Welcome to Alder Grange School
We are very proud of our school and delighted that you have chosen to join us. You may be feeling a bit nervous about starting Year 7, but ‘Alder Grangers’ are a very friendly bunch and I know you’ll have made lots of friends in no time.
We teach what it means to be an Alder Granger from the moment you arrive at school in Year 7, and refer to this frequently. Our values are built upon relationships which are warm and caring, supporting a genuine family feel.
The majority of our pupils stay with us for 7 years, staying on at ag6, our sixth form, where you will have access to a range of courses to prepare you for your future, in an environment that shares the same family ethos as the main school.
Mrs Griffiths
Headteacher
As Head of Year 7, it is a privilege to welcome our students as they begin an exciting new chapter in their educational journey. Transitioning from primary to secondary school is a significant step, and my role is to ensure that every student feels supported, valued, and confident as they adapt to new routines, responsibilities, and opportunities.
Year 7 is a time of exploration, growth, and discovery. We place a strong emphasis on creating a positive, inclusive environment where students can thrive both academically and personally. My team and I are committed to working closely with families, teachers, and support staff to nurture resilience, encourage curiosity, and build a strong foundation for future success. I look forward to watching each student develop their unique strengths and make the most of all that secondary school has to offer to become an Alder Granger.
Mr Haydar
Head of Year 7
==KEY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY==
Induction day & evening
Thursday 2nd July 2026
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Summer School
Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th August 2026
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First day of Term
Tuesday 1st September 2026
| Period | Time |
|---|---|
| Staff Briefing | 08:55 – 09:00 |
| Registration | 09:00 – 09:20 |
| Period 1 | 09:20 – 10:10 |
| Period 2 | 10:10 – 11:00 |
| Break | 11:00 – 11:20 |
| Period 3 | 11:20 – 12:10 |
| Period 4 | 12:10 – 13:00 |
| Lunch | 13:00 – 13:50 |
| Period 5 | 13:50 – 14:40 |
| Period 6 | 14:40 – 15:30 |
| School Closes | 15:30 (14:40 for pupils on Wednesday) |
The total number of hours students are in school for during a week is 31 hours, 40 minutes.
What you need to bring:
- A school bag
- Some food/drinks for break and lunch time or some money to put on your lunch account (coins not notes)
- A pencil case with stationary
- Details of your emergency contact numbers
- Bus money (if needed)
- Any medicines that you need. For example; inhalers, epi-pens. All need to be clearly labelled and details of your condition filled in on the medical information form that your parents have in their pack.
On your first day you will be given two key items by your form tutor: a personal planner and a timetable. It is important you look after both. If used properly, you can record everything you need to know about or do in some place in your planner. There are lots of uses to your planner and its full purposes will be explained to you on your first day.
Lunch
We use a cashless system where each child is issued with a PIN. This Pin is four numbers that’s used to purchase food and drinks throughout the day. You can top your child’s account up via parent pay, this system allows parents to see what your child is buying each day. We do have a daily limit set for each child of £6 but this can be altered by parents to an amount they think suitable.
If you currently receive free school meals then that will carry over to Alder Grange but if your parents think you may be entitled them they should contact 01254 220747 (East Area Education Office) for guidance and to register.
If you have any allergies or medical dietary requirements then we need your parents to contact us to discuss this but you do not need to worry as we have lots of children like you and we have lots of information available in the canteen to help you.
Subjects
In a typical week, the following subjects are usually studied:
- English
- Maths
- Science
- French/Spanish
- History
- Geography
- PSHE
- Linguistics
- Art
- PE (Physical Education)
- RE (Religious Education)
- Design Technology
- Computing
- Music
- Drama
Most lessons last for a 50 minute period although some are a double lesson. You will have a different teacher for each subject and be in a different classroom but you will soon get used to this.
Extra-Curriculars
There are many clubs at Alder Grange for you to get involved in.
There are sports clubs including football, rugby, trampolining, cheerleading, netball and badminton. Often you get the opportunity to represent the school in these sports.
There are a lot of other clubs such as the Art, IT, Technology, Maths quizzes, craft club, a junior Duke of Edinburgh, music and drama clubs to name a few.
Charity is important to us at Alder Grange and you will have the opportunity to get you thinking hats on and think of exciting and fun ways to raise money for good causes.
There is also an excellent library at Alder Grange, which in open daily and can be visited before and after school and at break and lunch times.
School Term and Holiday Pattern 2026-2027
Please note – school is closed to pupils on INSET days
Autumn Term – 2026
| INSET Day 1 | Tuesday 1st September 2026 |
| Re-open on | Wednesday 2nd September 2026 |
| INSET Day 2 | Thursday 1st October 2026 |
| INSET Day 3 | Thursday 22nd October 2026 |
| INSET Day 4 | Friday 23rd October 2026 |
| Mid-term Closure | Monday 26th October 2026 – Friday 30th October 2026 (inclusive) |
| Closure after school on | Friday 18th December 2026 |
Spring Term 2027
| Re-open on | Monday 4th January 2027 |
| Mid-term Closure | Monday 15th February 2027 – Friday 19th February 2027 (inclusive) |
| Closure after school on | Thursday 25th March 2027 |
Summer Term 2027
| Re-open on | Monday 12th April 2027 |
| May Day Closure | Monday 3rd May 2027 |
| Mid-term Closure | Monday 31st May 2027 – Friday 4th June 2027 (inclusive) |
| INSET Day 5 | Friday 9th July 2027 |
| Closure after school on | Monday 21th July 2027 |
Alder Grange has made efforts over many years to keep the costs of school uniform to a minimum whilst maintaining high standards, and considering good quality and durable items. This is reviewed annually and in line with the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021.
| Uniform Item | Required? | Branded? | Where to Buy? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Shirt/Blouse | Required | Generic | Any retailer |
| School Blazer | Required | Branded1 | School Uniform Supplier |
| Grey Skirt/Trousers | Required | Generic | Any retailer |
| School Tie | Required | Branded | School Uniform Supplier |
| Black Leather (Looking) Shoe | Required | Generic | Any retailer |
| PE Top | Required | Branded | School PE Kit Supplier |
| Black PE Shorts | Required | Generic | Any retailer |
| Black Sports Socks | Required | Generic | Any retailer |
| Navy V-Neck Jumper | Optional | Generic | Any retailer |
1 Alternatively, a generic navy blazer can be purchased and a school logo badge can be sewn on
*For more information regarding our school uniform and where to purchase it, please visit the full page here *
ParentPay
To support security and safety of pupils and staff, Alder Grange is cashless – all lunches, school trips, and any purchases need to be paid via ParentPay.
- Being Cashless ensures that money isn’t lost on the way to school – so it’s safer and more secure.
- Being Cashless means we don’t need to waste time with 2 members of staff going to the bank – saving school time and money.
- Using ParentPay creates a full audit trail for all transactions – you can see exactly how much had been spent and on what each day.
- Using ParentPay means we can do quick and easy refunds without having to use cheques or cash – making it safer for us and our pupils.
- If you don’t have a bank account, don’t worry, we can provide you with a PayPoint Card to pay for lunches.
Q&A
I already use ParentPay, can I use the same account?
Yes! Login to your existing account, and click Add Child (even if it is for the same child from their current school). ParentPay will then prompt you to add the username and password that we will send you (your child’s details on our system at Alder Grange), to link it to your account.
I’ve never used ParentPay, how do I activate my new account?
You’ll get an email from school with a unique username and password for your child. Once you go to ParentPay, you will be able to login with the details on that email, and the ParentPay website will walk you through the rest of the steps to activate your child’s account!
How do I add money onto their lunch account?
You can top up their account in a few ways: it can be paid in immediately via your debit or credit card (we recommend this option), or via balance already on a ParentPay account. It can also be paid in via an automated bank transfer, though this can take up to 3 days from the payment being made to the money becoming available on their account.
How do I pay for school trips or textbooks?
When items like these open up, we will add it to a list on ParentPay of things that can be purchased, and they can be paid for in a similar manner to how lunch account top-ups work above.
Can I still pay by cash or cheque for school trips?
Unfortunately, we can no longer accept cash or cheques for school trips or purchases – this is for security and safety reasons of both pupils and staff.
I don’t have a bank account – how do I put money onto ParentPay?
We can provide you with a PayPoint barcode letter or card, which can be used to pay for items via cash at any PayPoint retailer.
Parentmail
We use ParentMail to communicate with Parents and Carers:
- Access ParentMail with your own login and have access to your own personal feed – away from a busy, email inbox.
- Have all your school communications delivered to one place, so you can find them quickly and easily.
- Download the free ParentMail App, which means you can pick up all your important school messages on the go.
- It saves on paper and is more environmentally friendly
- Save money for school – funds can be better used on educational resources for pupils.
- It’s even available as an app on your iPhone or Android device!
Q&A
I don’t have a ParentMail account – how do I sign up?
School will send you an email registration link, which will invite you to register to the ParentMail service. Click the “I don’t have a ParentMail account” option and you will be guided through setting up your account and registering it with the school
I already have a ParentMail account – can I use that?
Absolutely! Just click the “I already have a ParentMail account” option when registering your account with the school via the email registration link the school sends you, and it will offer you to sign in to your existing ParentMail account during the process.
When I register, what will I be able to see?
When you log in to your ParentMail feed, you will have access to any messages that we have sent you within the last 7 days. If you cannot see any messages in your feed, it is likely that we have not sent anything out yet. If you think something isn’t coming through though, you can always contact the school to find out.
When I registered I entered the wrong email address – how do I change this?
Simply log into your ParentMail account with the wrong email address, click on your name in the toolbar at the top of the page, then click Personal Details. Here you can change and correct any of your contact details.
Can I still pay by cash or cheque for school trips?
Unfortunately, we can no longer accept cash or cheques for school trips or purchases – this is for security and safety reasons of both pupils and staff.
ParentMail stores all the letters we’ve sent you, so you can look back on them – you’ll never lose a letter again!
At Alder Grange we try very hard to keep parents/carers regularly informed about what is going on. However, sending paper letters home can be rather ‘hit and miss’ with letters often going astray along the way. We are also increasingly aware of the substantial cost, time and environmental impact associated with the amount of paper and photocopying this involves.
As we are always looking for ways in which we can improve our communication between school and home, we use a service called ParentMail, which is used by over 3,500 schools across the UK to communicate with parents predominantly by email but also by text message. We are confident that ParentMail will be beneficial to you as messages should get to you more reliably, more quickly and allow us to keep you better informed about important events in school. It is not intended as a day to day means of communication but we do aim to keep you updated about important or urgent events such as Parents’ Evenings or emergency snow closures.
To use ParentMail we need to collect your email address and we would ask you to ensure that this section of the Data Collection form is completed and returned to us as soon as possible in a sealed envelope marked with your child’s name. All the data on our school’s information management system is subject to the strict controls laid down by the Data Protection Act. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or concerns regarding the Act’s application.
Please be assured also that ParentMail is registered with the Data Protection Registrar and guarantees that all information you provide will be kept private and will not be passed on to any other organisation. When ParentMail is used we will send the message to the person named as the number 1 priority contact. If this may cause a problem or if you have any questions regarding ParentMail, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at school and we will endeavour to help.
When we start using ParentMail, email messages will be sent from messages@parentmail.co.uk. Please add this address to your email address books (or approved sender list) to prevent messages from being blocked by your spam/junk filters.
Edulink One
Edulink one is a tool that we use here at Alder Grange to help communicate information to Parents and Guardians more effectively and to keep personal information up to date.
Parents and Guardians will be able to access their own personal Edulink One account either through the web, or by downloading the Edulink One app to their iOS or Android device. The information that can be seen by parents and guardians is in real time, so if an update has appear on your child’s account (achievement points, behaviour points, detentions etc), you will be able to see it along with a description of why that action has been taken.
Below are some helpful user guides to Edulink One.
User Guides
Login – Web
Web Browser Instructions
To start, go to https://www.edulinkone.com/ and input your school’s code. This would have been emailed to you when your account was created. Or if you have already signed in you can use your school’s direct link https://www.edulinkone.com/#!/login?code=YYYY inputting your school’s code in place of YYYY.
If you do not have a direct link, you will need to enter your School ID or Postcode and press Next. Your School ID will have been sent to you by the school. If you forget your username or password, please contact the school.
Enter your Username and Password that the school has sent to you.
If you have not received an email with your login details, please contact your school to resolve this issue.
Once you have filled in the username and password boxes with your login details, click LOG IN to get started.
I already have a ParentMail account – can I use that?
Absolutely! Just click the “I already have a ParentMail account” option when registering your account with the school via the email registration link the school sends you, and it will offer you to sign in to your existing ParentMail account during the process.
When I register, what will I be able to see?
When you log in to your ParentMail feed, you will have access to any messages that we have sent you within the last 7 days. If you cannot see any messages in your feed, it is likely that we have not sent anything out yet. If you think something isn’t coming through though, you can always contact the school to find out.
When I registered I entered the wrong email address – how do I change this?
Simply log into your ParentMail account with the wrong email address, click on your name in the toolbar at the top of the page, then click Personal Details. Here you can change and correct any of your contact details.
Can I still pay by cash or cheque for school trips?
Unfortunately, we can no longer accept cash or cheques for school trips or purchases – this is for security and safety reasons of both pupils and staff.