I've put this in Secondary as well, but thought I'd try this page too.
DS (11 1/2 so far) seemed to have settled reasonably well into Year 7, despite being in a newly established school while all his friends got places (thanks to Siblings) at the next along school.
He seemed to be doing OK but the last couple of weeks was doing badly in tests despite knowing the work at home. We ask the usual, is everything OK, are you OK, etc. Not a big talker at the best of times but says all is fine. But does mention his height a bit .. He is short, much shorter than some of his friends at the moment but other than that he seemed OK. We talked about how people get taller, Daddy is very tall, etc.
He is on the Senco's books as he had glue ear and speech issues in Reception and so his primary kept him on their Senco books all through school.
This week it all comes to a head and I get a phone call on Wednesday to say he'd
been in a 'scuffle' in the playground when he'd tried to grab someone by the throat. Surprised is the understatement, generally he's a rule follower but he can have a trigger temper when pushed.
After talking with the teachers he eventually tells them a bunch of kids have been following him around the playground (he's not managed to make a mate yet so is often on his own) calling him 'tiny', 'short' and 'gay' and Wednesday he snapped. Clearly it's bad, it's absolutely not acceptable by us (or school) and he's on a detention tonight. We finally manage to get out of him that it's been going on 'more than a few days, less than a few weeks'. We have a meeting in the books with school for Monday to talk about it all.
Today I get a notice on the school app that he has another detention next Wednesday for 'defiance in Science' (his favourite subject).
Clearly something is going on, how do I get a reluctant 11 year old to talk?
He's nowhere near puberty and in fact we have an apt before Christmas with a Urologist Consultant to check his testes are in the right place. We were so relieved he seemed to be have settled in OK, how do I do it language wise to try and encourage the least chatty kid ever to let us help him?