Oh! Oh! My firstborn starts secondary school in September. Surely that warrants a support thread?

re: warning signs - well, underneath the excitement she's been tired and horribly mardy all week, but I had just put that down to the stress of a new routine...

We had a Pogo pack - which I'd read about on Mumsnet! - so that saved the day, lots of pads to choose from & a handy bag.

Lucky she started at home though, it wouldn't have occurred to me to suggest she carried pads just in case she started...

I said there would be disposal bins in the toilets & had she seen them - at which point she said she hadn't used the loos at school yet she's been there nearly a week .

(Think she never used the loos at Primary if she could help it, as they had no locks & the boys would burst in all the time - but new school is supposedly much better so hope she gets over her loo-phobia...)

We made it to school on time today, he managed an extra 10 mins in bed aswell.
Girls are excused from showers if they are on their period Miso, they have to tell the teachers though. I remember girls being on a permanent period, the gym teacher twigged and asked them to tell their mums to take them to the doctors

I hope all of yours are having a great day.

Right, that's tonight's job then. She will be horrified

Oh miso, poor DD.

I was just worrying about that very thing happening to DD - do you think I should give her some pads for her bag just incase? Were there any warning signs? DD is developing, has started growing hairs and got her first teenager spot on her first day! Do you think it's likely to be soon?

Quoted: "And it's her first Games lesson tomorrow, which brings back all sorts of toe-curling memories from my own school days ."

DD asked innocently - "but why does it say to bring a towel for P.E.? - we're not going swimming are we?" (I did enlighten her, I'm not that evil)

Oh and she started her first ever period last night, with P.E. today... great timing.

And in all this morning's kerfuffle, I forgot to say "Look, you can actually tell your P.E. teacher, they are used to this"

My DD started yesterday. Went there and back on the bus without getting lost. Her tutor walked her to her bus after school, which I thought was lovely. Gone off happy this morning - thank goodness.

belle, sorry to hear your boy had a tricky lunchtime. I hope it gets better tomorrow.

DS1 came back fairly chilled and happy, he is fortunate that he knows lots of people at the school already. He was a bit miffed about lunchtime though - they only had 20 mins today, because they wanted to keep the Y7s aways from all the older kids. But he had to queue so long for his lunch, he only had 5 mins to eat it and all his mates had shovelled in their sarnies and left him! He gamely sat next to some people he didn't know and introduced himself (bless!).

So a big round phew from me so far...

Trefusis, if I was her, I would definitely miss the bus to get a nice smoothie

I've told him to give it time and to join some clubs so he can meet some boys who like the same things as he does. I don't like the thought of him wondering about all by himself though.

There's loads of clubs, they don't start yet though.

Oh belle Are there any lunchtime clubs he could join - maybe he would meet more like-minded boys there?

He's not exactly giving off the "come and be my friend" vibes if you know what I mean. He loves the teachers, loves the school, loves his old friends at his old school. He keeps saying that the new children are um.. well.. all "init ya" and they all know each other from the taster day I think he needs to give them a chance.

Oh Belle - try not to worry (easier said than done, I know!). Ds said he spent all of breaktime yesterday "wandering about on his own". But today he sat with 3 friends (as he puts it - he doesn't even know the name of one of them!) at lunch-time.

12 pieces

No homework for the first 2 weeks. Ds has said he spent all the break and all lunch time sitting by himself

trefusis, that does show that she is resourceful. But did you have to go and get her?!

kid, DD has bought sandwiches twice so far this week. She is going to have packed lunches next week!

DD has had 12 pieces of homework so far this week

Dd has 2 pieces of homework to
complete. I wonder when she would do them if I didn't nag encourage her?

Dd doesn't have a locker so had to carry her pe kit around all day. I let her be school dinners today so she didn't have to carry her packed lunch too. She decided to buy a sandwich for lunch! No different from a packed lunch, well just the cost of it!

though have heard there are roadworks so school bus will perhaps be late. God I hope they got there on time this morning, although he won't have been the only one if they were late...

I am making notes on homework etc. I'm going to photocopy the timetable the minute he gets in, and we're all primed and ready to do homework each afternoon... I expect he will find it quite unfair that his little brother has NO homework...

trefusis, DD is carrying all her PE kit around with her everyday, despite having a locker!

belle, DD's friend was actually sick on the bus on the way to school yesterday, poor thing. Apparently it was very crowded and a bumpy ride....