Year 6 Transition

Welcome

Dear Year 6 Parents and Carers,

We are thrilled that you're considering Ark Pioneer Academy for your child's secondary school experience. This Year 6 transition page will be updated frequently and offers Year 6 parents all the information necessary to help make your child's transition to secondary school as smooth and successful as possible.

Please do not hesitate to contact us by email at info@arkpioneer.org or by telephone at 0203 787 4090, should you require further assistance.

We look forward to meeting you,

Su Reddy

Principal

Year 6 Transition Timeline

Thursday 31st October 2024	Closing date for Secondary School applications.
Monday 3rd March 2025	Offers made from Local Authority
Tuesday 4th March 2025	Welcome letter from Ark Pioneer Academy
Monday 17th March 2025	Deadline for parents to accept offers
Thursday 20th March 2025	Second letter sent to parents
April 2025 (TBC)	Transitions meetings with Senior/Pastoral Staff
Monday 12th May 2025	Third letter sent to parents
Friday 20th June 2025	SEND pupil induction session
Thursday 3rd July 2025	Y6 Induction Day
Thursday 3rd July 2025	Y6 Parent Induction Evening
Wednesday 3rd September 2025	Y7 Induction Day

Proud to be a mobile phone free school for Year 7!

From September 2025 we will be joining Barnet’s initiative for a ‘Smart Phone Free Childhood’. We are increasingly concerned about the impact of smartphones on our children. Smartphones are a big part of life today. Most adults have one. They are great for finding information and staying connected with family and friends. However, there is now an alarming amount of evidence and research of the negative effects of smartphones and social media on children and teenagers. These include:

Poor mental health, such as depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Issues with cyberbullying, attention, focus and sleep.

Exposure to dangerous and harmful content, and inappropriate material; and

Smartphones can be highly addictive, so time spent on a device reduces time spent playing, interacting and developing vital social skills.

Children often get their first phone in primary school and over 90% of 12-year-olds now have a smartphone. This period is crucial for brain development, and the younger a child gets a smartphone, the more harm it can cause. Schools are in a powerful position to change the norm and therefore a large group of Barnet schools have come together as we are committed to making our Barnet schools smartphone-free. Children cannot use smartphones during the school day, and we do not want primary school children to bring a smartphone to school. Additionally, from September 2025, new cohorts of children moving to one of the secondary schools in the below list will no longer be permitted to bring smartphones or smart watches into their school for the duration of their time in Years 7-11.

We are also encouraging all parents to delay giving a smartphone to your child until they are at least 14 years old and to delay allowing your children access to social media until age 16. Research now indicates that age 11-15 are the most dangerous ages for children to access social media. A growing number of parents and schools across the country are choosing to do this and there is widespread support from Barnet Education and Learning Service (BELS), Barnet Headteachers/Principals and our Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson. We have included a list of local schools that are working together on this campaign in our appendices below.

If you have concerns about travel to and from school, we advise you to invest in an air tag which can be found online. In addition, we will set up a front of desk by reception in September if pupils need to check travel times for buses and trains and make calls to parents before they depart. Please refer to our website here and FAQs in our appendices below for further information about this.

We would like to work together with parents to safeguard children and preserve childhood. By doing so, we can not only protect our children’s mental health and wellbeing, but we can also set a standard for how communities can come together to challenge the norms that no longer serve our children. We are encouraging other boroughs and regions to consider similar actions because together, we can make a big difference in our children’s lives. If you would like to find out more about support for parents who want their children to be smartphone free, do please visit Smartphone Free Childhood.

Parents may also be interested in this selection of articles, podcasts and research and policy papers, which deal with the impact of mobile phones on children:

Mobile Phone Exemption Requests

Exemptions

Mobile phone exemption request form

Mobile Phone Free School FAQs

Parents and pupils have asked questions about the mobile phone policy to be introduced at Ark Pioneer Academy from the start of the autumn term 2025. In order to support your preparations for the introduction of the policy over the summer, an FAQs document has been prepared, and is provided below.

The reasons for the introduction of the new mobile phone policy have been set out above. From 2025, government guidance for mobile phone policies in school is that gold standard is that phones should not be present on site. This is because of the well-known safeguarding and well-being impacts for children linked to mobile phone use, and which are exacerbated where mobile phones are available in school.

A copy of the government guidance dated February 2024 is available here.

The changes in government policy bring England into line with other countries that have put in place similar rules, including France, Portugal and Italy. Similar policies are now under development in many other countries. This does not mean that schools do not recognise that there are some circumstances where children may need mobile phones, including for medical needs or because they have special education needs and/or disabilities which justify an exception as a response to the child’s individual circumstances, where there is no reasonable alternative solution. While this is a direction set by government policy, schools have discretion in some parts of how the mobile phone policy is applied. Barnet have come together as a collective community to put in place it’s initiative ‘Barnet’s Smart Free Childhood’. Further information can be found here.

The purpose of this document is to answer the frequently asked questions about the parts of the guidance where the school has had to make decisions about how the new mobile phone policy is applied.

Q. What if I need to get a message to my child during the school day? How will I contact them?

The government has asked schools to think carefully about how parents will be able to contact children in school when this is necessary. The guidance sets out that the school should have processes in place to share messages with children, managed through the school office. At Ark Pioneer, parents can call the school number 0203 787 4090 and we will relay urgent messages to your child.

Q. Why can you not collect mobile phones in and why haven’t you explored alternatives to phones not being present on site, including the use of Yondr pouches or a similar product? (Yondr pouches are an alternative secure solution where phones are ‘locked’ in a pouch held by the child for the day, and which is sealed by the school).

We reviewed the current collections process and carried out a feasibility study on use of Yondr pouches and similar solutions, and which recognised the value of these products for some other schools. At Ark Pioneer Academy, this approach was assessed and found to be unworkable, due to the scale of the school increasing, which entails that the staff time required to supervision the locking and unlocking at the start and end of the school day and our current system is unmanageable. As part of the feasibility study, the school also acknowledged that the current system and pouches are an expensive solution at the scale that would be required at Ark Pioneer Academy. This is not something that can be managed within our budgets

Q. Can I buy a Yondr pouch or similar product for my child? If not, why not?

As part of the feasibility study of these solutions, we also considered whether some parents might wish to make individual arrangements for their child. This is not something that can be offered in school, for the reason that the costs of supervising alternative arrangements for some children are prohibitive, excepting where there are exceptional medical grounds or other circumstances, and this has been agreed by the school as a response to a child’s individual circumstances. This includes that school research found that the cost of the staff time required to supervise individual arrangements is higher than would be the case for a school-wide solution, so that this would take away resources from the school community as a whole.

Q. The negative impacts of phones in school are about smart phones. What is the policy in regard to the so-called ‘dumb phones’ or non-smart phone technology?

The government guidance is clear that schools are expected to address the risks of smart phones or other devices with smart phone capability. We have reviewed the new generation of mobile phones without smart phone capability and have found that the range of solutions and varying capability means that it is not possible to effectively introduce the policy required under government guidance while also supervising children holding alternative products. For this reason, alternative products including ‘dumb phones’ should also not be brought into school, excepting where this has been agreed as a response to a child’s individual circumstances.

Q. ‘I am concerned about the impact of the new policy on my child, because of their individual medical circumstances or SEN. How should I approach school to ask that the policy be adjusted in their case? Can they continue to bring a phone into school until we have had a response from the school?

The children’s ability to understand and to successfully work within the new mobile phone policy in school depends on the policy being applied consistently from the start of term. Any child who brings a mobile phone into school from this time without an individual response in response to exceptional circumstances and adjustment having been explicitly agreed in writing by the Principal in advance will receive the appropriate sanction under the Behaviour Policy. If you believe that there are exceptional circumstances which apply to your child, which you believe should be considered by the school, please use the contact us form here. Medical or other appropriate evidence may be required before your request can be considered. An individual response will then be provided.

Q. My child does not have individual medical circumstances or SEN which should be taken into account but is nonetheless anxious about not having their mobile phone in school. What should I say to them?

We understand that this will feel like a big change for some children, including children who may be feeling anxious or uncertain about other parts of their school experience or elsewhere. The research on this is clear. Children in schools where mobile phone use has been barred say that they feel happier, more free and able to focus on learning. The available research supports that children in schools that are mobile phone free environments thrive in a distraction-free and supportive environment, and that children very quickly understand and welcome this change.

Q. How will pupils know what to do if they get stuck on their travel to and from school without a mobile phone?

A great strategy to support your child is to practice the journey to and from school with your child over the summer holidays. In September during their induction, we will also work with pupils on what to do if there is an emergency on their journey to and from school. Additionally, we will have a check in at reception before pupils leave if they wish to check travel times and call home. Equally feel free to invest in an air tag to track your child travelling to and from school.