Year 6 Transition

Croeso, welcome to Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.  Your child will be joining us in September 2026.

Leaving primary school and moving to the new, much bigger world of secondary education can feel worrying and stressful. Our aim is to make all our new students feel welcome and safe so that they make a great start to what will be some of the best years of their life.

Admissions to Year 7 - applications open 01 September 2025

Please see our Admissions page for information and how to apply for a 2026 Year 7 secondary school place.

Open evening - Thursday 25 September 2025, 5.30 - 7.30pm

At the end of September, we hold our 'open evening'.  Look out for invitations and adverts in the press and on social media. This runs from 5.30 - 7.30pm on a Thursday evening, and includes demonstrations and activities, gives you a chance to meet students and staff and to discover what we have to offer.

Open mornings - 29 September 2025 / 30 September 2025 / 01 October 2025 from 9.15am

There is also an opportunity to visit us on one of our 'open mornings'.

Parents’ induction evening - Tuesday 23 June 2026, 6.00pm

In June we hold a Year 6 parents' induction evening where we discuss the formalities of school life - attendance, expectations, curriculum and uniform.  Parent induction packs with useful information will be given out and 'pop up' uniform shops from our uniform suppliers will also be available.

Year 6 induction days - 24-26 June 2026, 8.55am - 3.10pm

Following on from the parents' induction evening, we invite all Year 6 students to attend school in June for 3 days in which they get to work in their form group, meet their form tutors and follow a timetable of activities and curriculum subjects. This also gives them a chance to understand the routines of the school day, like change of lessons, break time and school lunch!

 School life

THE SCHOOL DAY

The school day starts at 8:55am and ends at 3:10pm. There are 5 lessons every day. Every school day starts with a 20 minute 'Registration' time. During this time you will be with your form tutor. They will give you important information as well as completing a number of different activities.

Once a week there is an assembly in the Prys Jones Theatre, Year 7 assemblies are on Fridays. You will go to your form class to register and then your form tutor will escort you to the assembly.

THE QUAD

The Quad is a Year 7 only area for use during break time and lunchtime. This is an area for you to hang out with your friends and to get to know each other. The Quad is staffed at all times so there is always a teacher around. There are a number of games and activities available for you to play with in the Quad (e.g, chess, badminton, softball).

THE RESTAURANT

Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan is a Healthy School and students are encouraged to make healthy choices. School meals are provided by Shire Catering who offer a wide range of high quality food for sale at breakfast, break and lunchtime. Choices include a traditional counter (meat or vegetarian), a pasta bar, a salad bar, a deli bar, a selection of sandwiches.

During your first couple of weeks you will be escorted to the restaurant earlier than everyone else until you get used to it.

ACCELERATED READER

We want students to appreciate how valuable and rewarding reading can be and dedicated time is built into our curriculum for independent reading.

Accelerated Reader is a computerised programme that has not only been specifically designed to improve children’s reading ability and continue to raise their reading age, but also to encourage and nurture a love of reading that will continue into adulthood.

The Accelerated Reader Program works by identifying a selection of books that will match your ability, but will also challenge you to develop your vocabulary. You will be able to choose books from the school library that fall within this range and when you have finished the book, you will take a short, electronic quiz that assesses your understanding of what you have read. This enables us to closely monitor your reading progress and ensure that you are selecting books that are challenging enough. Remember you will also get reward points for every quiz you pass.

 SATCHEL:ONE

Satchel:One is a website and app that we use to set and record homework. This is a really simple system to use. You can even send your teacher a message if you are unsure what to do.

You and your parents / carers will be given a log in to Satchel One during your first weeks at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.

 EMRYS REWARDS

At Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan we reward learners for displaying the learning behaviour that we see as the most important. We have a reward system where students receive points for:

• Attendance and punctuality to school every day
• Good behaviour in lessons
• Excellent effort at the four tracking points throughout the year
• In Years 7 and 8 points will also be awarded linked to Accelerated Reader (our reading programme)

  LEARNERS AS LEADERS

We want you to develop your skills so you can become and ethically informed citizen who plays an active role in society. There are a number of opportunities for you to be involved in, such as:

• School council
• Eco committee
• Student Ambassadors
• Sport Ambassadors

ACCESS

Access offers support to students with Additional Learning Needs, through a range of interventions for:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Dyslexia
• Social and Communication difficulties.
• Specific Learning Difficulties.

Interventions are delivered in small groups by a strong team of staff to meet the needs of students. Access is a welcoming environment and we offer a flexible approach in the support we offer. We also work alongside a number of outside agencies, to enhance the provision available to our students. These include CAMHs, Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Educational Psychology.

In addition to interventions in Access, we have a dedicated team of Learning Support Assistants who work closely between the ALN department and their curriculum areas, to ensure the very best of support in their lessons.

At the start of the day, we run a 'breakfast club' every morning in Access from 7:55am. Students will have a choice of toast, cereal and fruit. There will be a special breakfast treat each Friday.

At lunchtime we have dedicated LSAs in the restaurant to help students, should they need it. In addition, at break and lunchtime students are welcome to Access to socialise in a safe space. Students routinely play games and engage in a range of activities.

 EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

We believe that learning should be an exciting and enriching experience for all students, and that learning continues beyond the classroom. We aim to create as many opportunities as possible to extend their learning.

Students benefit from having access to a wide range of after school clubs and classes. These include activities like rugby, trampolining, sailing, dance, reading café, computer programming and robotics. The range of clubs changes regularly and the emphasis is on giving as many students as possible the opportunity to participate.

Some of you may have already been participating in some of the afterschool clubs as a taster of what there is in store. The timetable of clubs is updated every term, this will be displayed in all classrooms and on the Extra-Curricular section of the school website.

Can’t find a club you like? Ask your friends if they would like to join you and let us know - we will do what we can to put it together for you.