Summer term of Year 6

• Primary school visits to meet you at your current school - a chance for us to get to know you and tell you a bit more about life at Ark Acton Academy.
• Our Y7 Taster Day in July is for all new Year 7 students - this is where you take a day off from your primary school to attend Ark Acton. Here you will begin to learn about how great Ark Acton is and you will meet your tutor and Head of Year and make new friends!
• We run weekly tours that you can book to visit Ark Acton, every Friday 0915-1015 until we break for summer - we want all parents and students to see Ark Acton in action before you start. We are confident you’ll like what you see. You will be able to book this tour via the academy website.
• Your personal meeting with a member of the Leadership Team in June - you will receive an appointment time for a 20 minute meeting where we will get to know you and go through your completed ‘All about me’ booklet.
• All About Me Booklet- we want to get to know YOU and that’s why we ask you to complete the All About Me Booklet before your meeting. We will then use this to discuss your likes, dislikes, favourite film, books, foods and much more. You can see the All About Me booklet here
• Additional programme- we understand that some students may need some additional support to process and manage the change to secondary school. So, we will invite them to take part in our added programme through June to really get to know Acton before they arrive. You will receive a letter of invite if this applies to you. If you do not receive an invite and feel your child would benefit from this, then please email info@arkacton.org and our SENDCo will get back to you.

Life in Year 7

• To help you settle in and get to know the academy you will have 3 days on induction at the start of the new academic year in September. This will help you get to know your way around the site, meet all of your teachers and get registered for lunch and the academy library.
• You will also sit some tests in Reading, English, Maths and Science. This will help us work out what you know and can do and help us ensure we are teaching you the correct ideas and knowledge.
• You will have your own playground with table tennis tables, benches and space to run around. This will help you get to know the rest of your year group and settle into the academy.
• You will have your own staircase, own lavatories and the majority of your lessons will be on the same corridor. We are a big site with fantastic facilities and we don’t want you to feel nervous or get lost in your first few weeks with us.
• You will have a form tutor who you will see every morning and a dedicated Head of Year who is there to look after you.

Homework in Year 7

• We know that many students when they first join us worry about homework.
• We have tried to make this as simple as possible by issuing all Year 7 students with a free Chromebook when they join the academy.
• You will keep this at home and use it to complete all of your homework on. Your homework will automatically save when you have completed it.
• When you log into your Chromebook it will tell you what your homework is for that week so you don’t need to worry about writing it down or forgetting what it was.

Year 7 Co-Curricular clubs

Every student at Ark Acton participates in our co-curricular programme and tracks their participation and the skills they are developing through our Character Passport. Our co-curricular programme consists of 4 strands:

• The Ark Acton extended day – this is our compulsory extended day for each year group which provides an opportunity for all students to learn new skills and have new experiences. Each day a different year group stays until 4.30pm to take part in a range of activities that is different for each year group.
• Trips and visits – we take every year group out on 3 planned trips a year. These are designed to build on one another over the 5 years from Year 7 through to Year 11.
• Voluntary clubs – we run over 50 clubs a week that any student can opt to attend. These range from Chess to Lacrosse.
• Sport – alongside our PE lessons, we provide professional sports coaches every lunchtime and after school each day for students to do as much sport as they can.

Transition Video

In the meantime, you can familiarise yourself with Ark Acton Academy by watching the following welcome video, put together by our Principal, to welcome you as our newest members of the AAA family.

Ark Acton Prospectus

We also encourage you and your families to read our prospectus to give you more information about the history, vision, values and expectations here at Ark Acton Academy. Please keep an eye on our website for updates on the below:

• The structure of the Academy Day
• The tutor system
• Important term dates for your diary
• Our Home/School Agreement

Uniform

Our uniform is supplied by Sanco in Hounslow. It can be purchased either in store or online. If you wish to go to the shop there are Covid-19 restrictions in place, therefore you will need to book an appointment slot. Please use the following link to book a fitting appointment:
http://www.sanco.co.uk/page/book-appointment/

The appointments are for 20 minutes. Our booking policy is on the website and gives parents all the details you need to visit us safely and seamlessly. Parents with appointments will be let in to the store at their scheduled time. Anyone without an appointment will have to wait in a queue and we will only be able to serve you if our maximum numbers permit, in between parents who do have an appointment.

Purchasing Online

Parents can order from the Sanco at any time using the following link below:
http://www.sanco.co.uk/school/70/