This July, we welcomed over 200 Year 6 students through our doors for a week of Summer School, running from Monday 20th to Friday 24th July, from 10am–1pm. The sun shone (rather fiercely at times!) and our new students dived straight into a packed programme designed to help them feel confident, settled, and excited about starting Year 7 in September.
A Week of Discovery
Summer School gave our incoming students the chance to explore the school, meet the staff who will be teaching them, and make new friends before the first day of term. Across the week, students took part in a huge range of activities, including:
– Science investigations: building and testing electrical circuits, predicting what would happen as bulbs, batteries, switches and wires were added or removed
– Design and technology challenges: constructing structures from straws, card and tape, testing ideas and problem-solving as a team
– Arts and crafts: designing and decorating personalised bookmarks, full of colour, creativity and careful lettering
– Sports and team games: outdoor activities on the school field, from football to volleyball, building teamwork and getting active despite the summer heat
Whether they were wiring up circuits, engineering paper structures, or working together on the sports field, students had the chance to experience a real taste of secondary school life — working alongside new classmates and getting to know the staff who will support them through their journey at Beal.
Building Confidence for September
The atmosphere throughout the week was fantastic, with students fully engaged in every activity on offer. For many, Summer School is about far more than just the activities themselves — it’s an opportunity to become familiar with the school environment, find their way around, and start to feel like part of the Beal community before term even begins.
Parents agreed the week made a real difference. As one parent told us:
“I was overall really happy with the summer school. I feel it helped my child’s confidence in getting to know the school and environment.”
Another shared:
“Thank you to all the teachers and staff that supported the event. This was a lovely way to make them less nervous to begin Year 7.”
Thank You
A huge thank you to all the staff who gave up their time to plan and run such a varied and engaging programme, and to all our new students for bringing such great energy to the week. We can’t wait to welcome you all properly in September — have a wonderful, well-deserved summer break and see you on Monday 7th September!
