Is this normal in secondaries? Year 7 induction

Well obviously they won’t be on transition days. I’m on about year 6 behaviour generally and what they are like at home etc. By year 6 they have generally outgrown primary and are ready to move on, but they have another year. Dd2 likened her year 6 class to having 29 siblings.

The point is kids don’t turn into monsters the second they go to secondary like some of the posters are saying.

Not normal and would never happen at my DC's schools.

That would put me right off.

That's horrendous. Ours is a Catholic school, and the 6 feeder primary's all go for 2 days. All report that it is nice and the other children show them around and are really nice to them.

If that happened at the secondary school I work at and it was reported there would be severe consequences for those students involved.
This would be taken very seriously and students are always warned to be careful and helpful to the younger kids as they transition to secondary school. There are rarely any incidents.

Defo sounds like extra transition days if there are feeder schools. Some do extra days for 'singles' going.
I think most schools have a head of transition and a team to support depending how big the school is. Ours is 300 each year

@Mobley52 I'd honestly try and ask her if it was just one group or several different groups. If the later then that's not good and would concern me.
Do you know any other new Yr7 parents to compare notes? It would be very unlikely to happen our ours with Y6 transition but there was bits of jostling Yr7 in Sept for sure.

@Teateaandmoretea our Yr6 weren't that cocky as a huge city primary. They certainly weren't on transition days. Far from it

Yes. Did the children not gave a senior pupil to squire them round the school? And take them to and pick them up from classes?
Most schools have an arrangement like that.

I don’t think this is normal at all. Sounds horrible.
Did this happen to people when they were at school? It didn’t at mine!

Induction when SATS are 3 weeks away?

Never heard of that before.
Transition doesn't usually start til after May half term.

Is your DD particularly vulnerable?

Kids are horrible.

The kids you are referring to are badly behaved, no more or less. There is a huge behaviour problem in that school (like many comps).

Sounds rubbish for an induction day, but I agree the timing of the induction is madness on the part of the school! That in itself would concern me.

DD had a rough time in year 7, older kids were awful, she'd get pushed in the corridor etc. she said she heard older kids discussing "points" (50 if you knock over a year 7! that kinda thing)

Kids are horrible.

What did the adult do who was with them @Mobley52?

Different schools have different atmospheres. Teens can actually behave, the default that they are expected to be vile is really odd. And they live up to it - it’s one of the reasons for the issues in secondary schools.

I also don’t agree with what you say - year 6’s tend to be cocky and full of themselves because they are the oldest. Going to secondary knocks this out of them a bit and they grow up quite a lot. Dd2 is currently in year 7 and is much nicer than a year ago! But her school seems to bring out better in them than some others.

It is definitely not a good sign that the OP’s dc didn’t feel comfortable there.

As others have said in different ways above. Induction now is early. Pre SATs. By July they are ready to move on. Sept they are rabbits in headlights going to secondary. By Oct they get it. By Jan they've changed so much you can not imagine them back in primary. By May they are the cocky Yr7 going into & 8 showing new students round.

Ours is a big city comp and that would be unlikely as the kids volunteering or chosen to do induction days wouldn't be nasty or badly behaved ones.
I'm going to be harsh here. Maybe they were just yr7/8 or even 9 who where just dicking about. There must have been teachers around.
If your DD is from a small nice primary where no one ever is mean etc and she was nervous it's possible she was phased by it. Teens are very different from primary kids

It’s completely normal in our catchment comp the kids are seemingly vile to each other as the default.

@Laserwho it may be an extra induction day for the children who aren't coming with a lot of people they know. Ours does that, for those and any children whom the primary thinks they may need extra support.

However OP, what actually was said. "Aw look at the little diddy babies" or similar she may have taken as being mean, but may have been more nostalgic/empathy if that makes sense. It may have been messing/joking which if she'd been at her own school she would have felt totally different about. The older ones seem so big, and they're out of their comfort zone so things can feel a lot worse than they're meant iyswim.

I'm just going back to not believing this happened. Where would they put a whole year group of kids with no spare classrooms or free teachers? After exams which is when schools normally do induction is only possible because year 11 have left, there's a year supply of empty classrooms and teachers. If it did happen I would query why they gave priority over exam years.

I would be very concerned and be really put off. If the school can’t control student’s behaviour on the induction days, it is indicative of big behavioural problems existing in the school.
I am so sorry. This would be so worrying for you and so disappointing for your child. Please do look at other local schools in the area.

Are you sure this happened? It's two weeks untill GCSE, no school in their right mind would do induction days at this point in the year

Induction days round here all happen after the exams are over with, so all the Y11s (and 13s if there is a 6th form) are all out of the way.
Makes the school much quieter!

My kids are at a big comprehensive, not a particularly sought after one, though we are happy with it. This is really not acceptable or normal ime