Did your child settle in Year 8 after a difficult Year 7?

[Wingingitt]

My daughter is coming to the end of Year 7 and has really struggled this year with anxiety, overstimulation, overwhelm and becoming very self-conscious socially. She’s bright and kind but seems mentally exhausted a lot of the time and secondary school has felt like a huge adjustment for her.

She worries about friendships, fitting in, being judged, noise/crowds, homework, everything really. At home she often seems completely drained after school and sometimes quite emotionally overwhelmed.

I’m trying to work out what’s “normal” Year 7 transition/puberty stuff that settles with maturity and familiarity in Year 8, versus signs that she may need more support.

Did anyone else’s child struggle like this in Year 7 and then settle during Year 8? Or did you find it pointed towards anxiety/ADHD/something else? Any advice or reassurance appreciated.

Of the ones I know who struggled, yes, they all settled in Y8. The only one I can think of who didn’t also has an older sibling with similar issues and if I am completely honest, I think the problem is poor parenting rather than the children. They just need more support. But yes, Y8 was a million times easier than Y7.

Took mine until yr9 and finding a solid friendship group before she was remotely happy at school. Lockdown and time out of school helped enormously.
She is ND - not assessed until yr13.

DSD settled around halfway through yr8 (although she had some big issues in yr 7 too so possibly took longer due to this and we did infact move her school at the xmas in yr 8) once she settled in and found her circle things really settled. She's yr 10 now and really chilled, genuinely never thought it would happen at yr7 and the start of yr 8 for her was 100 times harder but she got there. We found setting firm boundaries and talking to be the way around it. Talking included telling her when she was wrong or overly sensitive etc.