What do you wish you’d been told when your DC started secondary?

[NotExactlyHappyToHelp]

DS trotted off to his first day of year 7 today and I’m a big ball of nerves thinking there’s something we’ve forgotten to send him with or something we haven’t done. I can’t wait to go fetch him. It’s like the first day of primary all over again.

Is there anything you wish you’d have known when your DC made the move up? It’s so hands off compared to primary I feel a bit useless.

Oh absolutely @AbsenceOfBlinkinLight, not really fair to expect them to cope on public transport by themselves to get to school, if they have never had to do it before

Sorry one more - am rather passionate about year 7s!

Laptop/desktop knowledge seems really variable. Most children now can use an iPad etc but I'm always amazed that Y7s find it really hard to do basic computer functions like use Word, save a document, type a web address in the address bar, reset a forgotten password, type an email with correct punctuation to a teacher etc.

So some digital learning is helpful and showing how to organise digital files. Don't name your document historyhwk.docx

They will do IT lessons of course but a fair bit of that of that will be coding, naming hardware etc rather than generic digital fluency.

Be prepared for a change in them, my lovely 13 yo with loads of empathy and not a bad bone in his body, took on a new "persona" in Y7 and it took a while for him to become himself again! Started hanging out with not very nice kids and tried to let on that he was a bit "hard". Took a while as said and he now in Y9 has a more established nicer friend group after he realised that the others were not very nice

Some great advice here. A less serious one I'll add is: encourage kids to clarify any homework they're not sure on and to find out things like 'how big should the poster be?'.

My DD spent one half-term making what I thought was a normal poster on a big sheet of paper, turned out they meant a piece of A4 & pretty much everyone else did that so it was little awkward for her walking in on their first day back... (I wonder if they'll be doing fewer of those now).

For those of you that do have Y7s using WhatsApp, help them set it up so they can't be added to random groups. They won't be excluded from the group as a result but will be sent an invitation to join instead. It helps DCs retain control of how many/which groups they're in. DD1 has found WhatsApp much better at secondary than it was in Y6. She's entering Y11 now and the form still use it productively and positively, to ask for notes if someone has missed a lesson, to check if maths books had been handed in etc.

Another couple of tips rather than wishes:

1. Write your mobile number on the inside of the school/PE bag, back of the bus pass and anything that might be left at a bus stop or on a bus. That way, it's more likely it will get back to you.
2. For doorkeys and instrument cases get dog tags/discs made up with DC's initial, last name and your mobile number e.g. A.Smith 07845 123 456
3. Have a duplicate set of stationery at home so the school pencil case can stay in the school bag - this reduces the risk of it being left behind because it was being used for homework.