DS 11, messing around in class, any tips/advice

[Soapay]

He was vaguely chatty in primary

I’ve been called twice this half term to say he’s reached his three warnings and been removed to another classroom. He seems to be chatting/calling out/turning around and generally being distracting

He swears blind “I only said....” etc etc.

I’d like to nip in the bud now before it escalates, is this usual year 7 bolshy behaviour? Anything we can reinforce at home?

Take away mobile, games console, internet, TV until he gets a better report.

Ha ha, no this is not usual behaviour at all. Most dc on starting a new school don't start off by 'chatting/calling out/turning around and generally being distracting' - and I wouldn't believe what your dc says. It's never him, it's always other people? Ha.

Take away phone, ground him- whatever will have the most impact - until he can behave better. He's disrupting lessons for everyone else -how rude and selfish.

I would approach this differently to pps tbh. IMVHE, that sort of low level, ongoing disruptive behaviour stems from anxiety. The child doesn't even 'know' that they're feeling anxious, or what about but that's why they're doing it.

The transition into Y7 is huge. Lots to be anxious about - friendships, work, homework, bigger kids, travelling to and from school etc.

I would try to get him to open up as much as possible about his experiences and views about school and go from there. Ask him to describe what happened in his own words and interject with things like 'did that make you feel anxious?', 'I wonder if you were worried about that?'

Punishing him by taking away devices etc is a sure way to increase his anxiety as well as make him feel misunderstood and criticised.

I was a bit ‘over confident’ when starting yr7 it actually stemmed from lack of confidence, I thought bantering and joking with teachers and commenting out loud work endear me to the teachers, make me look cool in front of my peers when really I was just coming across as an annoying knob. I cringe looking back now.
Support the school in any sanctions they give, talk to him about what’s causing his behaviour and let him know you’ll be backing the school if there’s a repeat. Hopefully he’ll find his feet and settle down.

No, it’s not normal Y7 behaviour to be so disruptive in class that you get sent out. 3 warnings is quite a lot to ignore.

Was it the same subject both times? Could the seating plan be amended so that he’s not near his mates?

You could ask the school to put him on a report card for a week for all his lessons to see if this can reset him back into good behaviour.