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Secondary education

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

Original poster

Year 7 Starters

578 replies

pippistrelle · 30/08/2015 14:18

The new uniform is all ready, pens and pencils bought, as many of the practicalities that I can deal with now have been dealt with. So, just a few days to go. Daughter is getting nervous and, to be completely frank, I am a bit too. Not because I don't think she'll be fine but because, well, change can be daunting.

Anyone else at that stage too? Or, if you're already past this phase, how long did it take until you all settled in to a new routine?

(Couldn't spot any other general Year 7 threads, but apologies if there are any others already.)

OP posts:
Minispringroll · 20/09/2015 15:22

Iguana I used to teach at a middle school,..so Year 6 still seem quite little. Don't get me started on Reception. Grin The "small stuff" drives me slightly round the bend. (I have many a time thought "I honestly don't give a shit", when asked which colour pen to use or whether to rub something out or whether it's really bad that the page in the Maths book isn't folded in half.) I find the obsession with these little things to be a rather odd and restrictive feature of schools in this country. I've just moved to a new school, where there's so much "small stuff", I wonder how the kids keep track. I'm certainly not. Hmm I'm used to my Year 6s being allowed to do a lot more by themselves, have more independence and adults having higher expectations of them,...together with a lot more trust. Confused My old class though I was strict,...but they also thought I was funny and cuddly and fair. Miss them. Just hope their Y7 teachers are nice to them. Grin

IguanaTail · 20/09/2015 15:23

Let's hope so. Some secondary teachers aren't great with year 7.

moosemama · 20/09/2015 15:49

(Just read back a little and must apologise for my 'there' 'their' mistake upthread. Blush)

The primary my boys went to and dd is still at is absolutely obsessed with 'the small stuff'. Ds1's teachers were constantly beside themselves because he would consistently forget to write the date or the WALT or if he had remembered, he hadn't managed to underline them in precisely the right way. Used to drive me batshit that they had time/energy to spend of that sort of nonsense, when no-one seemed to have any left for stopping him having seven shades beaten out of him in the playground by the same two boys on a regular basis, despite there being multiple witnesses. Angry

The one thing ds1's secondary school actually has going for it is that they really don't sweat the small stuff. They do seem mostly to get it that a lot of their intake is pretty quirky and making sure they're learning is far more important that what colour pen they use or how the page is laid out.

According to ds2, he has been lucky and all but two of his teachers seem lovely. We know quite a few older pupils at the school and they seem to be agreeing with him on this point. According to ds1's old best friend, the teacher that ds2 is most worried about is actually alright once things settle down, but is very much of the, start of hard and set the ground rules, style of teaching.

moosemama · 21/09/2015 09:29

Not the greatest start to the week. Ds2 is off sick.

Ds1 was off on Friday with a temperature, really sore throat and generally coldy/fluey.

Ds2 started with an upset stomach yesterday, then developed the temp and sore throat last night.

This morning he got himself up and dressed and had some calprofen for his throat. He was ready and waiting to go, but by the third dash to the toilet in less than half an hour it was obvious that school wasn't really an option. There's no way he could cope with being in lessons with an upset stomach like that.

He wanted to go, because he's worried about catching up, but actually, as one lesson today is PE, it's not as bad as it could have been - at least that's one lesson less than other days to have to catch up on.

var123 · 21/09/2015 10:36

Are they doing so much already that catching up is relevant?

At DS's school they are still working out what sets to put them in and each page of his workbooks just says things like "What is Geography"!

moosemama · 21/09/2015 10:48

They went into their sets for the first time on Friday, which I suspect means work is going to move up a notch this week.

I'm hoping he'll be better tomorrow, although it's not looking good at the moment, as he's still running off to the bathroom regularly.

Lilaclily · 21/09/2015 13:01

Oh no moose , hope he feels better soon xx

var123 · 21/09/2015 13:25

It may not be that much work this whole year. I have a child in year 9, so not exactly a universal knowledge of the school system but in my experience, there isn't much difference between year 6 and year 7 in terms of the amount of work they get.

In fact, if you add in homework, there's a lot less work in year 7.

I believed the hype when DS1 was going into year 7. I thought he'd be worked really hard, and he even gave up a couple of extra-curricular activities in anticipation. However, in the end, there wasn't that much to year 7 at all, especially the first term. (And year 8 was even less... but I have high expectations of year 9!)

shebird · 21/09/2015 14:59

DD seems to have quite a lot of homework already, some are longer tasks to complete by half term and some are weekly tasks. It's a task in itself to keep track of it all and to access the stuff to do on the school website. The teachers have scared them to death with threats of detentions for missed homework deadlines, forgetting books or PE kit or for not learning stuff. I can see the teachers point in coming down hard at the beginning but it all seems a bit harsh when they have to adjust to so much.

Lilaclily · 22/09/2015 07:04

I agree shebird
Ds is doing at least 20 minutes each night
He's terrified of forgetting anything & comes home everyday with a story of some poor kid whose been told off for forgetting something

TheSecondOfHerName · 22/09/2015 07:09

DD is being set three pieces of homework a day (sometimes four), which is OK if each only takes 30 minutes, but she wants to make each one into a masterpiece.

TheSecondOfHerName · 22/09/2015 07:11

She is getting more homework than her three siblings (Y7, Y9 and Y11, at a different school from her) put together.

kgov1 · 22/09/2015 07:41

Ditto, my DS has gone from 30 mins homework per week to over 5 hours per week. He too is in sets already and doing 'proper' work. He seems to be coping fine so far though which is a big relief.

WiryElevator · 22/09/2015 07:50

DS doesn't seem to have much homework. Last night he didn't have any Shock

Most nights it's 2 or 3 pieces, generally take 10-15 mins each. Two pieces only so far have taken longer.

Just as well as he's really taken to the rugby and training and matches take up a lot of time.

moosemama · 22/09/2015 08:15

Three to four pieces of homework a night here too, although some are pretty quick. It would help if his form wasn't the only one that hasn't been given a homework timetable yet. We're still getting used to the two-week timetable and what that means for planning homework.

Ds has gone back to school today. He's still not well at all, but was so worried about missing any more time I felt so sad for him stepping out into the rain this morning when he already has a stinky cold and feels generally rough, but he insisted.

Ds1, has just gone into Y9 and they've gone from hardly any homework at all in Y8 to suddenly tonnes, including prep work that they have to finish and hand in next morning. It's come as quite a shock to his system and we're getting lots of resistance and meltdowns, as it's always been possible for him to do his homework at weekends in the past, which makes this a major change to his routine.

shebird · 22/09/2015 09:03

Trying to get used to the increased homework is bad enough but trying to determine what needs to be done on the school website takes up as much time as the homework itself. I thought technology was supposed to make life easier or is it some sort of sadistic test the teachers set to see who is clever enough to find the homework Hmm

moosemama · 22/09/2015 09:37

shebird the first piece of homework ds was supposed to look up on the school website caused no end of stress for us across the first weekend. Turned out the teacher had forgotten to upload it. Hmm

shebird · 22/09/2015 15:02

If teachers are threatening kids with detentions for non completion of homework they should at least make sure the homework task is clear and easy to access. Let's hope all this becomes less stressfulGrin

var123 · 22/09/2015 16:54

Dentention for non-comletion of homework, talking in class, gazing out of the window, failing to keep to school rules (even the petty, dress code ones), poor time keeping, absent-minded / careless packing for school is all OK IMHO.

However, did I read right up-thread that kids are being threatened with detention if they don't understand what they are being taught?? That is definitely not acceptable!

shebird · 22/09/2015 18:07

I'm ok with all this too var123 especially to stamp out low level behaviour issues. I just think it's a bit harsh to threaten already nervous Y7s with detention for non completion of homework when the teachers don't put the stuff they need to do online.

moosemama · 22/09/2015 19:55

Meeting for MFL trip next summer this evening. Seems it's changed quite a bit since the problems we've heard about. They don't even go to the same part of France and to be honest it sounds fab.

Apparently it's usual for all but 20-ish of the Y7's go and the ones that stay behind attend school, where they try to find some fun things for them to do.

We need to put the deposit down very soon, so ds has to make up his mind pretty sharpish. Daftly, he's saying he doesn't want to go because he can't speak French . I've just been trying to explain to him that he will have had a year of lessons by then and they're not going to be dropping them all in the middle of rural France, on their own and expecting them to be able to fully converse with everyone. They will have French 'buddies' who help them speak in shops etc and all the MFL staff and form tutors go as well - not to mention he'll have his little gang of friends with him.

I've told him to talk it through with his friends, who I'm pretty sure will all be keen to go, tomorrow, have a think over the weekend and let us know next week.

I'm feeling echoes of his Y4 and Y6 residentials. He didn't want to go on either, but actually loved both. He's a bit of home body and not one for 'adventuring' really.

moosemama · 22/09/2015 20:00

Oh - and he coped ok at school today. If anything he seems better this evening than he was this morning.

Unfortunately, his tutor gave out the application forms for the two Minecraft clubs (late, should have been given out last week) while he was off yesterday and they had to be returned today. He said his tutor was run off her feet and too busy for questions today, so he's ended up not applying for either, which he's really disappointed about. I suggested it might have been an idea to write a note, to be given in with the applications, explaining that he didn't get a form because he was off sick, but would still like to apply and suggested he tries asking his tutor tomorrow if she can tell him who he needs to contact to ask if he can still apply. I doubt he will, but he needs to learn to use his initiative a bit more if he's not going to constantly miss out.

DontCallMeBaby · 22/09/2015 21:22

DD also has info about next year's MFL trip - just a letter, no meeting. Paris proper, Disneyland and Le Touquet (lunch on the beach). I want to go! Just 50 places, about a quarter of the year, but it's activities weeks so a fun week for those who don't go. First come first served, slips to the MFL office from next Monday - will it be a scrum?! She's very keen, but wonders if we can back out if none of her friends get a place - £95 non-refundable deposit so officially not. I've tasked her with gauging tomorrow how many of her friends still think they're going after giving their parents the letter (it was everyone today).

balletgirlmum · 22/09/2015 23:09

Ds went off on his year 7 team building trip on Monday & comes back tomorrow.
Meanwhile I had a message about a slight change to school play rehearsal schedule tomorrow after school (Ds is the only year 7 needed) but I emailed the music teacher who will make sure ds is told about it when the trip arrives back.
With regards to homework he's supposed to get 2x 20 min pieces each night increasing to 3 x after half term. All homework is explained in class but instead of writing it in their planners the teacher Puts it on the intranet.
I noticed the maths homework said attempt xyz questions which I thought was good.
Ds did get told off because his art mood board was supposed to be done on the computer not cut from magazine/fabric samples/colour sketches.

moosemama · 23/09/2015 09:46

Blimey Don'tCallMe only 50 places. 200 of ours go. Also have to put down a big deposit to secure the place though, which is obviously not great if you have a dc that's not 100% sure it's what they want to do.

balletgirlmum Hope he's enjoyed his trip. We have the opposite problem, ds1 does most things on the computer and struggles with Art because he's not allowed to for that.