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
To ensure students have access to neighbourhood schools and the freedom to choose other schools subject to facility limitations. The designated neighbourhood school is the school that is nearest the student’s permanent residence, unless the regional director:
- needs to restrict new enrolments at a school
- has designated the neighbourhood boundaries for the school.
The NEV Regional Director has restricted the enrollment for Brentwood Secondary College due to demand and facilities available at the college. The college follows the priority order of placement outlined below when selecting students for year 7.
Where there are insufficient places at a school for all students who seek entry, students are enrolled in the following priority order:
- Students for whom the school is the designated neighbourhood school.
- Students with an older sibling at the same permanent address who are attending the school at the same time.
- Where the regional director has restricted the enrolment, students who reside nearest the school.
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