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Transition from school to school

When children make the first transition between schools, when they leave lower school and go to one of the middle schools, they often refer to this move as going to "big" school. In fact this is more accurate for the second transition when they are 13 and leave middle school to go to Samuel Whitbread Community College, as "big" describes it very well indeed.

Samuel Whitbread Communtiy College Location Map

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Some facts about Samuel Whitbread

When children make the transition from Middle School to Upper school it can seem just as daunting to you, the parent, as it can to your 13 year old. To help alleviate some of your concerns here is some important information about Samuel Whitbread Community College:

• The school is situated on the outskirts of Shefford and covers an area of several acres.
• It has 1,500 pupils including Sixth Form.
• It employs over 270 staff.
• It has five main buildings with a total internal floor area of over 15,000 square metres.
• Its library has over 10,000 books, and also available are the daily newspapers and several monthly magazines and journals.
• The school has its own print shop and its own graphic designer. It also has two full time librarians.
• The school was a founder member of the Bedfordshire East Schools Trust.
• The school also has a full time extended services manager responsible for extracurricular activities, including this web site.
• It has three large halls, one of which is a purpose built sports hall.
• A fleet of six double decker buses service the school, bringing hundreds of pupils there every morning and taking them home again every afternoon.
• On selected days, these buses run later allowing pupils the opportunity of staying to take part in some of the many after school clubs and activities which run each week.
• It even has its own cheer leading squad!
• Its in house student counselling service is run by trained sixth form students.
• The school has a full time nurse.It employs one full time and one part time receptionist and will shortly have its own Air Training Squadron. There has been a school on the site since the early 1970's and the new development was finished in 2005.
• The school was visited by Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Prince Phillip.
• The school runs a "zero tolerance" policy for bullying and has a constant campaign throughout the academic year to fight against bullying and deal with those who bully others.
• If you add up all the people on site during a normal school day, it is more than the total compliment of crew serving on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal!
• Aside from the Principal, the school has one vice principal and five assistant principals, each with their own area of responsibility.

Some of the ways Samuel Whitbread makes the transition easier

Here are some of the ways the staff at Samuel Whitbread C.C. will ensure that your child’s transition will be as positive as possible:

• They run a scheme called the "Whitbread Champions" which involves sixth form pupils going into to lower and middle schools to help run classes, clubs and other activities.
• Every year, the year 8s at all three middle schools within the SWCC Pyramid visit Samuel Whitbread to familiarise themselves with the staff, class rooms and facilities and many activities held at Samuel Whitbread, like the Anti-bullying Day, and the motivational days, automatically involve the middle schools.
• Every effort is made when the annual new intake of pupils arrive to ensure that they are made to feel welcome and to try and get them to feel comfortable in their new surroundings.
• The school produces two handbooks for parents and pupils. The first deals with the transition from Middle school, the second deals solely with being a pupil at Samuel Whitbread.
• It also has a very comprehensive website www.swcc.beds.sch.uk
• Help and advice can be accessed by contacting the school directly by phone (01462-629000) or by email info@swcc.beds.sch.uk