FAQs

At what levels does Seymour have intakes of students? Students come new to Seymour at all levels, and at all points during the course of each year, but there are some key times at which there are larger numbers of new students - this is generally at Year 6 and Year 8 levels.

When is the best time to start? There are a range of structures in place to support a student's transition to the College at any time, but you won't be surprised to learn that we advocate "the sooner the better"!

While Year 8 is an obvious entry point for some families, with primary schooling concluding at Year 7, the transition at Year 6 or 7 is probably unrivalled in terms of its "seamlessness".

With all students being new to Middle School in Year 6, all girls are needing a large amount of support as they adjust to the new routines, places and people. Their 'home' in Taylor building allows them to feel very secure, while also having the benefit of the use of the Barr Smith campus' specialised facilities.

In Year 7, the girls still spend large amounts of time with their Form Teacher, or other members of the Year 7 core teaching team, thus enabling new students to readily establish strong relationships with teachers and peers.

With the many leadership and co-curricular opportunities at Seymour, new students quickly forget any concerns about missing out on being the 'seniors' in their previous school.

At the start of Year 8, all girls are in need of specific support as they adjust to lessons with more teachers. The Form Teachers and Year 8 Guardian focus on supporting the girls with their time management and personal organisation. Of course, establishing new relationships with their peers is of huge importance and various activities, including the personal development camp in Term 1, help the girls to interact across the year group

For all new students, an ideal way to meet different girls is to become involved in co-curricular activities.

How many students are there in a class? While the maximum class size is 25 students, most classes in Middle School range in numbers from 18 to 25. This ideal class size enables the girls to have plenty of opportunities to interact with different girls, while also being an ideal size for the teachers to develop a positive working relationship with each girl and a positive learning environment for all class members.

How many classes in each year level? Seymour has three Year 6 classes, three Year 7classes, four Year 8 and four Year 9 classes. All year levels are located in geographically-ideal positions, thus enabling girls to readily interact with students from all classes.

How does the College respond to relational issues, including bullying? Everything we do at the College is based on our firm commitment to helping girls and young women develop positive relationships with the peers and adults around them. Personal development programs explicitly examine the challenges of human interactions; likewise many areas of the curriculum deal implicitly with aspects of relationships.

The staff at the College use each relevant opportunity to help students understand that the journey of life does sometimes include 'bumpy' roads: using a model of restorative justice, all College staff encourage and model for students positive ways of achieving resolution when faced with difficult and challenging situations.

The College makes firm statements about expectations of respectful interactions and has policies and practices which support these statements.

Are relational difficulties more common in an all-girls' school? On the contrary, many girls are often extremely nurturing and encouraging of their peers, and the all-girls environment allows us to focus on issues that affect girls and their relationships, developing their emotional intelligence and empathy for others, without the scrutiny of boys.

In all social settings, groups of adolescents will need guidance and discussion about their interactions: in an all-girls' school, explicit and implicit teaching can focus directly on the needs of girls and how they communicate and interact with their worlds.