Changing Schools
People change schools for many reasons: your family may have moved to the area, possibly you have been home-schooled for a while or perhaps you had problems at your previous school. Whatever your reasons for coming to William Brookes School, we hope that although the first few days may be daunting, you will soon find your way around and get to know people. William Brookes is generally a friendly school, so hopefully you will feel welcomed and will make new friends quite quickly. If you do have a problem, please notify a member of staff or the key stage learning manager (Mrs Horsley for KS3 and Mr Tough for KS4) straight away. It will be helpful if you bring along your latest SAT results and possibly your old school exercise books so that subject leaders can place you in correct teaching groups.

Adjusting
Like any new situation, it can be hard to cope with your first few days at a new school. You might be afraid of not knowing anyone at the school or having no one with whom you can talk. You will be provided with a timetable and other students will be asked to show you around, at least for a week or two. So the difficulties of trying to find your way around the school should be eased. If you do become a little lost, please ask a student, a member of staff or enquire at reception. You may well miss your friends from your previous school. Students here are usually very flexible in making new friends. You might find that you make friends and then fall out again for a short time - many different groupings and regroupings can occur in the early days. You can meet new people through lunchtime and after school sports, clubs or a hobby. After the first week, you will probably be feeling happier. By the end of the first half term, you should be beginning to feel settled and comfortable. Friendships grow and change throughout life so while moving may seem like a major trauma at the moment this is a golden opportunity to explore new friendships. Students here normally enjoy seeing new people in their school as its something new and so you will find that people will make quite an effort to be your friend. You just have to be careful that you don't get led into a group that you don't particularly like. Changing schools can provide the opportunity for a new start if you had problems in your previous school. Being patient and letting situations unfold will enable you to become settled in before you know it.

Catching Up
If you are changing from one exam syllabus to another, or you have missed some work, then it might be worth arranging some private tutoring or even extra lessons through the school. Discuss your options with your form tutor and parents. Also, make good use of the virtual learning environment and online resources to get you up to scratch.