Year 6 to Year 7 Transition

The move from primary to secondary school is another major milestone for your child. It’s a time of big changes in their development, education and life. Secondary school covers Years 7 to 12, where students are usually aged 12 to 18. By law, your child must complete Year 10 and remain in some form of education or training until they are 17. Secondary school provides opportunities to challenge your child and to develop the valuable skills they will take into adulthood. Leaving primary school can be exciting and daunting, and there are ways that can help make this move as smooth as possible.

To help students adjust, primary and secondary schools work together to ease students through the transition period. Secondary students revisit their old primary school to tell Year 6 students what secondary school is like.

Your child will be in bigger classrooms and will be learning a variety of new subjects from multiple teachers. Primary schools work to help your child prepare for this different teaching method.

Many primary schools have a team of teachers working with Year 5 and 6 students to get children used to working with a range of teachers rather than just one. Teachers from Brentwood Secondary College also visit local primary schools to talk to the children about secondary school.

Brentwood offers learning environments similar to primary schools, for new students, to aid a smoother transition. We have a designated area for Year 7 students including one large multipurpose classroom. A team of teachers will work with the students rather than individual subject teachers. This allows the students and teachers to start to get to know each other.

As part of the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, students in government secondary schools participate in an orientation day. All government schools hold this orientation day on the same day – often the second Tuesday of December. The orientation day may include a school tour, meeting fellow students and teachers, and taking part in special lessons and activities. Brentwood also offers a Parent Information Night for new families and this is generally the night before the orientation day.

These transition programs between primary and secondary schools will help your child to quickly settle into secondary school life.

Enrichment Program

Students entering Brentwood Secondary College at Year 7 have the opportunity to apply for a place in the Curriculum Enrichment Program. The program is offered to Year 7 students who demonstrate academic skills above those of their peer group. For further information, click here.

Year 6 to 7 Transition Placement Policy

The placement of students at Brentwood Secondary College is consistent with Department of Education Placement Policy.

Eligible children and young persons have the right to be admitted to their designated neighbourhood government school, regardless of capacity. Accordingly, all students that reside within the area of a designated neighbourhood school (referred to as a ‘school zone’) must be offered a place when seeking enrolment. For information on eligibility, refer to: Eligibility to enrol in a Victorian government school.

A student’s designated neighbourhood school is generally the school that is nearest the student’s permanent address as determined by the school zone. The Find my School website provides guidance on which school zone a student’s permanent residence is located within.

Where there are insufficient places at a school for all students who seek entry students should be enrolled in the following priority criteria unless determined otherwise by the Regional Director.

  1. Students for whom the school is the designated neighbourhood school
  2. Students with an older sibling at the same permanent address and who are attending the school at the same time
  3. Where the regional director has restricted the enrolment, students who reside nearest the school

As of May, 2025, the Department of Education has updated the Enrolment Management Implementation Plan for Brentwood Secondary College to further restrict enrolments for Year 7 students in 2025. To be enrolled in Year 7 in 2025 students must meet the following criteria:

  • Students who live within the school zone
  • Students with a sibling attending the school at the same time (i.e. both siblings must be attending the school in the same calendar year)
  • Students seeking enrolment on compassionate grounds.

Further information on compassionate grounds can be found here: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/enrolment/guidance/placement-policy

Our School Zone

Findmyschool.vic.gov.au hosts the most up-to-date information about Victorian school zones for 2020 onwards.

Information on this site is updated in Term 1 each year, ready for the Year 6 to 7 transition period.

To visit the site, see: www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au

If you have a question about school zones call the VSBA Hotline on 1800 896 950 or email vsba@edumail.vic.gov.au