5 Top Transition Tips

By now you will have found out which secondary school your child has been allocated – an exciting and scary time! It is also an exciting time for the team who will be helping you and your child through this big change – Team Transition. Please be assured that they cannot wait to meet you, and their sole mission is to support your child as they move from primary to secondary school.

As a Head of Year 7 I know first hand how stressful this time can be, and also that you may need some reassurance. I hope to provide that with my top tips below:

1. Accept your child’s place

You will have been asked to accept your child’s place  – this can be done directly through their new secondary school, either over the phone or by letter. This must be done as soon as possible for a few reasons, one being that if you do not accept by a certain time limit the school may retract the place, and also so the school can make plans to meet you and your child to find out what needs you may have, and what support you may need.

2. Get to know Team Transition

In different schools the makeup of their team is different, however it will usually include a Head of Year/Head of House/Year Manager. This person will be looking after your child not only through the Transition period, but also through the start of their journey at their secondary school. They will be responsible for all pastoral issues, and getting to know them and their name will mean you know who to contact if you have any queries during this important time.

3. Read all communication carefully

You should receive a letter from your child’s school soon after they are offered a place. You will need to make a note of any parents’ evenings and Transition Days that are coming up – these will be crucial to welcome you and your child to their new school! If for whatever reason you will be unable to attend any of them (eg family holiday) please let the school know ASAP as they will try to arrange alternate dates for you to make sure you don’t miss anything.

4. Create a list of questions and concerns

You will be offered a chance to meet with the staff who will be caring for your child – most likely their form tutor. If you have any concerns specific to your child this is a good time to bring them up – for example if your child is dyslexic, or has social anxieties. This information will have already been passed on from their primary school teacher, but it is always good to add more information, as after all, you know your child best! This list will make sure you don’t forget anything when you have the opportunity.

5. Keep in touch

If (understandably) you cannot hesitate in sharing some important information about your child – get in touch! If you have a worry or concern, no matter how big or how small (questions about what they will need in their PE kit are absolutely fine!) please ring and ask.Equally, if you are pleased with something their Transition team has done, do feel free to let them know!  Just remember, their new school is as keen as you are to ensure a smooth and happy transition for your child.

So there you have it – my 5 Top Transition Tips! What are your biggest concerns about your child’s transition from primary to secondary?

Superdash – the Superteam!

I’m sure you’re dying to find out how we did on the Superdash – right?

16 intrepid heroes, setting out to cover the 350km distance between Leeds and Edinburgh in just two weeks by walking, swimming, and running…what could go wrong?!

The final event was the Leeds 10k – and the members of our team who ran it really were heroes!

It was a warm sunny day, and we gathered FAR too early in Millenium Square to see our heroes off. The atmosphere was amazing – lots of people ready to run and cheer the race on.

We made our way to the start line – Rachel, Claire and I were there to support and film as much of the race as we could. What we hadn’t anticipated in our supporting role was the long walk from the start to the finish, and when we were trapped behind the race barriers we realised we would have to rush over to make it to the finish in time to catch our heroes!

We made sure we shouted and cheered our support to all the runners, with an extra specially loud call for our own Superteam!

And we were all doubly excited, as not only had our Superteam run 80km between them, but we had SMASHED our Superdash target!

Video of the final leg of the Superdash!

Our intrepid Supertown reporter, Rachel Winfield, has interviewed the participants to see how they found the Superdash:

Of course, two of our team were in the Caribbean for the duration of the challenge, but we didn’t let them off the hook:

The hardest bit was the 15km walk surprisingly, as we did that on the Disney Island and the heat made it unbearable! And I had awful sunburn afterwards as well!!

Click here for Sophie and Rob’s story!

You would think that a mere 15km walk would be easy for Thunderman: think again!

I spent most of my day napping with the TV on after that!

Read ThunderDan’s story here!

Even super-fit Supertown cameraman Will Sadler had his moments:

There really was a feeling that “we’re all in this together”, through thick and thin, from physical challenges to terrifying insects (really, James: butterflies?!)

Read Super Will’s story here!

The two Matthews, Matt Stirk and Matthew Jameson brought their own special something to the Superdash:

I then had to rush into the theatre as I was DSMing a show, wasn’t able to shower so just festered in the corner all evening – pleasant!

Read the Matthews’ special story here

James, our director and writer of Supertown took part in every event!

About 4k in I had the makings of an angry blister, and by 7k, every step was a full on, blister-squeezing ordeal.

James’ Superdash Story

And finally, the Superdash wasn’t the easiest of challenges for all our team. Claire Sidgwick, playing dog woman, revealed it was no walk in the park:

This time last year it would have seemed like a relative marathon!

Read Claire’s story here

Many thanks to our reporter, Rachel, for collecting all these stories!

The deadline to donate to the Supertown cause is coming up fast – Sunday 26th July! Every penny will help us to get closer to our goal, and make sure we can hit the Fringe running. Half of the proceeds will go to Help for Heroes – please donate to this very worthy cause.

Click here to donate

Superdash – the Superteam: Rob and Sophie

Hi there! This is the Supertown reporter, bringing you more news from the Superteam on their recent Superdash!

Today I’m speaking to our very own Supertown composer and MD, Robert Sanders, and Sophie Massa who plays the lead – Sally!

They spent their Superdash in the Caribbean – jealous, us?!

How did you find your tropical Superdash Sophie?

I really missed doing the Superdash with the rest of the cast, as it looked like the ‘real’ events were so much fun! But we still had a great time doing it on the Disney Cruise Ship (although it was quite testing at times in the heat!) It was great fun to bring some Supertown to the Caribbean! The hardest bit was the 15km walk surprisingly, as we did that on the Disney Island and the heat made it unbearable! And I had awful sunburn afterwards as well!!

Oh no! What a hardship (!) – how did you find it Rob?

We walked our 15km in the Bahamas. Ran our 5km in 27 mins in Jamaica.

And our 10km we did on a sea day

We really struggled with the heat. All courses were flat but were a nightmare because of the heat! Especially the walk which was ridiculously hot!

Any personal highlights?

Finishing ha.

Tbh it was a massive inconvenience ha. We just wanted to sit on the beach.

Thank you for such an honest response Rob…Click below to donate!

Help the Heroes!

This is the Supertown reporter, signing over and out!

Superdash – the Superteam: Ste and Dreadfool

Hi there! I’m here with loveable Supervillain Dreadfool, played by Matthew Jameson, and M ‘I’ll Show Them’ himself, Ste played by Matt Stirk, to tell us all about the Superdash.

Dreadfool, how did you find the Superdash?

The Superdash was brilliant and really brought the cast together. One of the highlights was running in the city centre on the hottest day so far this year, that was tough but loads of fun!
The walk was great too and showed us all the different seasons in one afternoon and a really good time to get to know everyone a bit better. Enjoyed every minute.

And how about you Ste? Did you enjoy it as much as Dreadfool?

I was really sorry not to be able to do all the events but life got in the way. However, I was asked to organise the 2 5k runs around leeds. The first run was fun – on the hottest day of the year. The route I’d plotted took us from the Carriageworks, down to the river and then back up to Millennium Square. All easy enough but a number of us went the wrong way a bit. But all that meant is we did a bit more than our allotted millage so all good. The next 5k was the same route, lessons learned and a cooler evening I thought it’d be easier, but a load of the paths were closed off. Jack got ahead of me at the end to take the win! I then had to rush into the theatre as I was DSMing a show, wasn’t able to show so just festered in the corner all evening – pleasant!

A few days later came the Leeds 10k. I’ve never done a 10k in the heat of summer before and found it very hard. The hose pipe at about 8km was most welcome to cool me down. Finished first across the line but came in second overall, about 20 seconds slower than Will – well done him….but he’s substantially younger than me.

Typical Ste!

Impressed by the two Matthews’ stories? Donate below to Supertown and Help the Heroes:

click here to donate!

This is the Supertown reporter, signing off – until next time!

Superdash – the Superteam: Will

Today I am interviewing my plucky Supertown cameraman – Will Sadler!

How did you find the Superdash Will?

I got involved in Superdash to challenge myself and to raise money for 2 fantastic causes. Each of the events was nerve-wracking and exciting in equal measure, and the pressure was on to make sure we all completed them. The main positive I found from doing the challenges was the sense of camaraderie and teamship (is that even a word?) that came from us all. There really was a feeling that “we’re all in this together”, through thick and thin, from physical challenges to terrifying insects (really, James: butterflies?!). When it rained on the walk, we all ploughed on, and kept our spirits up, in order to make sure that everyone finished. The feeling of achievement that people felt after each event, when they pushed themselves further than they realised they could go was fantastic, and it was so much better to have people there supporting and encouraging you – it really pushed me over the finish line each time!

Thanks Will! Please donate to Supertown and Help the Heroes!

You can help us by clicking here!

Superdash – the Superteam: Dogwoman

Hi there! This is the Supertown reporter here to tell you more about the story behind the Superdash!

We have Supertown’s very own Dogwoman with us today, played by Claire Sidgwick – if we can get her to sit still long enough, she might tell us her backstory to the Superdash!

How did you find the Superdash?

I’m not going to lie. When it was first suggested that the full cast do a ‘physical challenge’ and 10 k was mentioned, my heart sank a little. Having not long recovered from a debilitating illness (this time last year being bed ridden) and as a result having done little to no exercise in the last year, I was worried but I didn’t want to let the team down. I also wanted to show that I am on the mend and capable of doing a fringe run. Because of this I chose to opt out of the runs but I wanted to do the swim and walk.

The swim. I am not a natural swimmer and my swimming experience is mostly from holidays. I did, however, manage to swim 60 lengths or 1.5km which I am proud of.

The walk. I had anticipated the massive blisters and sore muscles the next day which didn’t disappoint. I had not, however, anticipate wading through nettles and other vicious plants! It was a gorgeous day though and we all had a good laugh (particularly at the pub!) Again I am proud of having walked 10 k.

The Superdash has been challenging but I’m really glad I took part. It was great to spend time as a team and get to know the people we are going to be living with in Edinburgh. It may not seem much to most people, but I am really pleased with what I have achieved. This time last year it would have seemed like a relative marathon!

Thanks Claire – well done for your achievements!

Claire clearly worked really hard to complete the Superdash – fancy donating some money to Help the Heroes and the Superteam?

Help us out by clicking here!

That’s all from me for now – this is the Supertown reported signing out!

Superdash – the Superteam: James

Here I am again, Supertown’s intrepid reporter, reporting on the recent Superdash by our Superteam!

Being interviewed today is our director and writer of Supertown, James Sidgwick, also playing loveable rubbish Superhero ‘Zapper’.

James – as the inventor of the Superdash, how did you find it?

For me, the Superdash turned out to be infinitely more worthwhile than I’d ever anticipated! The idea behind the series of events, was to:
a) – do something good as a team for a worthy cause; and
b) – to involve the whole team in an ambitious fundraising activity that would challenge them, and be tough enough to inspire their friends and family to donate to the cause.
However, there was a byproduct that I hadn’t anticipated, and that was the immense boost to our team spirit, and sense of camaraderie that undertaking such a tough challenge together would yield. (Something that I’m sure will pay dividends when the 16 of us are all living under one roof next month!)

When we set out on our Superdash journey on Saturday 27th June at Pudsey Leisure Centre, we didn’t know if we’d make it, and at that stage we hadn’t raised much money… it was all a bit tentative. However, we got our heads down and I found myself ploughing on through the sore muscles and exhaustian to pull out a full 3km! I’d set my target quite a bit lower than this, but more than anything I wanted to do my best, and so, like Dory in Finding Nemo employed the mantra ‘just keep swimming’.
As the events unfolded, and the running total increased, the full team got stuck head first into both the fundraising, and distance-raising sides of the Superdash, and it’s ended up being not only incredibly physically tough, but also, hugely rewarding!

Any low moments?
Obviously, this cast has been in place for a number of months, and we all know eachother, but bonding over something like the Superdash has been a really fantastic experience. For me I haven’t really had any low-lights. Even running a 5k on the hottest day of the decade, or walking 16.8km through a hangover and a full year’s worth of different weather!

And what was your personal highlight?

My highlight would have to be Leeds 10k. Definitely the toughest of the challenges, but that makes it all the more rewarding. About 4k in I had the makings of an angry blister, and by 7k, every step was a full on, blister-squeezing ordeal. However, the support from our friends and other team members who came to cheer us on definitely helped keep me going, and, for people like me who are just not good at running, and also don’t like running, it’s an amazing feeling to get to the end of something like that and know you pushed yourself for a good reason, and that so many people are supporting you from within, and outside of our little ‘SuperTeam’.

There you have it folks! All that’s left to say is: Keeeeeeep donating!

Keeeep donating!

Superdash – the Superteam: ThunderDan

Hi, I’m Rachel, the Supertown Reporter. In a flying visit, Thunderman has kindly taken the time to fill us in on his Superdash escapades. To my amusement, he also spent most of the time checking himself out in the mirror…

How did you find the Superdash Dan?

The Superdash was a fantastic experience for me, I took part in the walk, 5k and the Leeds 10k. The most challenging for me was actually the 15k walk, I spent most of my day napping with the TV on after that!
To my surprise the 10k for me was the easiest of the 3 events I took place in, however I feel this was more to do with a fantastic atmosphere and amazing support from all involved that kept me going, needless to say I’m definitely signing up for another next year!

Why should people donate to Supertown and Help for Heroes?

You can’t go wrong helping out heroes – you never know when you’ll need us!

click here to donate! Half the money goes to Help for Heroes!

This is the Supertown Reporter, over and out!

Superdash!

In order to raise the funds needed to put on a show at the Fringe, the Superteam have been taking part in a physical challenge to walk, swim and run the distance between the site of the World Premiere of Supertown and our performance venue at the Fringe.

All the money raised will be shared between the Supertown fund and Help for Heroes – to make sure we reward the real life heroes as well as Supertown’s finest!

As a member of the Superteam – I was worried (terrified). Exercise is NOT my thing. Ever since primary school when I chosen near to last for rounders (how anyone is supposed to hit the ball with that tiny bat is beyond me), to secondary school when I would do anything to get out of cross country running (a form of torture to all overweight girls with boobs anywhere) to Uni where I dabbled with the gym and then would have a takeaway as a reward, exercise has been my nemesis.

Yet, when I heard about this idea, I was determined to get fit for the fringe! I embarked on an enthusiastic and ill-informed training regime, including returning to swimming (the only place where you can’t hide your wobbly bits with strategically skimming clothes), long walks with my parents dog, and even the first ever run of my adult life (I won’t go into too much detail – suffice to say that even my brightly coloured trainers bought in good faith didn’t make it anything other than a grim trudge with pitying looks from my neighbours).

The first event was the swim, and I surprised everyone (mostly me) by swimming a whopping 2.5km in 2 hours:

(Apologies for subjecting you to me in swimwear – however I am still very proud! My arms ached for days afterwards, but I didn’t care! This was the first time I understood why people enjoy exercise)

Many of the Superteam do enjoy exercise (who can blame them when some of them have physiques like this):

(that’s right ladies – I am reliably informed that there is no padding in that suit)

and on the hottest day of the year (the hottest for almost 2 decades!) they took part in a training 5km run starting and ending at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds:

Emma Stirk took part and said:

Having done some filming to advertise the show we were ready to start. With a dramatic countdown we were off. Myself, Dave and Poppy the dog were bringing up the rear with a sedate (not very) walk while the rest of the team ran ahead. We headed down towards the market following the directions given to us by the app Matt had requested we download. It wasn’t long before we were checking the map but we were soon on the right track and the distance we travelled started to increase. We had a few issues where our route was blocked but we managed to navigate our way round even stopping to advertise the show to one unsuspecting lady who wanted directions to the canal and ended up getting the hard sell for coming to see the show (she let slip that she lived in Edinburgh). We even managed to get a donation towards the show, whoop! By this point we were 3k into the journey and nearing the finish line. We could smell victory and some nasty garbage smells. By this point we were walking through some on the less nice parts of town and I was glad to have company. Pushing on we were on the home straight. We picked up the pace especially when we could see the rest of the team cheering us on. We had made it! Time for a well deserved drink in the pub.

The challenge I found the hardest was the the 15km walk.

Equipped with lots of bottles of water, my Supertown t-shirt and hoodie, and of course my trusty walking boots, I was feeling quietly confident. In the run up to this event I had taken part in lots of long walks to make sure I wouldn’t let the team down. What I hadn’t anticipated was the cracking pace set by Supertown’s loveable Supervillain, Dreadman. (Give him a boo at the Fringe for me!) Nonetheless we had a good day with a variety of weather conditions, and with a rather horrifying amount of blisters (I had a million, to the nearest million, and no don’t worry, I won’t show you, and I won’t be wearing sandals in the near future):

As you can see, I didn’t quite meet the 15km challenge due to unbearable blisters, but we endured nettles, blaring sun, and even torrential rain.

Finally, tomorrow – the big one. The Leeds 10km. I will be there (no! Not running! NEVER RUNNING! Helping out with water and cheering on my cast mates of course!) so look out for me in a Supertown t-shirt, come and say hello, and most importantly, help up to get to the Fringe!

http://www.gofundme.com/superdash

The people of Supertown will thank you!

‘Game of Thrones’ – or how to land your dream job

You work hard. You always do the right thing. You deserve a promotion (obvs). But for some reason, you’ve never quite got the attention of the right people. Maybe you’ve even watched others rise above you, and thought ‘why not me?’

Shockingly, hard work, determination and appeasing your bosses isn’t always enough. You’d think now in this enlightened day and age that we wouldn’t have to resort to office politics. Power games seem to be a relic from the 80s, along with shoulder pads and frizz, however we might see the evidence in our places of work (not of shoulder pads and frizz, unless you work in an 80s roller-disco, then soz).

Ranging from slight sucking-up to full blown seriously sly and sinister tactics, I’ve put together a guide on how to get your dream job using ideas from one of the sneakiest TV programs around – Game of Thrones.

The key here is to back the right ‘House’ – pick your key power player at work, and provided you’ve made the right choice, untold riches will be yours (probs).

House Lannister

The current boss, holding all the power. You could pay some compliments, do a bit of casual schmoozing – but they may need you to do more than you’re comfortable with for you to prove your worth. Just be wary if there are relatives around also vying for promotion – they do like to keep it in the family, but the amount of back-stabbing (toilet-stabbing) they do between themselves could be exhausting and potentially dangerous to keep up with.

House Baratheon

They have fallen out of favour in the past, but maybe, just maybe they could be the next top dog. This is opportunism at its best – as we know from any film ever, backing the underdog means you’re sure to win. They may now have the means to put up a good fight for the leadership, but it might take more than a box of Black Magic to win them over. (See what I did there?!)

House Stark

Really? You need me to explain why this is bad idea? You’re hardly going to get a-HEAD with this house (may Ned Stark rest in peace) and linking yourself to them won’t be a MARRIAGE made in heaven (tenuous reference to the red wedding) (soz not soz) Yes, we all loved the values Ned held dear, but he paid for these with his life. How much would you put on the line to do the right thing at work?

House Targaryen

Perhaps they’re outsiders, but they’ve got a secret weapon they keep banging on about that will be sure to topple the status quo – so they keep saying…They seem good, and make gestures to make life better for their underlings – probs like upgrading the tea bags from value range to Twinings. Just make sure they know how to use it so that you’re confident it won’t blow up in your face.

House Tyrell

Charismatic, charming, and influential – these are leaders who inspire loyalty and devotion, but have a poisonous undercurrent – this is power and treachery at its pink and fluffy best. These are the trickiest type of boss to impress – do you just try and be good at your job and hope they will notice you, or do you try to stand out by making a clever but potentially risky move?

Of course, you could just work hard, be nice to everyone, and eventually get noticed by your bosses for the right reasons. After all, it’ll probs work out for Brienne of Tarth…

Which of the Houses would you back to get that much desired promotion? Or do you think office politics are a thing of the past?