Starting secondary school question

[PawsPaws]

Silly question, If you have a child going to secondary school and they don’t have any friends there apart from one is it possible to ask that they are in the same class or how does that work? my son is extremely shy and has selective mute and awaiting assessment for autism so it isn’t as easy as “he’ll make friends once he is there” / “find his tribe” he has only one friend in primary school and that’s taken till year 6 to make said friend thanks

I would email the school and ask the SENCO to contact you. I would request they're together as long as other child is happy.

Yes, ask for it right now before class lists are out. Mine knew what class they would be in in the July when they went for their transition day where they spend time with their new teacher and class.

Usually schools put on extra days for those children coming from non-feeder schools so that all those children can see they are not the only one and have some familiar faces from day one. They were taken off to play some games together and us parents were given a talk about the school. Check to see if the school does this.

In year 6 we were asked to nominate 1 friend they wanted in their class. Maybe check with current school if this happens. I can't remember in what month we did this so it could have been earlier in the year.

They weren’t asked this and I guess the list is already out as they have an early start day tomorrow? So maybe too late to ask?

Normally in year 7 the classes get mixed up a lot but worth seeing if the other child would like to be with your ds for a few subjects

It may well be if they've already done the classes, as switching his would require switching someone else (assuming school is full). I'd call today and ask. Different schools do this differently, DS's tried to split those from the same school as much as possible as it's a selective school with no catchment, so they get a lot of kids that are the only one from their school. Other's will group all from one school together (if not too many), or try to mix it up but make sure most people have someone they know.

Our new year 7s are having their taster day today so they now know their tutor and their class.
Unfortunately your request should have been done weeks ago as it takes a huge amount of time to do year 7 class lists and timetables - we have a cohort of 360 new starters.
However, its still worth an sending an email.

Yeah unfortunately I didn’t really think about it but now starting to worry.

The secondary may have asked the primary y6 teacher.

They haven’t asked anything

How do you know?
They may ask the teachers and not the pupils, because teachers know bad combinations.
See what happens on taster day, then contact if needed.

I’ve spoken to the school yesterday about my worries I’m sure they would have mentioned if it that was the case.

If you haven’t received a class list then it’s not too late yet - as even if they have allocated classes, parents haven’t been told so they could still swap some kids behind the scenes.

BUT if they have a welcome morning tomorrow then by tomorrow it will be too late. So you need to call up right now and make a fuss about it, don’t be reticent or polite. Call the SENCO and if you can’t speak to them ask to speak to the head of Year 7.

My daughter is starting s1 after the summer, whole new catchment area because we are moving house.
She knows one person in the area and the head of year is trying to accommodate them in the same class. Worth asking.

But does the other parent want them in the same class? You need to find that out first.

Yes this a friend of mine was the “other” parent and it turned out their child had had enough of being with the child who wanted to be in with them and wanted to branch out so opted not too be in class with them. It led to an upset child and an angry parent, unfortunately.

My son had a taster day in July when he was in yr 6. We all went to meet the tutor group teacher at a parent's evening too, so you got to see who else was going to be in your child's class ( for tutor time). By the start of yr 7 there had been some movement between tutor groups, so obviously some parents had complained and got their children moved. 🙄.

Classes in different subjects are definitely mixed around, they are definitely grouped by ability in English, Maths and Science and Sport, but mixed in other subjects.

Speak to his teacher.
At DS 's school they do transition notes for every child. These include academic and social needs. For example DS has issues with another boy bullying him and teacher proactively told me they'd request different classes.
So it should be that the secondary already know about your son.

Classes in different subjects are definitely mixed around, they are definitely grouped by ability in English, Maths and Science and Sport, but mixed in other subjects.

Different schools have different policies on this, there is no definitely .

I don’t have contact with his parent and they are year 6, I don’t have concerns there though as they are in the same class now so if they didn’t want them in there surely they would say personally I’d want my child to have a friend there

Wouldnt be angry at all but I have no reason to believe that’s the case and they’ve only been friends this year as son moved class in year 6 so not the case here

The other parent may have thought leave it for year 6 then have their son where he can make other friends in the new school. You just don't know.

Then they can request they are not in the same class and that’s fine if they have the school could tell me? Why would I just assume?

People on this post have already said schools tend the ask if there is anyone a child wants in their class so it’s not like it isnt a thing is it

The secondary may talk to the primary but the primary may not mention it to you as class requests are just that, requests. The secondary will have loads of demands and can't accommodate everything.

Demands:
. balance boy girl, balance academic spread, balance SEN / EHCPs, poor behaviour
. separate kids who have a bad history together

Existing friendships will be lower priority than the above.