7 June 2021

Headteacher: Dear Parent/Carer Dr R P Petrie BSc PhD

COCKERMOUTH SCHOOL INTAKE - SEPTEMBER 2021

In September of this year, your son or daughter will be transferring to School and our aim is to make the transition into our school as successful as possible.

Preparations began some time ago through contact with the primary schools, but the programme of getting to know our new students in person begins in the coming weeks. As the Director of Transition, part of my responsibility is the welfare and progress of our students as we guide them into the next stage of their academic journey.

After half term we will be visiting each catchment school (Monday 7 June – Friday 18 June), meeting the students, and providing them with information on life at Cockermouth School. There will be meetings on Microsoft Teams (Friday 11 June and Friday 18 June) for students who currently attend other primary schools to receive this same information. We look forward to meeting all of the students who will be joining us during this time.

Our Intake Days this year remain calendared for Tuesday 29 June and Wednesday 30 June. Given the disruption to the students over the last couple of years and their lack of transitional opportunities during this period, we remain committed to getting them into Cockermouth School, if at all possible. However, we have received information from the DfE that means that we will be required to run our intake experience differently this year. Throughout the last few months, we have operated strict protocols and risk assessments that have successfully mitigated the impacts of Covid -19. The same arrangements will be required throughout this intake process and this means that the students that join us will remain in their existing primary school bubbles throughout the two days.

As we are working with these additional restrictions, it is unfortunately impossible for all students to join us (for the duration of these days) at the same time this year.

Following extensive conversations with our primary Headteachers, we have designed a plan that will allow all students to visit Cockermouth School, whilst maintaining the protocols that we need to keep all students and members of the Cockermouth School community safe.

We are therefore inviting students from the following schools to attend on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 June.

All Saints' CofE School, Dovenby, Broughton, Dean, , Eaglesfield Paddle CofE School, Fairfield, Lorton, St Bridget’s CofE School, St Josephs - Cockermouth.

The students should arrive for the start of the day at 08:40 and will leave at 15:30.

Information to help with the smooth running of these days.

1. TRANSPORT It is the responsibility of parents to arrange transport to and from school. If your child lives within our catchment area and will travel by bus, it may be possible for students to use school transport on the Intake Days. Requests for transport have already been collected and, where we are unable to allocate a seat, those parents will be notified in due course and asked to make their own arrangements.

2. ARRIVAL All students will be met at the front of the building on Castlegate Drive and will be directed to a meeting area at the back of the school. Students should not arrive before 08:30.

3. DRESS Students should dress sensibly and neatly for this visit, in clothes they would normally wear in primary school – Cockermouth School uniform is not required.

4. LUNCHES Students may have lunch at school or bring a packed lunch to eat in the dining hall. About £2.50 will buy an adequate lunch. Students who are entitled to free dinners will be able to have a meal without payment on that day. We request that, where possible, students who bring packed lunches avoid any foods containing nuts as we have a student in school who suffers from a severe nut allergy.

5. EQUIPMENT Each student should bring a pencil case with them (containing basic stationery items) and, if possible, a water bottle so that they may have a drink of water during the day. A pair of trainers will be required for the PE lesson.

6. ACTIVITIES The days will be mainly classroom based, there will be English, Maths, Science, Arts, Humanities, Technology, Languages and PE lessons, which will be delivered to the groups in their primary school bubbles. There will also be an introduction to the school, getting to know you activities and team building exercises.

7. DEPARTURE The Cockermouth School day ends at 15:30. Students can make their own way home or you may collect them. If you will be collecting your son/daughter by car, please do not drive onto the school site but, in the interests of student safety, arrange to meet them on Castlegate Drive.

Alongside this face-to-face process, we will also be sharing transitional materials with your child’s primary school in the coming weeks. We hope this, alongside the meetings and experiences that we can offer, will provide an experience that will help the students feel positive and confident ahead of September.

For the parents of Year 6 students, we will be sharing a significant amount of information on our schools website after half term.

In the Year 7 2021 Intake Information section we will be providing regular updates. This will include a Welcome to Cockermouth School information pack and a copy of the forms that you will need to download and complete before your child starts with us in September.

Please continue to monitor this area of the website for updates and in the meantime please contact the school via email: [email protected] if you have any specific questions or concerns.

Thank you for taking time to read about these arrangements. We are confident that you and your child will have a happy and successful association with our school.

Yours Sincerely

Ian Routledge Director of Transition Teacher of Mathematics

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