Have we got a starting Secondary School Support thread?

Dd getting grief from a group of boys who keep deliberatly pronouncing her name wrong and chanting it, and other random stuff.
Dd1 had that when she was year 7. Actually she just rolled her eyes and thought they were stupid, but someone else in her form reported it to the head of year and I had a phone call from the head of year saying that they were pulling the boys who were doing it in the next morning and warning them that they'd be in inclusion if they did it again. It worked and she didn't have them doing it again.

Ds is another wannabe YouTuber. Apparently I'm thwarting his ambitions by refusing to buy a gaming computer with video camera.

Yes other year 7s. She's not too worried at the moment she doesn't want me to say anything yet although obviously of it ramps up i will. She's says she's ignoring it and sticking with her friends in the hope they get bored

Oh Giles - your poor DD. Are these other Y7s? I'd have a word with the head of year - they should be setting a firm stance on this sort of thing from the outset. Is she upset?

Mine has come home today having been pushed into a hedge (with his three friends that he was walking home with) by a bunch of Y11 boys, but he's insistent that it wasn't done maliciously He only told me because I said 'You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards!' when he walked in and he was able to give the smug reply 'That's because I have.'

DS2 wants to be a Youtube person. Last year he kept uploading videos of himself playing games and talking while he did so on Youtube. They were very samey and I think he has something to learn about creating material that people want to watch, but I suppose it may be useful/ necessary for everyone to know how in the future if not as a full time thing

Well it doesn't take them long does it. Dd getting grief from a group of boys who keep deliberatly pronouncing her name wrong and chanting it, and other random stuff. They had a trip today and they punched her seat the entire journey home

Dick heads

Ah...I'm fortunate. DD wants to be a chef, possibly in the navy as she is a Sea Cadet.

DD has gone to her school not knowing anyone. She has become friends with one girl in particular, but she is leaving the country after Christmas! Hopefully by then she will have made some more friends!

We have been having a different kind of homework struggle to most people...she stays at her Dad's house one night in the week and every other weekend and he is not encouraging her to do her homework! She has been great about doing it at home, but he is disorganised and she is struggling to organise herself (Sea Cadets doesn't help here, as she is out at that two night a week and often one day at the weekend too!)

DS is also intending to be an overnight YouTube millionaire.

He's made a couple of new friends but is mostly sticking with his primary friends - they've all gone up together so I guess it's easier, but I hope he broadens his horizons a bit.

DS2 if off sick today. Ongoing sore throat and he looked dreadful this morning. Apparently it's viral so no antibiotics. He's perked up a bit now, will see how he is tomorrow.

DS2 has always claimed he is very unpopular and has no friends. This isn't actually true, but he has a habit on dwelling on minor things, and deciding the person must hate him etc. All his class has gone up to the same secondary and I think he is mostly sticking with them for the time-being.

I have been assured YouTubing gaming is the way to make yourself millions Froglet, infact I wonder why DS bothers with school. 😎

DD joined y8 and made lots of friends straightaway but in y7 it was more difficult - no one from her school or even our area as a grammar. She was friends with a couple of girls then they left her, but she got new friends via her class and clubs and ended up with the most friends in the class by the end. So can take a while and there can be regroupings at start. DS, have no real idea if he has friends. He hangs out in a group of 12 boys but he's more a tag along and watches them. DD didn't help saying as my brother cries at school noone will want to be his friend ever. If it persists contact the form tutor and they maybe able to help.

Is anyone else worried about their child making friends? Mine went to up with other children from his primary but they’re all girls so he’s not hanging out with them at lunchtime. He seems to be chatting to other boys in lessons but not at lunch. I suppose I’m looking for reassurance that friendships will develop over time. He seems ok with it but I’m a worrier! He’s already doing clubs so hopefully that’ll help

Penguins DD is the same. If all goes wrong she wants to be a You Tuber. We had about 6 hours homework at the weekend as DD had been storing much of it since Monday. Yesterday we had a row on the bus as there were roadworks and the bus could not travel. Told her to get off a stop early and walk. She would not. Put me in a vile mood for the rest of the day. (we take same bus as it is bus I get to work on. Not helicoptering honest!)

DS has gone in happy enough but today its his payment card he's lost again, third time of losing this. Its annoying as means he can't get lunch. Thankfully we live close by but I wish they would let me buy a locker but a week of chasing and nothing. I left DD last year to organise all by herself and she managed and coped well but DS doesn't seem capable or organising anything.

At primary they said to encourage independence as much as possible and this does seem to have helped him mature, he started walking to school then with his sister and loves going to shop a few doors down from us. But school is hopeless, conversations go have you got any homework, no, hmm well may be, oh yes. He has a planner and online system. Did get out of him he has to do 5 A5 sides of an adventure story for English by 4 October but he was suggesting it was fine to start that on 4 October. 😉 He hates English, suggested ideas no to all, this one will be fun. It's your adventure life in future which according to him is being a gamer all day 24/7 on YouTube. Think he's just saying that to appear cool. His ideal would be to be with animals in the wild but knows he would be teased for that.

anyone elses y7 very tired?
dc is shattered and in bed at half past eight.

The homework has stepped up a gear recently but between me and DS we are keeping on top of it. Despite some of his teachers not using Show my Homework. We got a letter today showing his expected targets by the end of the year amd thus his 'flight path' up to the end of Year 11. It says in the letter that targets may be adjusted upwarss but never downwards and if they are below target they will ne invited to after school study sessions which DS said sounded the same as a detention.

That’s terrible about your son nologic .

Well DS got his first detention today, for perfectly reasonable reasons. When he went to afternoon form, everyone already knew.

We have 5 magazine folders on a bookshelf for keeping books / completed homework for each day of the week. And am currently packing his bag with him after tea each evening. But I really hope I won’t have to all year Titsy .

So sorry that happened to your DS Nologic - how awful. I hope it doesn't knock his confidence too badly. My DS said his trousers were pulled down 3 times in the changing room today but it appears to be some kind of game which he thought was quite funny. Either way I told him it wasn't ok for people to do that to him.

DS missed out handing in homework today as he hadn't written it down in his planner (for some reason he thought I got emails about all homework so expected I would remind him). He came out and said he had to hand it in tomorrow or he will get a detention so I asked what the homework was - "erm I can't remember", "did you write it down?" "No". Arghh! Luckily after a while he figured it out (well he thinks he did! I got him to type it up and emailed it to his teacher with a note explaining his SEN/organisation/memory issues and that I have explained it to him and hopefully it won't happen again. With any luck she will take that for what it is and not see it as a helicopter mother making excuses for her child!

Something has gone wrong with the timetable and both my children ended up taking the wrong PE kit to school (after I had emailed the PE teacher about DS not being sure what he needed when - so apparently he gave me the wrong information!). Piss up in brewery comes to mind!

I think this may be the hardest bit - the organisation. It feels like I'll have to be his secretary/PA this year (and maybe beyond) or it'll all go wrong but I do need to let him make mistakes and learn from them. Just got to figure out where the line between those is!

Oh hello! I didn't see this thread, DD1 just started, its also her very first time in school as she was Home educated for primary, mainly due to health issues.

She has had an ok start thus far, some health issues raised their head at the start of last week which caused a problem between exH and I as he totally panicked, which was unhelpful! She is fine now, just has to really be on it with managing her sleep, poor thing is dead to the world by 8.30pm every night.

I'm a super organised human, which is helping with the homework thus far, she is enjoying using the label maker to label a million folders! Has anyone got a recommendation for a good homework planner? School don't give them out and only about two thirds of the homework seems to make it on to Show My Homework...which annoys me!

NoLogic that is awful. I'm so sorry. This has happened today?? There are no words, really. What on earth gets into the brains of children to behave like that? I guess they don't see consequences as we do. They don't see the effects of their behaviour. Your poor DS. I hope they are able to be brought to a place of understanding about the impact of their behaviour on your DS, so that they don't ever behave like that again. And I sincerely hope that your DS is supported so that he can be independent again.

Hope your DD does settle soon Permanent, I suspect mine is going to be a while too.

Red That was lovely of you, its so hard for the children with new schools nevermind the journeys.

NoLogic So sorry that happened to your DS, hope the school comes down hard of them. I always put things in writing so you record it all. DS had an issue with a boy attacking him everyday last year and one day came home saying he had been hitting him with a stick. Thankfully boy disappeared permanently shortly after.

Welcome Biddy I am normally the go to person for homework though DD tries to get me to do hers. 😂 Last year she was always asking me German questions and my German is a bit rusty but this school doesn't do German.

Well DS seems to have survived whole day at least.

Oh God, NoLogic, your poor son! That's horrible. Why are some kids just so bloody mean? Does he know anyone he could arrange to walk home with so he's not on his own?

Oh, and organizational skills are definitely something we're working on.

We colour coded the books and copies and time table according to subject, and got zipped pouches for each subject. But she's still leaving things in the wrong place, or else bringing home EVERYTHING (bag weighs a tonne). And losing timetables (I made about 6 copies!), and forgetting keys, and she's smashed her phone screen.

But we are slowly getting there.

And we're very happy that she's accepted wearing a uniform as there was none in her primary and its' very strict in the secondary she's going to (lots of her friends went to a far less strict uniform and schoolwork school locally).

I didn't even see there was a thread before now.

DD has moved into 1st year (equivalent of Y7) but it's a small school with small classes and a lot of sport (our bank balance is loving us just now....) as we thought it would suit her best (ASD/Aspergers, ADHD and sports-mad).

SENCO seems on board, and willing to support but only newly appointed just before school started (previous one retired) so starting from scratch.

DD's old psych assessment is too old to be useful (6 years), so we are having to organize a new one (privately - we'd be waiting years for a NEPS one).

But she is enjoying it mostly so far. Very tired from the workload and additional afternoon sports ("almost" mandatory). But willing and engaged on doing the academic work - which is a big jump after a less than useless teacher last year (the WHOLE class said this, not just the SN's DC parents). But we have had to tread carefully on certain things - apparently I am ok for maths (despite DH being an engineer!), he is better for geography, I am all languages, and then it depends on who she sees first for other stuff (DH has been the one to do a music project as that involved YouTube and creating a poster on the computer!).

Sleep is definitely the top priority, and ensuring calm at home. So we've had to sacrifice working on our work stuff or housework in the evenings for this month - hopefully it will settle down in the next few weeks and she won't need quite so much hand-holding.

Your poor son NoLogic. I hope those responsible are dealt with properly and they leave your DS alone.

Nologic, your poor ds. That is horrendous. I hope it is dealt with effectively, and that there are no repercussions.

And I hope your ds recovers ok from a horrible assault.

That's awful Nologic. What is wrong with some kids? I hope the school sorts the boys out and your ds gets left in peace