Honest 'good and bad' about secondary schools please.

[catnipkitty]

What do you or your DC find to be good and bad things about their high schools? What do they enjoy/dislike? DD1 will be going next year and we need to prepare ourselves and her for it. She's worrying about PE and resenting in front of the whole class. Also break times...bullying....

Thank you

Mine found the following things challenging:

The lunch queues. There is a queue to even get into the canteen, then another queue once you're in. Both my older two have started buying a sandwich or panini at morning break, then just having a snack (brought from home) at lunchtime.

The weight of stuff to carry. There are textbooks for nearly every subject. Plus games kit or PE kit. Plus a musical instrument. Plus food tech ingredients.

The level of self-organisation required. Thankfully their primary was v.good at preparing them for this, but for the first few weeks it can seem a bit complicated.

Good things:

Less bullying than primary school.

Subject matter more interesting and taught by specialists.

More opportunities for orchestras, clubs etc.

More choice and freedom in how you present your work and how you spend your lunchtimes. Fewer petty rules than primary school.

A bigger group of potential friends.

Self organisation is a big one here too. They go from being told this and that to being told go find out about this and that. They get a timetable and a planner - make sure they get to know them and use them religiously.

Homework tends to have some different rules attached to it than at primary - make sure you know them - e.g.

if you miss homework because you didn't write it down, it is YOUR fault - no one else's

if you miss homework because you were off sick and did not catch up through classmates it is still your fault - you need to be prepared for the next lesson - even if you were not at the last one .

Make sure you (as a parent) know the detention process - at ours detention can be given at any time - for any infraction - they will not necessarily let parents know that detention is being given - the first you hear can be that they need picking up at 4pm on Friday because they have had 30min detention and therefore missed the only bus.

(somewhat inconvenient when I don't drive, can't afford a taxi and school is 6 miles away - but hey-ho, detention is supposed to "hurt", and it has only happened once - so I guess it worked)

there are many more choices and freedoms given which often they are not prepared for - even little things can phase them at first - DD wanted to go to film club on a Friday - but it clashed with junior choir - she had to choose. caused much angst and "why can't they do them on different days?" etc - they need to learn to choose because life is like that....

The fortnightly timetable! Adds a whole new level of chaos to 'Have I packed the right books for today?'

Bullying is not an issue,schools are experts at "nipping in in the bud".
The length of the school day,including travelling,increased by two hours for my son,hence one pretty exhausted boy.
NEW friends,and a better social life,are two things my son constantly talks about.

For my DC (I'm on my 3rd)- they all much prefer secondary. Much more rigorous clamping down on bullying. Changing lessons and teachers every hour - means a bad streak doesn't have to last all day. Also you don't get stuck on the same boring task all day. Making new friends. Lotso f new things to try.

Lunch queues are long!
Toilets can be a bit grotty.

PE not as bad as expected. The cliques who did all the teams at Primary are broken up and there is more chance for everyone.

Thank you! Really helpful replies :)

Hi catnippy -

agree with a lot of what many are writing but would add:

DD1 (Y7) loves new types of classes (music/ food preparation/ science) & likes having different teachers for different subjects and clearly having teachers who are 'into' their subject.

DD1 is sporty so likes PE anyway - but she says that it's a lot of fun - includes things like dancing and cheerleading (well drill team type stuff) - it isn't all running & football. She says that they'll be doing things like archery, bollywood dancing, ping pong and badminton during the winter months. The PE teacher is stressing its about learning about different sports/ teamwork/ having a go at a challenge - she's not trying to make Olympic athletes out of them.

Break times/ lunch times - DD1 has discovered that she can drift to the library and browse fiction books or quietly chat with friends about Dr. Who, etc... Better than freezing outside - she's also learned she can get a head start on homework during these times.

HTH

The best thing about secondary school PE as far as dd is concerned is that girls are separated from boys.
They have different changing areas, female teachers and a much better range of sports.

I agree with much of what mummytime wrote, especially about bullying. secondary schools don't seem to need parental permission to name a behaviour as bullying.

DS is much happier at Secondary than he ever was at Primary - much wider circle of people to mix with.

He has a lot of fun, as does my other one, who always liked school.

I'd add drama and food tech to the list of new enjoyable lessons

Also, not having to go outside during break/ lunch

Bad things :

Noisy backchatty pupils in some lessons
The lunch queue

Here's a thread from a couple of years ago. I'm pleased to confirm that reassurances re PE were absolutely spot on :)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1493471-How-good-are-secondary-schools-with-children-who-arent-great-at-PE

My DS prefers secondary too, he likes having lots of different lessons, and loves NOT having the boring project work his primary spent a lot of time doing. He loves the school dinners, I think he is lucky, the food is excellent.

He is sporty and loves that there is so much more to challenge him in PE, he hated boring primary PE but this week there has been a whole of year cross country race that he loved.

He likes his tutor group too and has found it easier to make new friends than he thought, most of his friends are from the tutor group, there seems to be a real effort made by the school to settle the yr 7s in.

Another thing he loves is coming home by himself, having his own key and getting to do what he wants for an hour or two before I bring younger DD home. He is watching telly, but is also getting on with homework without me having to nag.

And clearer rules at secondary but more freedom. He hated having to wear a coat at break time at primary, now no one cares what he does.

Good things:
Surprisingly, she now enjoys PE. Much bigger range of sports on offer. She's not a great ball-game player but is very fit and active and feels that the secondary school PE teachers are interested in her than the primary ones, who were only interested in the best football players!

Loads of extracurricular clubs, school trips etc.

New subjects, proper facilities (science labs, food tech, music studio), interesting homework.

Wearing a blazer (she likes pockets )

Bad things:

Sometimes way too much interesting homework!

Carrying loads of stuff.

Annoying pre-pubescent girls who are only interested in fashion and netball (aka DD1's old friends, who she is now - in year 8 - trying quite hard to shake off because she finds the constant talk of hairstyles tedious)