Year 6 into Year 7 Transition

Dear Parents, Carers, and Students

We are excited to welcome you to our school and look forward to supporting your child’s education, personal growth, and wellbeing as they begin their journey at Hailsham Academy Secondary Phase.

We understand that starting a new school is an exciting time of change, which often comes with many questions. We want to assure you that we will be working closely with you to ensure a smooth and positive start for our new Year 7 students. Our goal is to help them thrive in an environment that is aspirational, ambitious, challenging and supportive.

To help with this, we have a structured transition programme designed to support students and their families. This programme introduces our school expectations, routines and opportunities, while allowing us to get to know each individual child and their unique strengths and needs.

Before the end of the summer term, we host two transition days where our incoming Year 6 students spend time in our school. These days allow children to experience life in a secondary setting, meet staff, make new friends and start building confidence ahead of September. Many families tell us these days help reduce anxiety and make the move to secondary school feel exciting and manageable.

In June, we also invite students, parents and carers to attend our New Intake Welcome Evening. This is a valuable opportunity to meet key members of staff, including our Head of Year 7, learn more about daily life at Hailsham Academy, and ask any questions you may have.

We hope the information on this page will be helpful as you prepare for the exciting journey ahead.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our Year 7 transition team via email: .

We look forward to welcoming you to our school community.

Key Dates

Friday 13 March 2026: Deadline to accept your place at Hailsham Academy
Wednesday 17 June 2026: New Intake Welcome Evening
Tuesday 30 June and Wednesday 1 July 2026: Year 6-7 Transition Days
Thursday 3 September 2026: First day in Year 7

Click here to view our 2026-2027 Term Dates

Useful Information

Full details about school day and required equipment will be provided in our Parent and Student Handbooks, which will be shared in the coming months. In the meantime, please find below some key information to help our new Year 7 students prepare for September.

Uniform update

In light of the proposed national changes to uniform guidance regarding branded items, we have been reviewing our current uniform across our schools. To avoid families purchasing items that your child may not need, we want to make you aware that there will be some changes to the current uniform from September 2026, and full details will be shared in the coming months.

To minimise cost for families, current students will be able to continue wearing their existing uniform next academic year, although the updated styles will also be available should they wish to transition early. All new Year 7 students starting in September 2026 will be required to wear the updated items.

Arrival and the Start of the Day

Students should arrive at school between 8.30am – 8.40am. Please note that the main gate closes at 8.40am.
Each year group has a dedicated area on the playground where students line up in mentor groups, ready for an 8.45am start.

Mentor Time

Every student is placed into a mentor group and meets with their mentor every morning, before the first lesson. This provides a consistent and supportive start to each day and helps students settle into school routines.
The full timings of the school day can be found here.

Break and Lunchtime Arrangements

Year 7 students have their own dedicated indoor and outdoor areas for social times.
There are two break times during the school day: 11:10am-11:40am and 1:35pm-2:00pm, and food can be purchased at both breaks (a hot meal is only available during the lunch break).
To support a smooth transition, our Year 7 students will have an additional 10 minutes at the start of each break and lunch period during the first few weeks in September to help them access canteen areas while they are quiet.

Meals and ParentPay

We operate a cashless system for all canteen purchases and for other Academy items using a secure system called ParentPay.

All parents and carers are provided with a secure online account.
Students are issued with their own six-digit PIN number which they use to buy food in our canteens.

Assemblies

Weekly assemblies are held for each year group on set days.
During the first few weeks, assemblies will be led by our Headteacher, Head of Year 7 and other key senior leaders with focus on our expectations and our values.

Pastoral Support

Each year group has a Head of Year and an Assistant Head of Year who oversee the care, organisation, behaviour and wellbeing of all students in the year group.
They are supported by the mentor teachers, our SEND Team, Safeguarding Team and Senior Leadership Team.

Wellbeing and Counselling Support

We offer a range of wellbeing support including:

A drop-in service
Support through referrals
An on-site counsellor, available to all students
A Year 7 Worry Tree Group for those who may benefit from extra support.

Student Ambassadors and Peer Mentors

Our Student Ambassadors and Peer Mentors play a key role in helping our new Year 7 students settle in.

Year 9 Student Ambassadors will wear burgundy high-vis jackets during the first few weeks and help guide Year 7 students between lessons until they know their way around independently.
Peer Mentors will be available in the Library at lunchtimes to listen, support and help students find their way.

Year 7 Handbooks

A Year 7 Student Handbook has been carefully created to help students and their families feel informed and supported as they begin their journey with us. It includes practical information about school routines, uniform, equipment, timetables and key staff, as well as advice on how to settle in and make the most of opportunities at Hailsham Academy. It is designed to help new students feel confident and ready for their first days in our school community.

Our Year 7 Parent Handbook, which is also distributed as part of our transition programme, offers an overview of daily life at our school and how we work together with families to help every student thrive. It contains key information such as uniform requirements, school routines, how to access our parental communication systems, guidance on how to support learning at home and an overview of our school vision and expectations.

Both handbooks will be shared with you in the lead up to the transition days in the summer term.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Via our extra-curricular enrichment programme, we want to provide opportunities for our students to extend their knowledge and understanding, and to improve their skills in a range of artistic, creative and sporting activities.

We offer a wide range of activities to all students from all year groups, encouraging them to pursue and develop their interests and abilities, to gain valuable learning experiences outside of their studies and form long-lasting friendships with students from other year groups.

Our clubs alter each term but some of the extra-curricular enchrichment clubs our students can try are;