Our Summer at Acton High

Transition Summer School @ Acton High School

23/07/2018 – 27/07/2018

This year we had the pleasure of delivering one of our renowned Bigfoot Transition Summer Schools at Acton High School, with two of our seasoned experts, Adrian and Sophie, at the helm. Assisted for the first time by Bigfooter Rosalind, the trio worked with 20 new year 7 students, hand selected by their new secondary school, to explore their move from Primary to Secondary school. And what a week it was!

The main aim of the week was to ensure a smooth transition from Primary to Secondary School and to try and soften any concerns the students may have had about moving schools. Simone Stocks, who works at Acton High, has been a truly wonderful advocate of this project over the past 6 six years. Simone has consistently witnessed first hand the long lasting positive effects the Summer School has had on her students, and has seen many of her students flourish whilst working with our team. The bond created between school staff and our Bigfooters has always helped to make this experience a uniquely enjoyable, safe and inclusive one through which young people are encouraged to explore, trust, experiment, fail, learn and grow. Have a look at how the week progressed…

By day 5, the power the arts have to bring people together was visible to all at Acton High. It had allowed the school’s students to once again bond through play and interaction with one another. In fact, although the Showcase was a triumph, and it was a pleasure for the students to show their friends and family what they had achieved, it became evident that the process of putting it together was far more valuable than the final Showcase itself. As such, it had given the students a project to work towards together and to build relationships around.

Parents stated their children were “excited to come back every day” and “make new friends” that they “particularly enjoyed the Drama!” A stand out comment from one student Scarlett’s mother was that “they [Adrian and Sophie] remembered my son from the year before. They are very inspiring, and both years they have more than achieved what they set out to do.” This is more than enough evidence that the effects of a Bigfoot Transition Summer School last longer than the five days in the week it takes place…

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