New Year 7 : September 2025

At KBA we have 4 Houses; Braveheart, Griffin, Phoenix and Viking.

• If you are joining us from our own primary school you will remain in your current House.
• If you are joining us from another primary school but have a sibling who attends KBA as of September 2025 you will placed into the same House as them.
• If you have no sibling link, you will be allocated to a House.

We have a team of 8 fantastic form tutors who are led by Miss Thompson. We are in the process of allocating students to form groups and will share this information with you before you join us. 

We cannot guarantee that children will be placed in tutor groups with their friends. It is, however, important to remember that you will be in classes with lots of different people from other tutor groups during lessons. This means that, even if you are not in the same tutor group as your friends, you may be in the same lessons as some of them.

Don't worry! If you do get lost at any point, just ask someone politely and they will help you.

You will have lots of lessons and this will feel different to your primary school where you are likely to have stayed with one teacher for most of the time. Our curriculum offers you experience of a broad range of subjects.

You will have 6 lessons throughout the day that are each 50 minutes long. Occasionally you may have a 'double' lesson which will last for 2 x 50 minutes.

Your form tutor will make sure that you settle into secondary school life. If you are worried about anything they should be the first person that you go to. You can also talk to your parents or carers of course - it may be that they can reassure you about your worries.

Starting secondary school is a significant milestone in a child's life. It marks a passage into adolescence and brings about several significant changes. They will go from being the oldest in school to being the youngest, having to find their way around a large new school with different teachers for different subjects.  They will also have to take more responsibility, such as:

• taking a new and unfamiliar route
• planning for each day's timetable
• making sure they have the right books and equipment
• doing homework most evenings, which has to fit into their routine alongside other interests

All of this will have to fit into your child’s new routine, alongside their other interests and the often daunting prospect of becoming a teenager. It can take time for children to adjust to these new responsibilities.

As a parent, talking to your child and reassuring them is the best way to make sure that they are ready for their first day at 'big school'. Once your child has started school, make time to talk and listen to your child each day to check how things are going. Just giving attention in this way can help your child feel supported and more confident. However, resist the temptation to ask too many questions, especially when a child first gets home from school and is likely to be tired, hungry and short-tempered from coping with many new people and things.

If you are the parent or carer of a student who is due to join us in Year 7 in September 2025 and have a question, please email our Head of Year 7, Nikki Thompson, who will be pleased to deal with this. She can be contacted via nikkithompson@kba.uk

Having a child is a bit like a long journey towards redundancy. In those early years, you are indispensable but as time progresses your child grows in their independence and detachment from you. This is, of course, a wonderful journey but starting secondary school can be a difficult milestone for some parents.

Take time to consider how your emotions might be influencing their preparations. Often disagreements about clothing and how they travel to school are really a parental reaction to realising their child is accelerating towards adulthood.

Be sure that you are focused on the real concerns and fears of your child.

Starting secondary school brings with it changes in how your child will need to approach their education. They will have to become more responsible as they attend their timetable of classes, manage homework and (hopefully) remember to bring the correct books.

It can be tempting to do this for them. However, the transition to secondary school is about increasing their independence and self-reliance. Therefore help them to get organised by planning a night before routine or make up a checklist of what they need each day based on their timetable.

Then step back and let them pack their bag and prepare their kit for the school day.

Starting secondary school often means travelling further from home. Now public transport or walking with friends to school may be their preference or a necessity.

Help calm any new term jitters by travelling the route with them in advance. Show them the route via car or take the public transport they will need to use to get to school if this is the case for your child.

If your child is going to be travelling to school by bicycle, make sure that they are competent and understand how to be safe. We always advise that children wear a cycle helmet.

Students should arrive at school every day fully equipped for learning. Please ensure that your child has an appropriate school bag as well as a pencil case with the following items, the first five of which will be checked in lessons and in tutor time every day.

1. Black pen (ballpoint)
2. Green pen (ballpoint)
3. Pencil
4. Ruler
5. Whiteboard pen

Other equipment students should have every day:

• Chrome Book* (fully charged)
• Scientific calculator

Students can choose to bring coloured pens or pencils but please be aware that the following items are banned: permanent markers and correction fluid.

*Students in Year 7 will be issued their Chrome Books during the first week of term.

Lockers are available for students. Locker rental is organised through Secure Locker Rentals. Details of how to reserve a locker for your child will be shared closer to their starting date with us.

Please ensure that your child wears full and correct school uniform every day. The information below provides an overview of what is and is not acceptable. Students without correct uniform will be given uniform to borrow when they arrive at school. Students should wear their KBA PE kit on days when they have PE on their timetable.

Secondary School Uniform Year 7-11

Secondary Physical Education School Uniform (to be worn on timetabled PE days)

Like most schools, we have rules regarding what is and is not acceptable. The information below provides a breakdown of these rules.

Jewellery

A single ring and one pair of small, plain stud or sleeper size earrings and a watch are the only items allowed.  All jewellery must be removed for PE activities and is brought into school entirely at the student’s own risk. Students must not wear multiple rings or ear piercings or piercings in the nose, tongue or gum. Students may be asked to remove these and they may be confiscated.

Hairstyles

Students are expected to have moderate hairstyles, avoiding extremes. A definitive list of acceptable and unacceptable hairstyles is impractical, but our guiding principle will relate to whether the hairstyle is appropriate for a professional, working environment.

Make Up

Discreet make-up only is allowed. In practical terms this means no bright lipstick, eye shadow or eye liner.

Nails

False nails can represent a health and safety risk in physical education lessons and are not appropriate for school. It is far easier to maintain the cleanliness of short, natural nails than longer acrylic or varnished ones. Clear or subtle nail varnish is allowed.

Your child may bring their mobile phone to school, but mobile phones are banned from being used at any point on the academy’s site, whether indoors or outdoors.

Mobile phones are not just distracting, but when misused or overused, they can have a damaging effect on a pupil’s mental health and wellbeing. It is to be recognised that the enhanced functions of many mobile phones give the most cause for concern and are most susceptible to potential misuse. Examples of misuse include the taking and distribution of images of others on the academy site without permission, the capture of indecent images, exploitation and bullying. It must be understood that mobile phones can have a negative impact on a pupil’s safety, dignity, privacy and right to confidentiality.

We operate a ‘See it, hear it, lose it’ policy regarding mobile phones. This simply means that a mobile phone will be confiscated if it is seen or heard on the academy’s grounds*.

• This restriction is always in place while students are on the grounds of the academy; this includes when students arrive and leave at the end of the day. It is also in place after enrichment clubs have finished. Phones should be turned off (not just put on silent) and put away before students enter the academy gates and not turned on again until they have left the site.
• We recognise that some parents/carers, in the interests of their child’s personal safety, may wish their child to have their mobile phone with them for their journey to and from the academy but must stress the importance of parents/carers clearly communicating that this must be always turned off on site.
• Mobile phones that are seen or heard will be confiscated and stored in a secure place at Student Reception and can only be collected by a student at the end of the academy day.
• If a student repeatedly has their mobile phone confiscated the device may be kept until parents/carers make an appointment for it to be collected or an additional sanction may be put in place.
• Students will be able to contact staff on duty/staff running clubs if there is an emergency and they require to speak with their parent/carer although we do not envisage this to be necessary. Whether or not a situation is an emergency can only be determined by a member of staff.
• We will ensure that any important messages are relayed to your child through the day if you leave a message at reception. However, please be aware that this facility should only be used for emergencies.
• Students who refuse to hand the phone over to a member of staff will face a further sanction. In these instances, parents will be contacted by the relevant Head of Year to ask for support with getting the student to make the right decision.

*Please note that if a member of staff does not physically see the phone, then this can still be confiscated if they are sure the student has been using it e.g. if a text has been sent to parents.