Dear new Year 7 student,

Welcome to Sir John Hunt, Miss Warring asked me to write this letter to go on the website so you know what to expect when you arrive here. For me this is a typical day.

I always arrive at about 8.10am and go to the canteen to meet my friends and get a free bagel and a drink. This means I don’t have to rush in the mornings and I’m never late!

At 8.25am, the first bell sounds and I make my way to Roll Call (in the Sports Hall) to meet my tutor so they can register me. There is a steady flow of years 7-10 doing the same thing and as I enter, I move towards my tutor line. Once in my space in the line (we stand in alphabetical order by our surname), I take off my jacket and get my pencil case and planner out ready for checks.

At 8.30, the doors to the Sports Hall close and the music stops; we all stand in silence and look towards our Pastoral Leader, Miss Warring, who is at the front of the Sports Hall.

"Good morning. Please can you ensure that your coats are off; phones are turned off and in your bags; and check that your uniform and equipment is ready for your tutors to check!"

Our tutor will then move up our line - making sure we have all our equipment and uniform, so we are ready for the day. Once these checks have been done, we listen (in silence) to all the notices: this is where we find out what clubs are on after school and any other important information for the day. Once this is completed, we leave with our tutor group and we walk quietly to our tutor room or to assembly with our tutor.

Once we get into our tutor room, we are given our reading books and bookmarks, then our tutor begins to read. We all follow along with our bookmark, so that we can ‘track the text’. I like this, as it gives us chance to read books that I would never normally read.

Just before the 9am bell sounds, we quietly pack away and stand behind our chairs. When the bell goes, our tutor dismisses us row by row and we make our way around the one-way system to our first lesson (this is an opportunity to visit the toilet, if we do it sensibly and quickly. There are lots of toilets around the site we can use so if one block is busy, I just go to the next one).

As we get to our lesson, our teacher greets us at the door. We sit in our seats- in silence- get our equipment out and we start our retrieval quiz.

Our teachers then explains to us what we are studying and we write this down along with the date and underline it, (always with a ruler!) in our books. The teacher then explains the lesson’s intention and makes sure we have listened to them by asking us questions (there is no hiding, as we often do this on white boards, so they know if you need extra help). The teachers call this part of the lesson the ‘Instructional Phase’. After this, we are given time to work independently, the teachers call this the ‘Deliberate Practice Phase’. When we work hard, we can earn Character Education Cards for showing Endeavour, Ambition and Respect, which are our core values - (you will learn about these when you start here). The more points you get, the better the trip you get to go on at the end of the term! Towards the end of the lesson, teachers will say, “We will now move onto the Consolidation Phase.” This is their way of saying they are going to check that we understand and have thought about the learning during the lesson. We sometimes write answers to questions in our book; other times we may discuss the answers with a friend before sharing with the class. At the end of the lesson, we pack up quietly and the teacher checks our uniform before we leave the classroom. When the bell sounds, we are allowed to leave sensibly following the one-way system (I always use this as an opportunity to visit the toilet, as I know we aren’t supposed to go during a lesson!)

At 10.40am, it is morning break. This is where we get to spend time socialising with our friends. We can either sit in the canteen or go to the year 7 playground area. We can chat to our friends, play football or basketball in the Year 7 area and even read a book quietly if we want to. Once the bell sounds, we make our way to Period 3 for more lessons. There are 6 periods in a day – you may have singles or doubles. At 12.40pm, it is lunchtime. We leave our lessons, and again, either go to the canteen or outside to our Year 7 area. The canteen has two different counters where we can buy food from. The food is good and includes pizza, baguettes, paninis, pasta dishes and a salad bar. On Friday, we can have fish and chips! You can also buy lots of different drinks, you do this through ParentPay, so you don't have to bring any money with you to College.

We have 40 minutes for lunch and at the end of lunch, the bell sounds and we make our way to Period 5. At 3pm, lessons finish for the day- this is when we can go home. Most of us choose to attend an enrichment club. There are lots of these! Football, Cricket, Table tennis, Fitness, and Yoga are just some of the sports clubs. We also get the chance to do Film Club, Lego Club and also STEM Club. If you want to, you can also do your homework in the study support sessions. Once 4pm comes, it's time to go home, get some rest, do your homework, pack your bag so it is all ready for the next day! I look forward to meeting you and I hope you have found my guide useful. There’s a whole lot more I could say but I will leave you with this advice: don’t worry! The staff at Sir John Hunt are amazing and so kind! If you want to do well, they will help you.

Yours faithfully Year 7 student

Bullying is not common at Sir John Hunt. The important thing is to report it to the tutor or classroom teacher. We will deal with it straight away. Please also see our Anti-Bullying Policy in the student planner pages below.

Perhaps on the first day! Compared to primary school, we are much bigger, although we are smaller than most secondary schools. There are lots of signs and people to help you, and you will have a map and timetable in your planner (See our interactive video to familiarise yourself with the school). If you are successful in receiving a place at the College, we will invite you to our induction day in the summer term. When you first arrive, after a couple of days, you will find your way around. Never be frightened of asking, all our students were new once, and they are very friendly!

Your primary schools will have told us who works well together, and we will use this information to help us put tutor groups together. Remember you are not taught in your tutor groups and lessons are about learning. Social times are break and lunch, when you are free to be with your friends. Remember, at secondary school you will also make lots of new friends!

Lead Learners, Year 8 Guardians and Prefects are there to help, all of whom have been selected because they are good role models. There will also be all of our teachers and your tutor, as well as a pastoral team. Try to remember it is normal to be scared when things change.

For good work, effort, being kind, being on time (the opposite type of behaviour that gets you detentions!) we will give you praise points. These points can be spent in our school shop. The types of things you can buy can be found below. In addition, these points contribute to end of term reward trips, where the top performing students in Years 7–10 are selected to attend free exciting activities outside of school. Recent activities include bowling, snow tubing, an Exeter shopping trip and many more!

We also have celebration assemblies where you will receive certificates and prizes from the Principal.

Students who worry about detentions very rarely get them! We don’t like giving detentions, but unfortunately, sometimes students break school rules. Detentions are normally an hour after school where you can sit in silence and reflect on your behaviour (hopefully never make the same mistake again!)

Remember, students who are in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing do not get detentions, however.

Students who do not behave well, do not work hard enough, are late, disrupt lessons, are not in full and correct uniform, forget their equipment or are disrespectful can expect to find themselves in detention. 

Yes – we have a wide range of food available. You can find an example menu below.

To get to and from school, yes. Use a bike lock and wear a helmet and stay safe. The roads around college get really busy. There are cycle paths – use them where possible. To store your bike at school you will need to get a bike pass (we will explain how to get these when you join).

In your tutor group you will do 'getting to know you' activities. Getting involved in clubs and activities is another way of making new friends. We will look out for you and make sure you fit in without any problems.

Teachers have high expectations. They want you to learn. If you work hard and use your manners and try your best, then we don’t need to be strict, very similar to primary schools!

Yes. Your first tutor group will only have Year 7 students in it.

You need to be punctual. If you are late, you can expect a detention. A copy of the sanctions you can expect for being late can be found below.

By their title and surname – so Sir, Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, this will be in your planner, and you will write them on your books so you don’t forget.

First, we give you a clear homework timetable and two weeks to complete the work we give you. If the homework is fantastic, then you can expect to earn praise points!

Yes, we have academic homework clubs, sports clubs, music clubs and values week in the summer! There are also opportunities to go on exciting trips abroad whilst at Sir John Hunt. Recently we have taken 40 students to Italy skiing over the Easter holidays. In the future we have plans to visit Disneyland Paris, Gran Canaria and many more!