Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

My PFB is starting secondary school in September

103 replies

redskybynight · 26/04/2015 14:54

As title says. PFB is going to secondary school in September. As transitions go,it "should" be straightforward - the school is 15 minutes walk away, half of the intake will be from his current primary and he already knows quite a few older children from scouts and a sports club he goes to, as well as plenty of children that used to go to his current school.

But of course I am still worrying :) What do you wish you/your DC had known before they started secondary? Is there anything I/he should be doing?

OP posts:
bigTillyMint · 26/04/2015 18:17

My DC's school used to have a free-for-all Parents Evening which sounds bad but always worked fine for us. They now have an online booking system, so I can book the slots myself, and try to stick to 5min slots - it also works well.

Sparklingbrook · 26/04/2015 18:18

Online booking system sounds like the way forward. Smile Free for all? I would give that a massive swerve.

TeenAndTween · 26/04/2015 19:16

Our school decided against online. They feared the organised parents would grab all the best slots, whereas with the pupils making the arrangements the teachers could ensure they prioritised/booked the parents they really wanted to see.

bigTillyMint · 26/04/2015 19:21

T&T, we get emails from certain teachers, telling us to make an appointment with themWink

The free-for-all sounds like a recipe for total disaster, but it did work for us - we never waited for more than 5 - 10mins to see the next teacher, and would be all done and dusted in an hour. Mind you, that was when it was just DD. It could have been a different matter for DS!

cece · 26/04/2015 21:44

It really is OK. I just take DD and we just go to the teacher that doesn't have a queue. It seems to work out OK.

Sparklingbrook · 26/04/2015 21:46

Ooh that would not go down well in these parts cece with teachers or other parents. Sad Like a parents evening fast pass.

PUGaLUGS · 26/04/2015 21:57

Online booking system at DS2's school for the first time this year - worked a treat...but that's because I got the email straight away and got all the appts I wanted at the times I wanted. All in all took an hour and 10 mins to get round.

bigTillyMint · 27/04/2015 07:17

cece, that's how it used to work at the DC's school!

TheFirstOfHerName · 27/04/2015 07:36

Keep out-of-school commitments to a minimum in the first half-term: mine were exhausted.

Make sure they have access to a reliable workhorse of a printer and an inexpensive source of printer cartridges.

If they are slow typists, get them to practise over the summer.

Photocopy the timetable and keep it in a safe place, so if when they lose it, it's not the end of the world.

Label everything with full name.

Let them practise the journey to school (and back!) so there is one less thing to worry about.

Sparklingbrook · 27/04/2015 07:41

Buy a box to keep the books that they aren't taking to school that day in. Then they will be in the one place when they are looking for them. Attach the timetable to the lid.

DS2's school has 'Week A' and 'Week B' alternate weeks so lessons differ slightly week to week.

Ask what day they might be cooking things, and if you will need to buy ingredients.

Doublecovers · 27/04/2015 08:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Elibean · 27/04/2015 10:38

Very useful thread, thank you for starting it redsky - my PFB also starting in September, but will know no one from her primary at all. I think it worries me more than her tbh Wink

Queenofknickers · 27/04/2015 10:51

Elibean - me too! My pfb is only boy from his school and he has a stammer - I'm worried

LittleIda · 27/04/2015 11:55

Another worrier here. My thinking is that hopefully my dd will settle in happily and none of my fears will be realised, but that if the worst comes to the worst I will do my best to work with the school to resolve problems and if she still isn't happy she can change to a different school. Kind of helps to have a plan B and C.

Iwantacampervan · 27/04/2015 12:29

Often secondary schools have an extra settling in day for children who are coming in ones or twos from their primaries. They often then pair them up in classes so at least on the official visit and in September they know some others. At my eldest daughter's school they had the extra day for girls who were 3 or fewer - she was in a group of 4 from her primary (but they were all placed in the same form).

TwartFaceBeetj · 27/04/2015 13:52

At ds school they spilt the primarys up. About half from ds primary went to his school, and they put them in twos in each form.

This worked very well for ds. They met up with others from primary at lunch for the first couple of days. But it kind of forced them all to mix and make new friends.
Ds now has a large friendship base, made up from his form his sets and couple from primary.

I worried no end before he went, but he is a different boy now and more confident in himself, and the new friends he has made are a really nice group of boys and girls.

castlesintheair · 27/04/2015 16:08

The worriers amongst you please see my post from 26-Apr-15 16:44:07. And I say this as a parent of a pfb who had some SNs during primary school and knew no one at his secondary school (in fact a different country and a new language) Smile

Sparklingbrook · 27/04/2015 17:56

LittleIda DS1 went up to the local High School with everyone else and hated it from day one. He even hated the taster day in July. He suffered low level bullying and never settled in properly. It wasn't the school for him, so in the May we moved him to one where he was happier.

DS2 goes to the original school and loves it. They are both very different characters.

I now have two DSs at two different High Schools but they are both happy.It never crossed my mind that some schools aren't the right fit for some DC so a Plan B is not a bad idea at all.

itsveryyou · 27/04/2015 20:34

DS will be starting high school in Sept, though at this stage we're still not sure which one, as we're in process of moving back to our house from overseas and as such, we aren't a priority for a school place at this stage. The stress of not knowing which/if any school he will get a place currently outweighs any worries about him settling in to school.

We hope he'll be fine, we moved to US in 2012 and he went from UK primary school of 200 to one with 700 kids. Last August he moved up to middle school, with 1200 kids, so hopefully high school will not be too daunting! He's had to learn to be a lot more organized and self sufficient in terms of finishing work on time and submitting assignments...steep learning curve but good for him. We bought him a concertina folder to place unfinished work in, to help him keep track.

LittleIda · 27/04/2015 21:08

Thanks castles and sparkling.

Sparklingbrook · 27/04/2015 21:26

Hope my last post wasn't too scary. I was just trying to say that there can be alternatives and nothing is set in stone IYKWIM.

LittleIda · 27/04/2015 21:32

No it wasn't. It sounds like you did really well by your son to act as you did promptly. I'm glad he's happy now. Smile

Sparklingbrook · 27/04/2015 21:38

Thanks LittleIda. He is about to take his GCSEs now. Can't quite believe it.

paddyclampo · 29/04/2015 23:29

Mine goes in September too! He's going to a school where he knows just a handful of people (grammar school, some distance away) so I'm pretty nervous about it!

The only thing that's bothering me really is that he's not going with many people he knows - I guess there'll be plenty of others in the same boat, but still!

JiltedJohnsJulie · 01/05/2015 22:48

Can I join in too? My POB starts in Sept.