Year 7 Transition Program

Patterson River prides itself on our partnership with local primary schools that enable us to provide students with a smooth transition into the secondary years.

Transition activities include:

• Transition Visits (Grade 5): Students visit Patterson River to experience a day in the life of a secondary school student.
• EXCEL Testing Days: Testing for our EXCEL Academic & EXCEL Sport programs are designed to be an enjoyable day at Patterson River, completing a range of activities and meeting other primary school students.
• Meet the Teachers: Patterson River’s transition team spend an afternoon sitting down with Grade 6 teachers to get background information on all students. This enables us to best cater for your child right from day one of Year 7.
• Partnership Meetings: Prior to Orientation Day, you will be invited to conduct a partnership meeting with your child’s mentor teacher. This meeting will allow you and your child to find out important information about starting secondary school and ask lots of questions. It is also a great opportunity for the mentor teacher to get to know you and your child.
• Extended Transition: We provide some students who may be a little anxious about beginning secondary school with a number of sessions at Patterson River prior to Orientation Day. These small group sessions allow students to become familiar with the school.
• Orientation Day: In December, students spend the day at school. Students get to meet their new classmates and complete a number of sessions with their mentor teacher.

Our subject structure and student timetabling is centered on developing strong student-teacher relationships. Each student is provided with a mentor teacher who takes the form class for up to 50% of the timetable, in some ways much like primary school. This allows us to get to know your child.