Preparing Our Children For Secondary School

Year 6 Leavers

Here at MKPS, preparing children for the next phase of their schooling is what we are all about. 

We are after all a Preparatory school, a school which prepares. 

We spend a good deal of our time on academic rigour, to include not only depth of subject knowledge but also the attitudes needed to be the very best. Those attitudes are the same in our sport, art, music, engineering, essentially everything that we do. We then add resilience, determination, confidence, all those things that make up a rounded person. Finally, we will concentrate on some of the softer skills which are included in our leadership and personal development programmes.

Our Leadership Programme

We want the children to take on new challenges and opportunities. As part of their final year programme preparing for secondary school, all children will be given leadership and support roles.  These opportunities and responsibilities are designed to not only prepare them for life after MKPS but to also set them apart in their chosen secondary schools. 

These roles range from:  helping to serve lunch to younger children, being part of the school council or a wellbeing ambassador to being a librarian, a sports leader, prefect, house captain or even Head boy or girl.  All of these provide a wide range of wonderful and highly beneficial experiences for the children.

Our Personal Development Programme

Our personal development programme is a key part in our class 11’s (Year 6) preparation for life beyond Year 6.  Within the schools timetabled lessons the children focus on developing the skills that are essential for many aspects of life. They begin three new lessons: 

• Life Skills
• Team building
• General studies

Life Skills

In Life Skills, the children themselves are key in driving the subject forward. They prepare for the transition to secondary school by learning about the opportunities and challenges they may face moving forwards. 

They also begin to learn about the world of work by creating their own CVs and filling out application forms to apply for positions of responsibility within the school. They take part in organising fundraising activities for the school’s annual Christmas fair, including designing and running stalls that are selling handmade products and games in which everyone can take part in. 

Finally, they plan and present their own lessons to their peers.  Some recent highlights have been “What it takes to be a Sea Cadet,” “Cheese tasting,” and “How to achieve an obscure world record.”  Not only do the children have fun and develop their self-confidence, but they develop key skills to help them flourish in their lives at secondary school and beyond.

Team Building

For team building lessons the class 11 children take part in group activities that encourage them to use communication and social skills to complete tasks. They focus on learning how to work as a team and becoming a cohesive group. Interactive games are used to encourage teamwork, such as ‘The Human Knot’, ‘Trust Walk’ and ‘Sheet Flip’. 

These sessions are designed to promote trust, decision making and develop relationships between the children. Across the year the children become better at working together and cooperating to get to one end goal. Children enjoy supporting younger children to learn skills such as patience, communication, respect for others, compromise, empathy and tolerance. Our team building lessons aim to teach essential skills that will help our children at both senior school and throughout the rest of their adult life. 

General Studies 

General Studies provides the children with the opportunity to develop public speaking skills, debating, first aid, providing CPR and critical thinking for their futures.  Every lesson starts with a conversation about current affairs.  

The children start the year by working on their presentation and delivery for public speaking, initially choosing their own topics, however by the end of the unit the children play ‘just a minute’ and have topics to discuss given to them at random and they must avoid repetition, hesitation and deviation. 

The year finishes in general studies looking at their progress across their time at MKPS which will help form their futures.  The children have the opportunity to work backwards from future goals and then research the journey they need to go through in order to achieve this.  To guide them through this they also receive presentations from a variety of parents and visitors who talk to them about their chosen careers.  

How Our Programs Can Support Your Childs Education At MKPS

All of the programmes are comprehensive, thought provoking and are the stepping stone to help them to lead the way. Every factor here is important for preparing for secondary school and is needed to round out each childs education, ensuring they are given the full experience whilst being set up for success later in their learning journey. To find out more about how we prepare our Year 6 students for secondary school, feel free to get in contact and attend one of our open mornings.