Year 7 support 2026

So far so good after 3 days apart from beef with yr11 boys at lunchtime 😱 but as I've said to everybody, ask me again in 2 weeks and at half-term.
Dd2 started Weds with only 2 others from primary who she wasn't really friends with.
She has autism and trouble with social skills/friendships which tend to be intense and small in number so have chosen to send her to a different school to her sister. I hope she will thrive. She says she likes lessons.
Fingers and toes crossed.

Hope your DS finds his feet a bit more next week. I was surprised how long it took my dd1 to settle properly when she was in yr7.

My daughter started this week too. She has been happy and positive about it but it's clearly stressful. I've had to buy her stronger deodorant this weekend as she has come home smelling of sweat which is really unlike her, I think it is just the stress?! Quite strange and she's conscious of it so hope that improves. She is also absolutely exhausted and hasn't wanted to do anything this weekend so we've just left her be!
It's a huge transition, isn't it. Fingers crossed they all settle soon!

Good luck for you son for Monday! Hopefully he will have a great day. Hope all the other year 7s settling in - my daughter has been so tired after a two day week. Who knows how she’ll manage a full week next week.

My son doesn't start til Monday and is the only one going to his secondary. I'm so nervous about him feeling alone!

I watched him walk off and he looked so small.
He looked so lost as he was swimming in his gigantic blazer this morning.

I used to catch a bus which picked up quite a lot of schoolchildren on their way home. At the beginning of term you could spot all the shiny new little Yr 7s in their new blazers and backpacks nearly as big as they were. Then by Christmas you couldn't pick them out at all; they looked just the same as all the rest.

DD1 just started here. She is at an academy school about 30 mins' walk from home so almost 1h walk a day!

She seemed to get on well, has met a couple of nice girls and been put in top set groups. They use an app called ePraise to record house points/ demerits, and she has had 7 points so appears not to be trashing the place, yet.

Tired though!

So far so good here apart from some blisters due to new shoes and having to walk loads more than at Primary (which was a 3 minutes walk from our house)

DS said to me "I think you are more worried about me making friends than me" which is true and I'm glad he isn't worried!

So far he has only had a couple of lessons each day thanks to extended tutor time/assembly/enrichment fair and he is already tired. A full week of lessons next week is going to become a marathon!

It’s a big step for a lot of them - especially if they haven’t gone with loads of friends.
It’s awful isn’t it wondering how they get on. I’m trying not to ask too many questions and check
they are ok 500 times!! Fingers crossed for a good day for them all!!

@Knickerbockerglory75 my son has also just moved from state to independent with no friends or acquaintances at his new school. He was a ball of anxiety this morning. I'm going to pick him up and am crossing all the fingers that his first day has gone well. He looked so lost as he was swimming in his gigantic blazer this morning.

My DS has just started at an independent school. All his primary friends are going to our local comprehensive. They had an overnight camp Weds and Thurs which he enjoyed but we had a few tears before he went. Today is his first day in class and he had to take a big breath before he got out of the car. I watched him walk off and he looked so small. He seemed to have made some friends at the camp so hopefully today will go well. They have compulsory school lunches so I know he will be eating with his classmates.

I hope your son is ok and everything settles down. It is hard going from a small primary to large secondary but sure all the friendship groups will move around during the first few weeks. There will be clubs and activities to also join in with.
My daughter is one of the younger ones and struggles a bit with change so not sure how she’ll get on with all the different classes and things to remember as well making friends. she only has a 20 min walk home so that’s something.

Fingers crossed all the year 7s and they have a good few days!!

Thanks for starting this thread. It can be such an overwhelming time for the kids. A big step from primary school.
Fingers crossed they all get on ok over the coming days.
My second has gone off to secondary school this morning. We’ve moved house and so she’s only gone with a couple from her primary school - none of her close friends so I hope she settles in ok.
I think it’s worse than them starting primary!!!

We're in a similar situation youngest child/city state comp/only one of 2 from his primary school but they are in different forms.

He went in with a massive smile on his face but already complaining his shoes hurt! Biggest challenge for him today is getting the train home by himself.

Mine had very little to say about actual school, but had football trials and did not shut up about those - he’s not gone to the local school but has a few friends who are there too. But no tears, no tellings off and ate a ton at dinner so I’ll take it as a success - I suspect he’s going to be dead on his feet by half term.

It’s a huge change, a lot of new stuff being thrown at them - friends will happen soon enough.