Year 7 Welcome Handbook

Welcome to Year 7 at The Grove!

Inside this digital handbook you’ll find everything you need to support your child through the transition to senior school and beyond, from how our tutorial and house systems work to detailed subject information, assessment approaches and key dates throughout the year. It’s worth spending time exploring this with your child – it’s a brilliant way to map out the year ahead and answer any questions before September arrives. Our aim is to develop every pupil’s academic potential whilst nurturing their wellbeing and character.

You’ll hear from us regularly through Firefly, termly reports, parent evenings and direct contact from our form tutors, who are genuinely invested in making Year 7 a positive experience.

Curriculum

The Woodhouse Grove curriculum operates over two weeks, with lessons spread evenly amongst this period. Each week is either Week A or Week B, with students in charge of maintaining their timetable and knowing which lessons to prepare for. There are signs displayed around school with the current week for a reminder.

In Year 7, the curriculum is mainly taught in forms, with an additional weekly Games afternoon:

Please note: French is taught throughout the year, with Spanish and German taught for half of the year each.

Students will explore several topics in PSHCE which aid their understanding of themselves and the world around them, a short overview of some topics is below:

The First Week of Term

On the first day of term in September, students should ensure they have brought the following:

• A named pencil case, with pens, pencils, coloured pencils, glue-stick, ruler, etc.
• An A4 wallet folder for each subject.
• Two padlocks for lockers, with spare keys to be handed to Mrs Pearce in case of emergency.
• PE kit, as students may find they have a PE lesson on their first day.
• An appropriate school bag – WGS backpacks are available on the Gilbert website, and can be monogrammed for easy identification.

For students wishing to take individual music lessons, these begin on the first week of term. Timetables are located in the Davy Building, or students can speak to their form tutor for more information.

Our Form System

All students are assigned a form group at the beginning of the academic year. Each form group has around 20 students – it is these students which your child will spend most of their time in-lesson. Students meet with their form tutor daily: during morning registration, in assembly, or for form period.

Our Head of Year, Mrs Pearce, and our Pastoral Lead, Mr Ridley, take care of students alongside their form tutors.

Our House System

The six Woodhouse Grove houses are: Atkinson, Findlay, Stephenson, Southerns, Towlson, and Vinter.

Which house will my child be in?

Students are assigned to a house at the beginning of Year 7, with younger siblings typically joining their older siblings in the same house. Some parents who attended the school in the past would like their child to be in the same House as they were in the past, this can be arranged.

The House Staff

Pupils from Year 7–13 meet bi-weekly for a house assembly. Teachers are also present (House Tutors) and the assembly is led by the Housemaster or Housemistress. Pupils are often granted opportunity to take on positions of responsibility within the House.

House Activities

Students will be able to take part in House activities and competitions,  such as swimming, chess, debating, netball and basketball. Each House also competes for the House Cup at Sports Day. The Houses organise fundraising events for their chosen charities. House Colours are awarded as a result of individual effort and achievement.

The Grove Award

The Grove Award is an opportunity to be recognised for contributions to the whole life of the school. The award is open to students in Year 7–9, with successful completion resulting in the awarding of the Grove Award Badge, one for each year group.

To gain the Grove Award, students should complete 5 of the below challenges from at least 3 categories: