Transition from Primary to Secondary School
Welcome to PACA!
If you have received confirmation of a place at the academy to join us in September 2023, I would like to welcome you to our school!
We are very pleased that you have chosen our Academy for the next step in your child’s education.
Parent and Carer Handbook
Before your child starts at PACA it is important to read through the parent and carer handbook available here. It contains information about how we manage the school and key information when you arrive. I hope you find this useful.
Messages of support and tips from PACA staff
Optional transition work can be found here: Transition Work
This is aimed at helping the students reflect on the journey they have taken so far and how those experiences might give them the confidence to approach the new challenges of secondary school.
Our handbook is also available at the top of this page and is essentially the instruction manual for a PACA parent! You will find information on homework, the school day, contacting us, curriculum and much more.
Tours
We have been able to offer those students with additional needs the opportunity to visit the Academy and would like to extend that offer to those who may be feeling anxious about starting secondary school by way of a tour.
We will be updating the website with times and information on how to book these.
The Start of Term
We look forward to welcoming all of our new year 7’s for their first day in September. This day has been set aside purely for year 7 to give them the opportunity to explore the school and get used to their surroundings without any older students. Please note that we are offering a free lunch on this day. Although this is free, you are still welcome to send your child in with a packed lunch if they prefer and we recommend still sending in a few snacks and a drink for the first break.When students start PACA they will be in their tutor groups each morning but will be assigned to classes randomly for at least the first two weeks. During these weeks we will take the opportunity to use the CAT4 assessment to arrange our groupings thereafter.
First Day Back
8:15 – 8:30 Pupils arrive via student entrance to the hub
8:30 – 8:45 Tutor groups
8:45 Assembly in hall
9:15 – 11 Back to tutor rooms for team building, getting to know each other and a tour of the school
11 – 11:30 BREAK in Canteen/field
11:30 – 12:30 Timetabled lesson
12:30 – 13:30 Timetabled lesson
13:30 – 14:00 FREE LUNCH
14:00 – 15:00 Treasure Hunt – find your way around PACA!
15:00 End of the day
Meet the Tutor Evening
We look forward to inviting you into school for our Meet the Tutor Evening, date TBC in September. The evening will consist of an opportunity to meet your child’s tutor to catch up on how they have been getting on in the first few weeks as well as an address from Mr Poston. We will send out details on how to book this event nearer the time.
Summer School
We still have a handful of spaces for our popular Summer School. Information about this will be provided nearer the time.
Adult Education
As a community school we are proud that we also host Aldridge Adult learning. AAL gives everyone in our community the opportunity to advance their career, achieve their dreams and love their hobby! More information on this is available at: https://aldridgeadultlearning.com/
Uniform and equipment
In the Parent and Carer Handbook there is guidance on uniform and equipment.
Most uniform can be bought from Sussex Uniforms
Normally we would offer a chance to test for sizing at transition day, but of course this year we cannot, so Sussex Uniforms have kindly added downloadable tape measures via the above link so that you can measure your child and send in measurements for online orders. As ever, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us contact@paca.uk.com
This is an exciting time to be joining PACA. We are absolutely passionate about making PACA the best it has ever been. For us this means helping all our students develop their character ready for the 21st century, it means helping everyone at PACA contribute to making it a kind, positive and enjoyable place to live and grow, and it means building a school that is excited about learning every single day. We’re a growing school with a great track record of results.
We are looking forward to you joining our community to get the most out of the years ahead. In the meantime we hope that everyone is staying safe and well.
You can see the advice we give all students joining the Academy on our New to PACA? page.
“everyone at PACA is known to each other” - Ofsted 2021
We thought the transition was managed wonderfully and they really benefited from already knowing the campus and some of the staff and other pupils before they began last September. From our perspective it went very smoothly and they both had a very positive start to their time at PACA, which seems to have continued over the year. - PACA parent
I just wanted to express my thanks and appreciation for the parents evening this week. Every teacher knew who my child was, had a specific reference either to the targets she is working towards, or a recent piece of work completed or test result. And they were able to shed some light on how choices for GCSE will work and what the content of some of those GCSEs would involve.
I’m fortunate to have a child who engages well with her education - but rather than hear the usual - that she is hard working and nice - (which is nice to hear) I received meaningful feedback which included how she is being perceived and how she could improve things - this was really valuable and surpassed my expectations.
I’d like to say a well done to all involved and the evening was really reassuring on the level of teaching which PACA is providing for us. -PACA parent
This school has helped me improve my skills in every lesson. - PACA student
