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The first of six days of Year 5 Taster Sessions at Our Lady’s Convent High School, Hackney, began on Wednesday 10 June. During these visits the school expects to welcome approximately 280 students from 13 various local Catholic primary schools.

Over the six days, teachers will be running 36 different sessions offering prospective Year 5 students a chance to sample and feel the atmosphere and ethos in the school. With emphasis on developing girls’ academic performance, as well as their whole character, the sessions demonstrate how the school can provide relevant skills for the future workplace along with traditional Servite Values, including compassion, service and community. 

Headteacher Jane Gray commented, ‘We are always delighted to welcome the Year 5 students for their first experience of life in a Year 7 class and so help them to start the important process of transfer to secondary school’.

During the sessions, pupils learned more about the school, its facilities and the different subjects taught in Year 7, including Mandarin Chinese. 

Staff from St Joseph’s Catholic Junior School thanked the school for their efforts and said the experience was very useful for their Year 5 pupils: ‘We received a tremendously warm welcome and enjoyed the very well organised sessions. The girls had fun and learned lots of new facts, including fascinating elements of China, where Mandarin words and cultural aspects about the country were taught in an engaging and captivating environment’.