Just thought this might help a few nervous souls waiting for their kids to start Big School (lol )
Firstly after they have done their SATS their is bugger all going on in school the kids get bored . Might be the time to schedule doctors and dentist appointments .
This year has totally flown by . Only a few months until summer holls . At first it was a bit daunting but seriously ,literally a few weeks in and it seemed to me that he had always been there .
Luckily for me my Ds is in a very nice (educationally and pastoral ) comp .
The homework thing is really not as bad as they make out ,certainly no worse than primary school . I have found it useful to say in reply to putting off homework that I didn't set the work so don't moan to me .
(LOL)
They HONESTLY do make new friends.They try new things in the canteen . They get a bit too big for their boots for a week or two and then they revert back to the charming little monsters that they are now .
So basically all the stuff I was worried about and dreading came to nothing . I promise it wont be as bad as you think it will .
Oh and as a side thought a lot of parents in my Ds last year at junior school seemed to think that as their child was going to secondary school that they had better let them have a bit of freedom and responsibility .
All well and good but may be a trip to the local shop on their own Not a day at a very large theme park on their own all day (no parents on site ) aged 10. or going to the next big town by train for eight hours and then picked up at the staion aged 10 . (can you tell I was shocked but personal choice . )
Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.
Secondary education
What i would have liked to know before my DC started yr 7
wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 04/05/2011 10:22
Well DD got a mountain of homework in the first term. However, it has lessened a bit, and she has got better at managing it all, thank God! Apparently they like to shock them into the importance of doing your homework
She only joined a couple of sports clubs after school because of the amount of homework, but I think that was wise. She mad loads of friends in lessons, etc anyway!
fox DD is a very late July birthday, but after a steep learning curve in the first 2 weeks, she was fine. Now it seems like she was always there!
Madsometimes mine is also in denial. I think i might be as well. She is tiny, about the size of an eight year old. Last time she went out on her own a woman thought she was lost and asked where her mummy was 
I was a bit worried about repeating alot of Y6, but DD hasn't repeated any work she did in Y6 (although obviously building on where she was in maths) - her school baseline assessed them at the start of the year and then moved on from where they were at (they stream them
) She has LOVED having specialist teaching and learning loads of new stuff.
voteAV, DD was also tiny and had refused to go anywhere much without a friend or one of us. Now she will happily get a bus / walk completely independently, and did from day 1. So I'm sure your DD will be fine too.
All schools say they are not allowed phones (DD's friends all went to the 4 corners of London
), but as long as they are turned off and hidden, no-one will be strip / bag searching for them. So don't panic!
If you are really worried about the bus, do a dry run to and from the school at the right times near the ned of the hols to sed your her mind at rest! and you could even go with her to the bus stop on the first day and see her onto the right bus!
My DD is in yr8 and has not become interested in make up or fashion, did not want to wear a bra even though she needed to 
I think one of the biggest problems with my DC were the friends.
The kids are going from being very big fish in a lake to small fry in a sea. Some children handle this by trying to get bigger and this often involves sitting on their old friends to make themselves feel bigger, which is what happened to DS.
Also although some children will naturally go off and find new friends and seem to forget their old ones who may end up feeling upset and hurt.
DC's school strongly recommends that the children join at least two clubs when they start and my DD made a lot of her new friends from the clubs as well as her form.
I am with Orm 
our DC's started together (not at the same school) but we had a thread running for about 18 months which was fabulous.
I just know that secondary school will be the making of DS2 - who is due to start in September. He is already too "big" now for primary especially being one of the older ones
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