the 3 day transition. Everyone gathers in the Plaza area. Our S6 buddies and guidance staff will be there to see the new S1s. Once we are gathered everyone is brought into the assembly hall and names are read out in class order. At the end of each list the classes guidance teachers will take them away and spend the first part of the morning with the class, getting to know them and going over timetables and school routines.
Medical Protocols and Procedures.
Guidance staff play a crucial role here in liaising with parents and pupils. There are 3 main ways of informing staff - Medical List, flag on registers and Able plans. Our initial information comes from primary schools. We issue medical consent forms during the transition days to any pupils who keep medication at primary school, or who carry medication. These forms along with all medication should be delivered to Grove by parents/ carers in August. For the 3-day transition visits, primary schools bring up the medication and consent forms they hold. For any pupils who will require daily medication in school we would normally invite parents/ carers in to meet with us in June.
P7 Parents night Thu 9th June 6:30pm.
We have a parents night on 9th June at 6:30pm here in Grove, in person. This is the first time we will had parents in the school in 3 years. It would be great to see as many of you as possible that night.
The evening consists of a short talk from myself, a longer talk from Mr Hutton and then time with your child’s guidance teacher. Please ask your child who their guidance teacher is before the evening so you know where you are to go.
What is the role of the buddies?
Buddies are our S6 pupils who volunteer to support our new S1 pupils during the first week of term. We are always oversubscribed for this role, with each class usually having 5 or more buddies. The buddies will help answer any questions, alert staff to any needs, shepherd the S1 pupils around the school. Buddies also collect their classes at the end of each period and take them to the next class. At the end of breaks/lunch buddies gather the pupils together, usually in the courtyard and take them to their next class.
We try to ensure that the vast majority of the 3-day visit is in classes. We also try to have uniform fitting, some team building exercises, time with guidance staff, tour of the dining area and key areas of the school and clubs & extra-curricular activities.
I am always impressed by how kind and dedicated the buddies are.
Previous Questions:
Can you advise me if the sports kit needs to be ordered through Directsoccer or are they able to wear plain navy shorts/trousers & a white t-shirt?
Yes, details for ordering school uniform and also PE kit is on the P7 Transition Web page. We encourage pupils to wear our uniform and to feel proud to be a Grove pupils. One of the best comments we have had is a ‘sea of blue’ going along the Ferry at the start of term. We would very much like to see more of this, hopefully soon.
Medical protcols (inc storage) and information for staff - Would all his teachers be made aware of any medical issues a pupil may have.
Guidance staff play a crucial role here in liaising with parents and pupils. There are 3 main ways of informing staff - Medical List, flag on registers and Able plans. Our information comes from primary schools and we will be in touch with parents if we have any question or require up to date medication. Mrs O’Rourke is our medical person here in school and she is happy you answer any questions you may have. I always feel it is important parents keep in touch with the school of any changes to medication.
Some pupils have passes to visit the medical room if need be.
Do you stream the pupils and if so in which subjects do you do this?
There are generally three types of class structure, mixed ability, streaming and setting. We do not have streaming at Grove, all classes in S1/2 are mixed ability classes. In the senior phase there is some setting that takes place, but this is generally to ensure pupils are at the right level for the awards they are undertaking.
In S1/2 we do take small groups out of English and Maths if there is a particular need identified that we feel needs addressed.
Are mobile phones allowed in class?
Yes, some staff will allow pupils to do research on their phones, others may ask pupils to put them away for the lesson. Our expectation is that pupils will act responsibly, responsibility being one of our values.
Where do pupils keeps their schoolbags with their personal possessions in them?
Most pupils carry their belongings with them from class to class but there are lockers available details of which are usually issued in August. There isn’t a locker for everyone, we have just over 400 available and there is a waiting list.
What plans does Grove have to support pupils who have lost learning time because of Covid.
- Socially clubs, we have a good number of clubs available for S1 pupils, Art, Coding, debating, chess, netball, football, hockey and whole series of music ones including string band, wind band etc. and that is just to name a few.
- Emotionally – we have more staff available to support our young people than at any time in the recent past, we have our H&W worker, 3 school counsellors, 2 pupils support workers, our Senior Support Worker for attendance and of course all our guidance staff.
- Academically …… departments will have the opportunity to review their curriculum over the coming months in preparation for our new S1s. We will also be asking primary schools for information.
Will we have our 3 day visit in June?
We are very hopeful the 3 day visit will take place. Of course, it will depend on the guidance that is available at the time from the Scottish Government. We will keep you informed of the plans, lets hope they can go ahead.