Yr7 new starters

Maths still ludicrously easy. Would be best if they explained that going back to basics to refresh or something. Ds losing interest here and ironically will probably make sloppy mistakes on the easy stuff knowing him...
English grammar going back to basics too but seems to move quicker looking at booklet he brought home. Also can see benefit to ds of refreshing grammar stuff.....
Lost jumper today. A book gone missing but he says teacher lost it- we shall see.
Still some blips due to missing school due to injury. Injury ongoing....
Does seem generally ok though fingers crossed.

well, dd seems to be settling in fine. But we had the mother of all homework battles this weekend.

She was tired, and homework not due til Tuesday/wednesday, and I said it had to be done. One piece was art. Blimey that art teacher can go hang.

You need 100 points by Christmas. Chart with different activities, each worth varying amount of points (10, 20 or 30 points)
Chose whichever one you like to do by wednesday.

Dd, being the child she is, wants to do one of the 30 point, open ended free ranging, no details type activities. I am trying (through clenched teeth) to point out that this will take longer than the time available, and as I she doesn't understand all the words in the question yet, but might do after a few lessons, perhaps we should chose an easier one to start with.

dd I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!
me (for the hundredth time) well, here are 2 things you can do today, and we have just twenty times talked through them, and they are quite straightforward and you just need to FRIGGING CHOOSE ONE.

She did it in the end. And i have promised we will start taking photos as part if one of the harder ones.

don't say anything, if none of them can do it, they will go over it again, or rethink.

I wish dds school was making sure they were solid on the basics in maths! Apparently they have been expanding and the simplyfing equations with two sets of brackets!! Seems a bit much in the second week!! She's never covered this at all at primary, so was in a bit of a flap about it yesterday!! She said that one of the primary's had done it, and that her teacher expected them to know how to do it. Neither my dd or her friend (different primary) had a clue!

Would you say something? She is good at maths and enjoys it, but this seems a bit complicated for the first term of y7. Or maybe this is just what they do now.

At dd's comp they set about a month into year 7, so before that the maths would probably have been accessible to all levels. She seemed to progress through a lot of maths at the right level after they were set.

Yes steppemum - I get a detailed account of lunch and how rude the older students are on the bus on the way home. That's about it.
He's really tired in the evenings though. At primary school he'd read late into the night but that's not happening at the moment.

ds is at a grammar school, and when he was in year 7 I remember him saying that the maths was easy, even at his school!

I think they like to double check that they are all solid on the basics before they start the year 7 stuff. It certainly got hard enough after a while.

I am impressed you know anything about anything to be honest, dd has told me almost nothign at all, except she likes it and it is fine, and stop asking me questions it is boring

The only thing I do know is exactly what she had for lunch!

Sorry to join late, have been lurking! Ds2 had his first blip today, I saw him walking up to school on his own when he was supposed to walk with2 from primary school. I texted DD as she is at the girls school next door and she said she'd watch for hi coming home. Apparently (having fretted all day,) it was a mix up, his friend had texted to say meet earlier and he didn't get the message! So all fine 😁 His brother is horrified that he enjoyed rugby today, Ds1 is very anti rugby!!

Hi guys, sorry just come back to this. Ds seems to be happy to go to school still but finds it quite boring he seems to have an obsession with food from the canteen and keeps purchasing rubbish Despite having an pack luck!!!

Taggle your ds sounds just like mine he had a rubbish time in Y6 due to a class bully which lost ds lots of friends. He was hoping for a fresh start at his new school and was only 1 of 5 who joined. He also joined some clubs but does not know what days they start which didn't help with him taking time off due to a bug.
What I'm finding difficult is that he is in a mixed year tutor group and then in mixed lessons with other children, there are also established friendships from the local primary schools so it's hard to break through especially if you are quiet and not in the same classes as others. It just feels like it is never going to happen :-/

I think they go back to basics since year 6 is so focused on the SATs and certainly at DDs school they spent a lot of the summer term doing fun things rather than working.

Thanks oklumberjack.
Think they have been put into 3 classes- sort of streamed. However maybe there will be more differentiated work later.
Or maybe they really think they have forgotten how to count in sequence etc over the summer holiday!
Back to basics big time......

Pondering, my dd has said English and Maths has been very easy, however they've not been streamed yet.

My dd had a fairly good day. She joined the Netball club at lunchtime. She was worried they'd be no Y7's there but there were lots. She's also spoken to few new people. I don't expect proper friendships yet but it's good she's chatting to people.
She also likes the History teacher as he already knows her name and asked her to pull up the projector screen because "she's taller than most of his Y9's" (she is very tall. I think lots of people think she's at least Y9 which might not be helping!).

They did that running test though which she hated. They were supposed to do 20 'runs' but she only managed 15. The upside of this though is that she's keen to try more sport.

All in all, not bad day.

My ds back at school [injury]. Still has to be a bit careful.
Seems to be enjoying school but says subjects seem very easy compared to year 6. His friend also said same. Maths seems ridiculously simple at the moment.
Is this the norm at the beginning of year 7?
I certainly don't want to email as have had to email a lot lately re injury....
Apart from doddly work, and injury, ds seems chirpy [long may it last....].

How did everyones DC get on today? DD had a good day - hooray! She got talking to more people in drama and made a new friend who she says likes the same things as her and is "weird" like she is . I also encouraged her to look into some clubs and she talked to her art teacher who said there is a club every lunch time where she can go and draw. She is also going to try trampolining after school and I found a drama tech club run by older students which she would enjoy as she got into lighting in her last school play. Feeling a lot more relaxed now as I was quite concerned yesterday :)

And to all who are struggling. I'd echo the comments about teachers being able to make a big difference. When DS started S1 he didn't know anyone in his form class and it was quite a "challenging" group with lots of strong personalities, according to his form teacher. She saw he was struggling to fit in and paired him up with another similar boy (using the excuse that this boy needed to home home at lunchtime to let his new puppy out and the school wouldn't let him leave the school grounds on his own!) They quickly became friends and are still best friends while now having a larger group of friends as well.

Do you mind if I join too? DD is in the last year of primary school, but for it we have switched her to her older brother's much larger school which is 3-18 so she's having the shock of the switch this year instead of next.

She's really shy but has the benefit of one of the girls on the bus taking her under her wing and (along with her friends) looking out for her at break time and lunch and so on so she seems to be doing OK.

The bus trip is stressing her out though because they have a new driver and he is late to school pretty much every other day! I've spoken to the school and they are monitoring it. Her teacher says to not worry about it but she hates walking in so often when class has already started. DS(14) just shrugs it off as typical of a grumpy teen, and I think he enjoys telling his form teacher with much disgust that the bus was late again!

Sorry your DD is having a hard time too calm. I think whether they know people or not it is tough. I was glad that DD didn't get into the school that most of her class at primary did because she had problems with several of the girls and I got the feeling that she would get dumped soon after they started. But now of course she has noone so it's hard anyway. Argh, I hate this bit of parenting, so hard to watch :(

So pleased to have found this thread and relieved, if a bit sad to see that other children are struggling a bit too.

My dd is putting a brave face on, but I know she's found it hard and is struggling. There are actually 6 children in her class from her previous school, but that didn't help, as most are established friends. A girl she used to play with is in another class and practically ignored her and went off with one of my dd's new classmates, who my dd thought may be a best friend!

My dd isn't great with social cues either .

My dd is doing a lunchtime netball club this morning. She said "I hope I'm not the only Y7 there" which is a big possibility .

I admire her gumption though. It must be good for resilience!

Thank you steppemum and magic for your wise words. It really helps to get a long term perspective.

DS just left. He is nervous about the new clubs. He's not sure he is 'properly' signed up. I tried to reassure him, but I can imagine he will be a bit worried all morning.

I feel so much for all you mums with children starting Year 7. It's an enormous leap from primary to secondary (probably the biggest in the whole of their education) though leaving home and going to Uni (if that's the path they take) is a biggie. Mine are all grown and I have a DGD in Yr 12, but she had a real "baptism of fire" when she started Year 7. She knew absolutely no one and it's an all girls school and most of them had been together in the junior part of the school, some of them since they were 3!
I was really worried as she was a shy girl and wouldn't even go to tea or birthday parties in junior school. It all seemed to go well but I only found some years later how difficult it had been for her in Yr 7 - I think her parents knew but didn't tell me, knowing I'd worry. But she told me herself fairly recently that the other girls that she was weird (she's not) and she made friends with another new girl, but she left after the first term! She said it was tough going but gradually she made 1 or 2 friends and it grew from there.

There were problems with Yr 7 girls last year as they were having trouble making friends and DGD was chosen (with 2 other senior girls) to talk to the Yr 7s, and I asked DGD what she'd said and apparently she advised them not to make just one friend and to remember that everyone was probably feeling scared but trying not to let on, and that they shouldn't expect too much too soon, as it would take time, but in the end it would work out. she grinned and said "I also told them there will probably be a Miss Popular in the form and some of the girls will want to be her friends, but don't worry if you're not in that group, everyone is different and you'll all find out where you fit in, and by Christmas these early days will be forgotten." There is a Miss Popular in her form (not really now as they're all doing different subjects, but she always amused me with tales of Miss Popular (you know the sort, pretty, clever, sporty, confident) and she used to refer to Miss P and her entourage!

Wise words I think. Please try to remember it's very early days and sod those friends whose kids are doing "brilliantly" - they're probably not anyway. Good luck to you all and your sons and daughters.

just wanted to tell you a story.

I remember going off to uni aged 18. Very excited, loved it etc etc. But I clearly remember phoning my mum after about 3-4 weeks and when she said how is it going, I replied - well, finally we have got past the same conversation 'what's your name and where are you from etc' and we can begin to have normal conversations and get on with living.

My mum was tickled pink and she has reminded me of it a few times.

Our dc are in the same position, all new, all trying to make a good impression, and not able to just relax and be themselves with their familiar friends. It is very tiring and they have never had to do it before and probably don't even realise they are doing it.

It will come, they will have that day when they make a joke and their new friend gets it and suddenly they can relax.

and yes I am exhausted!