Year 8 Support Thread

Ds had had his first absence of the year already. They had the HPV vaccinations today.
Ds has two problems with vaccinations. He finds them fascinating and watches and askes questions... and then is liable to faint.
Being liable to faint means they usually do them first.
However his temperature has never failed to go rapidly up within a few hours of a vaccination and then he usually vomits (as he always does with a temperature rise). So I requested he went late on in the day.

I think the combination meant they decided to go for the middle-with the rest of his class.
So about an hour later he's sent out of his lesson (PE for goodness sake) because he's fainted. They call me, I tell them that's usual, and let him sit quietly.
End of PE they call me to say pick him up because he's grey and temperature is coming up.

He really looked quite dreadful, so I'm not totally surprised. He's retreated to bed to watch the budgies.

Dd2 is most put out. She didn't get treated like that when she had hers. I pointed out that she refused point blank to have it in a very dramatic way until I turned up and told her she had to sit still and I had 5 minutes only before going back to work. She had it done with no fuss then.

She thinks it is highly unfair that ds, who doesn't mind having injections should react like this and is plotting her revenge. I foresee her being "nearly dead" tomorrow morning.

Found you all. DD2 had a reasonable year 7. Found a few friends. No bullying. Struggled with homework.

This year she was reluctant to return (ASD, finds routine change hard). Yesterday her phone was confiscated, because she was in a classroom without a clock, but needed to know the time (anxiety) and without thinking, took her phone out of her blazer to check the time. She was pretty distraught, worried about it, but I collected the phone before end of school, put it on charge and when she told me what happened, bought her a watch so it doesn't happen again.

It's all tricky.

@Penguins - yes it's the girl drama that was the big issue last year, it seemed to have a knock on effect on everything else. That and the level of homework, which was sometimes very little and other times loads. What year are your DD and DS now?

Good to hear everybody is having a good wk2, ds was so tired at the weekend, he didn't move much over the summer so the half hour walks to and from school and between classes caught up with him on Sunday.
Lots of homework but he seems to have got back into the routine of getting them done and out of the way and new teachers have all seemed okay.
Other than that it's tales of new yr7's getting into trouble esp the boys, a couple of fights, seems to be a repeat of when he started last year, think it's while everybody is finding their feet, luckily school handle it well.

Hi - hope Wk2 is going well for all.

My DD really struggled through YR7, I am really hoping that YR8 is smoother. She really struggled with the transition, the early starts (school bus at 7:30), the additional homework, the fact that most teachers are more distant (a secondary school thing that was different from her YR6 teacher), a bigger school and mostly girls that seem to have fallen in and out of friendships for 12 months now!

I'm keeping everything crossed that YR8 is more settled and enjoyable for her.

Ds hasn't had a hair cut!
He's not impressed to be back while his sister (off to uni) has another 3.5 weeks.

Moved DS to a new school as he had a desperately unhappy year 7. Fingers crossed so far so good. He already seen so much more relaxed. Encouraging him to step out of his shy shoes and put himself out there to meet new people. Nearly the weekend 😊

Second day for us, 3 lots of homework so far which didn't go down well 😂, and mostly the same teachers as last year so ds has settled back into his classes

I don't think my going into year 8 and going into year 11 dc need any new uniform which is quite lucky. Not even new shoes. Dd did get a new bag though.
I'm curious to see dd's timetable to see what teachers she has as I know a lot of them from older dd. We can usually see the timetable online over the holidays even though they tweak it til the last minute. Can't see it this year. Maybe they hid it from view as they get parents contacting them in the holidays about their child being in the wrong group etc and they want to give the teachers a rest!
Dd had a good year last year. She didn't have anyone from her old class go into her new class but made new friends in the new class and doesn't seem to have any enemies. Same as at primary. Dd1 had a trickier time at primary but has been happier at secondary

We're back on the 5th as well.

I bribed ds into going to get new shoes today. He's had this pair for 2 years and the soles are paper thin and the top have enough air holes that they could almost be sandals. He put them on to "prove" he didn't need more.

He's gone up 3 sizes. Shop assistant couldn't believe he could still get the old pair on. She also couldn't believe her luck when he put on the first pair and said "they fit... I'm having these".
I've told her I'll bring dd2 to her to make up on time. Dd2 has size 8, D width shoes and is very fussy. She also likes to try on every possible shoe in the shop even when she's found one that fits. I've usually lost the will to live by the third pair.

I suggested while we were on a roll maybe I could book him a hair cut (he looked horrified) and get a new coat (the one he had last winter he's had for 3 years and looks brand new as he refuses to wear a coat). He thought that would be pushing it too far.
I did manage to get him to choose a new school bag. His old one, the zip broke in the last week of term.

I've been ironing shirts and trousers today, got the pe kit sorted but not got shoes yet either, his feet grow so quickly, we went through a few pair last year as he'd outgrown them, hope it slows down this year

Exactly the same as Juniorsmum1 here, right down to the year 7's and sixth form having the day to themselves first. DD quite impressed that she gets an extra day this year, but it is such a big change that I think it is nice for the Year 7's to have a day without the school being rammed to find their way around!

We have a Year group on FB and someone has already asked what date the Year 8's go back - even DH was rolling his eyes a bit, if you didn't know the info is clearly on the School website.

Starting to prepare the uniform ready for the new academic year, leaving the shoes as late as possible although DD has grown more slowly this year - previously she has grown out of items at an alarming rate, this is the first time we've ever got a whole year out of a pair of shoes!

Please excuse the spelling errors 🤣

Weds 4th here after an inset day Mon and just yr7 and 12 on Tues. Am hoping his timetable comes up on the app next week, weds was an easy day last year so he's hoping for the sake again 😁. I have noticed his app now has an options section as he's to start picking later this year ready for year 9. he seems too young to pick at the min and it ferls like it's coming up too fast.

Also place marking - we just moved our year 7 from a grammar school exam factory and starting year 8 in a new school.