Transition FAQs

At the Ursuline, parent communication is very important to us. See listed below the various points of contact.

General enquires about the Ursuline, friendship issues, organisation, homework, clubs/enrichment, uniform, equipment, travelling to/from school, punctuality, trips/calendar events - Form Tutors

Mental health, bullying, safeguarding, online safety, absence request forms, request for your daughter to receive school counselling/educational well-being practitioner, financial support/free school meals - Head of Year or Pastoral Support Assistant

Attendance and punctuality/lateness - parents and students must liaise with Ms Young

For laptop or parent portal queries - please speak with our Laptop Doctor or IT team respectively.

Subject specific enquiry – please contact the subject teacher directly.

Please see the ‘Contact Information’ section of the Transitions Booklet for other key contacts. In addition, a full list of staff contacts is available on our website here.

Go to Student Services; you will not go without lunch but you must pay any money owed back the next day.

Go to Student Services for a spare planner page as you may have left your planner at home. If you have lost your planner, you will be able to buy a new one from Student Services.

Talk to your Form Tutor first and see if you can resolve the difficulties together. Sometimes talking things through will help improve the situation.

Talk to your Form Tutor first and they will refer the issue to Ms Pinto, your Head of Year.

If you are feeling really unwell, please ask your teacher for an Out of Lesson pass and come down to Student Services. They will check whether you need to be sent home or whether you can return to lessons.

Always find the teacher that has set you the homework and ask them to explain it to you again. Don’t leave it until the last minute; remember to do this before it is due in. Remember that there are Homework Clubs you can attend if you need extra help with your homework or a quiet place to work.

Report this to Student Services; they may have had it handed in. If not, we will ensure that you have enough money to get home.

Your parent/carer should call the school on the first day of absence to report the reason for you not being in school. Remember to bring in a letter on your return and give this to your Form Tutor.

Year 7 students are to arrive at 8.25am at the Crescent Road entrance to school where the year 7 team will greet them.

Students leave school at 3.10pm Monday-Thursday and 1.35pm on Fridays. On Fridays, the canteen will remain open after school. Please encourage your daughter to bring in a snack for breaktimes throughout the week as Key Stage 4 (KS4 – Y10/11) have priority at breaktimes to the canteen and Key Stage 3 (KS3 – Y7-9) at lunchtime.

Students should aim to arrive to school for 8.20am. Students wait outside the Crescent Road gates until they open until 8.25am.

Yes, there is. Students should arrive to school at 8.05am and enter at the Crescent Road entrance to school. We will send out further information on the breakfast club.

We provide a wide range of enrichment and sports clubs for students to sign up to. There is a year 7 homework club once a week and the SEN homework club runs Monday-Thursdays until 4pm. Our school library is available until 4pm for students to access every day.

On the first day, students need to bring their school bag, water bottle, snack, locker lock, and pencil case (with blue/black pens, pencil, eraser, sharpener, rule, glue stick, coloured pencils, and highlighters). See ‘The First Day’ and ‘Dress Code’ sections of the Transitions Booklet for more information.

Please call Student Services on 020 3908 3144 no later than 9.30am. Do encourage your daughter to save this number so she can call us if her journey to school is delayed. Students arriving late will need to sign it at Student Services and can then go to their class.

Timetables will be given to all students. We recommend students make a copy to keep at home to help with homework planning and packing their school bags. Timetables are available for parents and details will be shared. Monday-Thursday there are 6 periods and on Fridays 5

Yes, all students must be in full school uniform. Please read the ‘Ursuline Dress Code’ section of the Transitions Booklet’.

Every student will be allocated locker so that they have somewhere secure to place their mobile phones, coats, and books and/or PE Kit throughout the day. Students are asked to bring in a lock on their first day.

Year 7 students do not need to feel anxious about getting lost. We are a friendly and caring school, and everyone is here to help. If you do get lost, feel confident to stop someone on the corridor and ask for help. If there is no one around, make you way to Student Services or knock on a classroom and speak to a teacher. Year 7 students arriving late to class will not be penalised during the initial weeks.

If you feel sick in class, please inform your class teacher. If you are not in a class, please go to Student Services or talk to a teacher, tutor, pastoral support assistant or head of year. We have a Medical Room where you will be monitored and looked after.

Each student is allocated to one of 7 Tutor Groups (Angela, Bernadette, Catherine, Francis, Margaret, Teresa, Ursula), each one led by a Tutor. Students spend time in their Tutor Groups daily. The Tutor plays an especially important role and Tutor time provides a daily chance for your child to talk to their tutor regarding any problems they might have- however big or small.

You will be in your Form for all subjects during the first half term. Then you will streamed for English and Maths and stay in your form for all other subjects (apart from your language and RE class, where due to timetabling, you will be in the same class as you are for English).

Yes, students are streamed for English and Maths. See above.

Students receive 17 pieces a week and should spend 30-45 minutes completing each piece. They have a homework schedule which teachers use to ensure students can manage their time accordingly.

In Year 7 all students study French. In Year 8 students continue to study French but in addition will study either Spanish or German (this is determined by what Population the student is in).

Year 7 have their lunch at 12.30 Monday-Thursday. Students do not need to bring in cash to pay for their lunches. Instead, each student will receive lunch cards and parents are expected to keep these topped up via ParentPay. Students in receipt of Pupil Premium will have the relevant amount credited to their account. See the ‘ParentPay’ section of the ‘Transitions Booklet’ for more information including how to pay with cash.

We are committed to providing a range of healthy and nutritious meals for our students, and our menus cater for those will special dietary requirements. Visit the school menu section for more information.

We strongly encourage all year 7 students to have school lunches as this allows students to spend time with other students and build relationships.

Year 7 Students do not have access to the canteen at break times. However, students are welcome to bring a snack from home. Please ensure it is a healthy snack.

Year 7s go to the tennis courts at breaktime. However, they can use the library or attend lunchtime clubs. At lunchtime, year 7 students go to the canteen first, they have priority over year 8s and 9s, they can then go to the tennis courts, clubs, or the library.

Students must bring in a named water bottle every day and can fill it up at school if needed.

In year 7 students are seated with their Form for lunch. This is so Forms spend time together outside the classroom and get to know each other. Later in the year students will be able to choose where to sit. In the playground during break and lunch, students can spend time with whomever they chose to.

Students are invited to take part in a range of clubs which change termly. These will be shared with students and parents when they start. See the ‘Enrichment’ section of the website, or the ‘Transitions Booklet’ for more information

If students are late more than 5 times to school, you will be notified, and they will receive a one-hour detention which is held on Friday afternoons after school.

Ursuline students are allowed to have a mobile phone for travel purposes. However mobile phones are to be turned off prior to entering the school site and stored in their locked locker for the duration of the school day. Any phone seen or heard around the school site, outside of lockers will be confiscated and not returned until the parent comes to school to collect it.

Year 7 students are prohibited from using any form of social media in accordance with the Ursuline school policy and in addition to legal age restrictions. Failure to comply with this process will result in sanctions following the schools Behaviour Policy. We thank you for your support with managing their online safety.

There are many valuable resources available including Common Sense Media, Dr Lisa Damour’s books and podcasts (Episodes 54 and 152 of her ‘Ask Lisa’ podcast focus specifically on phones and social media), Dr Jean Twenge, Jessica Chalmers (Social Jess), National Online Safety, NSPCC, Titania Jordan, Thinkuknow.co.uk, and UK Safer Internet Centre.

The UK campaigns @smartphonefreechildhood, @delaysmartphones and Safescreens.org are ones to follow and support.

We also recommend watching the documentaries Childhood 2.0 and The Social Network as a family, and listening to the Ezra Klein Show podcast, the Teen mental health crisis, episodes 1 & 2 (May 2023). The Social Media and Youth Mental Health Advisory Report from the US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy is also a very valuable and insightful read.