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Year 7&8 Transformational Years

Preparatory Schools are founded on an age old guiding principle. Becoming a young adult is rarely easy or straightforward! However, allowing this transition to happen in a setting where young people are comfortable, valued and significant enhances the chances of this time becoming foundational in their future lives.

Being an 11 year old but sharing the corridors with 18 year olds is not an easy or natural mix and this is why Orley Farm and any other 13+ Preparatory School is able to offer something truly unique.

There is no doubt that being at the top of the school has its perks. While our students may immediately think of the grandeur of a priority lunch pass or sitting at the top of the stalls in assembly, the benefits of taking Year 7&8 at Orley Farm are boundless and transformational in life beyond school years.

Academic

I recently visited a highly selective London Day School and the Head Teacher shared the following comment with the gathered Prep School Heads:

Thank you for sending your Year 8 students our way, when they join us we are running on your fuel!

This is a remarkably honest reflection as we use these years to take our students to remarkable heights, instilling analytical, critical thinking at every turn.

We are able to build a unique academic experience around an open and exciting curriculum that is not limited to ‘teaching to the test’, something that sadly becomes a priority all too early in some schools.

Secondary School Expertise

Orley Farm has traditionally employed teachers with senior school experience who thrive on working with inquisitive and driven young learners who want to take their learning to new heights.

Class sizes halve and academically, our students flourish in these years as they have the time, space and support to own their learning.

As well as receiving outstanding teaching from exceptional subject specialists, working in the prep school environment promotes a focus on a love of learning and enrichment that goes beyond what will simply get them through their GCSEs.

Love of Learning

Being our most senior students, the attention of their teachers is often on taking the learning well beyond simply ‘exam’ preparation. Given the chance to work with smaller groups, Orley Farm’s exceptional subject specialists can plan more hands-on, practical lessons for the students.

This learning in the classroom, laboratory or studio, is reinforced and enhanced through trips, workshops and from visiting experts in their field, and subject-specific foci on residentials all enhance what they learn in school, as well as fostering a mentality among their peers that cherishes ambition and rewards curiosity.

Technology & Innovation

During their time in Year 7 and 8, the students also receive a different learning experience to Key Stage 2. To start the year, they are equipped with a brand-new Surface Go tablet. Rather than being a novelty, this device gives the students an opportunity to develop their independence and extend their learning themselves.

One of the lessons we have taken from the pandemic is making the most of opportunities that arise through the creative use of technology. In Year 7&8, with the students using their own devices, teachers make full use with live recorded annotations and feedback sessions that remain available online for future use. Running through Teams and OneNote, students share projects and resources, working collaboratively and learning to push their own understanding of complex material and problems in this fast changing world.

Results

Our senior students exit to a wonderfully broad list of schools often gaining awards along the way. Follow the links below to see our latest results as well as awards:

Pastoral Care

Outstanding pastoral care is at the heart of our school and the upper years offer a real opportunity to model behaviours and traits across the years through mentoring and coaching. By this stage, we have often transferred the student – teacher relationship into an adult – adult relationship.

There are working lunch sessions in which tutors share time to simply bring topics up for discussion.

Our senior students are encouraged to lead assemblies, sharing their views and through ‘vertical-mentoring’ groups we encourage real sharing of problems that allow students to often resolve challenges without the need for intervention.

Leadership & Enrichment

Our senior students are so aware of the responsibility that comes from their position, largely through the legacy of others and they appear to take real pride in looking after others and setting the standards.

We run an open process where students are encouraged to put themselves forward for roles such as Prefect, House Captain and Head of School that involve letters of application, speeches, interviews and presentations that ultimately culminate in a school vote.

However, they know that these titles go beyond a badge and come with both responsibility for upholding our school values as well as opportunities to take the lead in assemblies, competitions and their own initiatives.

  • Year 7 learn in PSHE about the essential skills and traits that make up effective and high functioning teams, developing listening, negotiating, practical and leadership attributes that will help build the cohesion for them to shape their final year.
  • Year 8 develop a personal 'Pay It Forward' project that looks to promote and build acts of kindness and generosity across our community, both in and out of school.

Support

However, we also know that this age comes with its challenges. While this transition to adolescence brings with it a new confidence to take risks and push personal boundaries, it is also an emotionally challenging time.

Within the school, the students have access to a number of avenues of support. This starts with their form tutor, who sees them three times a day and knows them better than anyone else in the school. Beyond them, our school counsellor can help them learn to unpack the problems that they face, offering strategies in dealing with emotional or physical change, anxieties and worries.

Friendships

The biggest support, though, comes from their peers. Being a small year group means they are comfortable talking with each other, discussing and working through problems together. Pressure to 'grow up' under negative influences is reduced and good friendships form another support net as they go through this transition.

Within their year group, they also get to talk about relationships and other intimidating topics on the social horizon in a safe environment. We know that secondary school will bring a host of challenges for them to navigate and the PSHE curriculum provides them with the tools to think through possible outcomes before they happen.

The Next Steps

As a result of the care, support and attention the students receive, they enjoy a range of successes and achievements during their time with us, culminating in the celebration of receiving an offer/s from senior schools.

Our Senior Leadership Team works closely with the students and their parents to ensure each child finds the right school in which to continue their journey and ultimately thrive. However, we think beyond senior school entry as we prepare students for life well beyond school days.

Beyond the Classroom

Another benefit of being at the top of the school is that students receive the most challenging trips, competitive sporting events and extra-curricular activities. The Expedition Week at the end of Year 8 is always envied for the experience it provides.

This, alongside high-standard sports tournaments, choirs, debating, fencing, school productions, robotics, cooking, survival skills and community service (to name but a few) gives every student a chance to pursue what makes them happy.

In our Words

We get to do many more things as you go up the school: more fun things than in Year 5 & 6. Also, the teachers are really friendly and they make time in their breaks to help if you're finding something difficult.
You are able to have leadership roles. It shows that the teachers think we are responsible and grown from where we were before.
It prepares you much more for senior school than moving after Year 6.
There are even more opportunities for you in Year 7 and 8. Also you get more independence over your style of learning and what you do with it.
The different edge groups and the opportunities you can get from them feel more challenging but also more fun.
Learning comes easier because you know all the teachers. You also really know your friends - my class went from 21 in Year 6 to 11 in Year 7, it feels like you know everyone in the school.
I got to play more of a variety of sports and I got to meet different types of teachers - they treat you like adults in Year 8.

Reflections from current Parents

Orley has been a place where both of our boys have been nourished, have flourished. They have learned that education is not simply a currency, that can be obtained, paid for or exchanged. That it is only if you step into the community of the school and it’s spirit, that you will truly understand the gift of knowledge, connection and partnership.
There are moments during their school journey where we as parents have had the privilege of surrendering to the teaching team, knowing they are there to catch our children, even when life may have overwhelmed us. For this I am eternally grateful.
So, a few words you say… The gift of Orley Farm cannot be found simply in the academic achievements or league tables. The gift of Orley Farm can be felt in every smile and humble gesture, in every act of kindness and every curious thought. It is found in the quiet confidence that our children present to the world, as well as see in their own reflection. And so, keeping our boys at Orley til 13 years of age, was the only path.
Orley farm has played a pivotal role in the development of our son’s formative years. He has grown in maturity and exudes confidence whilst maintaining a very humble demure. We are sure that he will take these qualities that he has so beautifully developed in his senior years into high school as a self assured young man. We couldn’t be more proud!
With Aariyan being at Orley Farm until 13, we feel he has matured a lot in this time and we believe you and your team have done a fantastic job in preparing Aariyan for life at senior school, with the same opportunities (e.g. Green power) whilst working in a smaller group environment.
It has been an absolute blessing for Samih to stay in his Prep school through these times of adversity. The continuity of his education with teachers he is familiar with has been one less worry for us and the small class sizes at the top of the school made for a perfect setting for him to blossom.
We have watched Samih progress and mature under the watchful eye of teachers who know him so well. We feel very privileged that Samih has had so many opportunities at Orley Farm and being surrounded by younger pupils he has learned to listen, help his peers and follow the core values of the school.
Boys transitioning at 13+ seem more confident and ready to relish the challenges ahead as opposed to nervous anxiety and apprehensiveness transitioning 2 years earlier.

Value for Money

Bluntly put, school fees are expensive and here at Orley Farm we have a unique fee structure where all costs are included. Many senior schools will be on steeper fee structures and invariably, trips, visits and even equipment can appear on the bill under ‘extras’!

Come and see for yourself...

Our next Upper School Experience afternoon event will take place on Monday 28th February.