Anyone with a year 7 starting today?

[seeker]

I feel like a cat on hot bricks- can't wait for 3.30!

my ds is starting tomorrow - I feel excited/tearful/anxious about it and ma desperately trying to appear unphased. He seems quite relaxed though .

unfazed? unfased? Clearly the stress is getting to me

DD2 starts tomorrow. She's very enthusiastic, but we still had the drama of the missing trousers tonight, that took about an hour to resolve (bottom of dd1's drawer). (followed by dd1's lost PE kit, also taking ages to resolve. it was exactly where I'd put it, washed and ready, in July). I feel quite exhausted and they haven't even started school yet.

He was fine. Setted for maths and science already-English and MFL tomorrow. Double games tomorrow- which he is incandescent with excitement about-marred only slightly by not having the proper games kit- it is imported from Italy, apparently, so half the year 7s haven't got it yet! Oh, and cheese and bacon subs and Ien Bru for lunch. As we had an Indian takeaway for dinner, the healthy eating message seems to have been lost along the way.........

He got Irn Bru to drink for lunch?!

Even Scottish school kids don't get that! At ds' Glasgow (state) school, the S1s are not allowed at lunch (to "help generate a sense of community") so they either have to bring packed lunches or buy school lunches at the Fuel Zone - no added sugar or salt and definitely no fizzy drinks dispensers!

DS1 started today. He knows absolutely no-one at all at the school He said it went ok but was a bit upset that they had not been allowed to use the bunsen burners

Had lunch on his own as the other boys didn't bother with any (they just had chocolate bars and went off to play footie together) Doesn't seem that bothered though and insists he had a lovely carvery lunch.

Yikes.

I know- he was most impressed. It wasn't "proper" Irn Bru, though- it was some generic version!

Oh, and he was disappointed about no bunsen burners too!

Mine adores sport as well Seeker! His joy at being 'encouraged' to get covered in mud in Rugby just knows no bounds.

I have packed him up some chocolate bars for tomorrow! he can have a healthy breakfast and tea when he comes home, for the next couple of weeks I just want him to make friends.

My ds is lucky- of the 160 ish year 7s, 48 are from his primary school!

I remember when dd went off with only 2 people she knew- one of whom had bullied her for two years. It was very hard- but she settled in well by half term. Hold your nerve!

Thanks! This too will pass

He really likes his form tutor and is looking forward to dropping a "gluten free egg" out of the window tomorrow (God only knows what they are up to?)

This was not my DD's bus, but one going to another of the feeder vilages. The older pupils were all discussing it on FB so his name is known locally ... DD says she sat with him in maths .

Lots of unmumsnetty vibes and hugs to his family and wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

Going in for Day 3 today. So far, so good.

They had precisely 1 1/2 hours of Y7 only on day one before the rest of the school (1400 in all) arrived.

I am not concerned about these first few weeks where everyone will be looking out for the new Y7s- it's 6 weeks down the line when 85% of them have found their feet (and new mates) but DS2 will still have no clue where S3 or H5 are; he will have been overshadowed friendship-wise by stronger personalities; he will be struggling with the work as his reading comprehension is not high and his ability to express himself on paper pretty much Y4. So we are 'enjoying' the honeymoon.

Dd has gone off with a stomach ache today - don't think she's anxious about anything, it's not her period (or shouldn't be), she doesn't feel sick or need a poo (!), and did want to go.... I'm so going to get a phone call this morning, aren't I?

DS had his full first day with proper lessons yesterday (Yr 7 only for the morning on Tue, to learn to use lunch cards, find their way around etc). All well and happy - very excited about the luch choices - all the boys in his little group had scoffed cheeseburgers and pizzas at morning break, and then a full 'meal deal' at lunch - parents now madly applying the daily cap on expenditure .

Maths homework (top stream) was to draw margins on every page in excercise book.

Buttons already off blazer.

Gazza - how did the travelling go? This is the school that was your second choice, yes? Good luck!

Glad your DS is enjoying it all Seeker - LOL at the IrnBru. DS chose what he thought was a cup of Ribena in the canteen yesterday and it turned out to be jelly, which he hates.

Oh, EcoLady, how shocking.
That exactly demonstrates why we all feel so wobbly seeing them go off on these secondary school journeys. Poor poor boy and his family. Fingers crossed for him.

Yes, very sad story above.

My dd found Maths a bit much yesterday - she said she temporarily forgot how to do division - 6 weeks holiday on top of 6 post-SATS weeks of basically mucking about have obviously wiped her brain for a bit! They also played the numbers game from Countdown, which she finds alarming enough when it's on the TV!

Ds was a bit shocked by the rapid fire times tables test in maths- including 12 times..........

DS2 is reeling from homework (ie more than two bits a week), finding his way around and remembering everything. Loves science ('real science, not just general knowledge'), enjoying Latin and has also mysteriously forgotten how to do simple division and add decimals. Jury out on rugby. I'm driving him at the moment as his Oyster card hasn't arrived (only turned 11 last week) and anyway he is my PLB and in 3 years' time he won't be seen anywhere near me.

Not a y7, but a y8 at a new school. He wouldn't admit it but he was mildly scared witless. Mostly terrified of getting everything wrong, especially socially.

I walked him to train station when he admitted he had taken out the pens I put in his blazer and replaced them with... a single pencil. I groaned.

There are hints of envy from other parents; DS got into the school that is supposed to be impossible for kids from our town to get into. Pretty silly, it's not like I stopped anyone else from applying & they still have spaces in y7 & y8.

Still better than DS3 who was starting reception today & refused to have a bite of breakfast. I had to raid DD's lunchbox when DS3 suddenly decided he was hungry after all.

I did get a phone call yesterday my ds had stomach ache could I collect him. Had a chat last night and it appears the toilets are the problem - as in he didn't go for three days he has been there. Firstly because they are so dirty and secondly he has been told older boys burst in when you are in there (not sure how true that is)! But its real enough to him. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hi Blu (waves!)

Thanks for asking and remembering! It was DS's second choice, but probably our first one (for proximity and just general vibes) and really as soon as he was offered a place there he decided it was the school he wanted to go to...Somehow just think it is the right fit for him!

Travelling seems okay at the moment for DS (and he's now on his third journey alone) although we've discovered that one of the schoools en route hasn't started back yet so the buses are probably unusually devoid of school children this week... Next week will be an entirely different story methinks!

Journey times seem to be 45 minutes door to door there and more like an hour coming home...

Slipper speak to the school, I think. If the toilets are putting students off, that's a real problem and they need to a) clean them and b) supervise! Poor lad.

Thanks theoriginal. I was surprised they were not supervised. I was a Prefect at school and one of our tasks was 'toilet duty', where we sat in the loos throughout lunch etc to check they were in an acceptable state and no bullying was going on. The school ds is attending has a great reputation so I am rather disappointed by this.

Perhaps they just aren't on-task yet with breaktime duty, and maybe it will get better - but (and this from someone who usually counsels against running to school to complain!) I do think it is worth raising. Is there a VLE where you can leave a message for Head of Year or something?

Slipper definitely talk to the school, some toilets are very cloistered away and perfect for mischief by design. At our school they were the base of all the bullying gangs and I went through 5 years at school not having a drink all day and big headaches so I didn't have to go for a wee if I could help it at all!!!

Th cleanliness should be solvable reasonably easily.

In the meantime, as an interim measure, you could suggest he asks to go to the loo during a class time, so he is going when the rest of the kids are having lessons and therefore not likely for big lads to burst in, whether it is true or not, it is a strategy to overcome his fear until he sees how the land is really laid.