Year 7 Starters

[pippistrelle]

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.)

I am so cross with ds2. He told me he'd checked and there wasn't anything he needed to do to catch up from missing Monday. He also said all the homework was on the school's virtual learning site, except maths, but that the teacher had explained that and he knew what he had to do. (This was yesterday afternoon.)

This evening he tried to do his French homework and his logon for the external website they're using wouldn't work. Then he told me that during yesterday's lesson quite a few pupils said they couldn't log on, so the teacher took their names and said he'd sort it out. Ds said he didn't know his logon wouldn't work at that point, because he was away on Monday when the homework was set and he didn't think the teacher realised he'd been off sick.

Then he told me that he can't do the maths either, because he doesn't have the questions and thinks the class must have been given a worksheet when he wasn't there on Monday. So he hadn't been to speak to his teachers about catching up at all.

So, he hadn't been to speak to his teachers about catching up at all and he clearly didn't know what he was doing with his maths either.

He's being all sad faced and teary with me, because I got cross about it. We talked about the importance of him showing the initiative to go and speak to the teachers and actively catch up what he'd missed and he said he would, but then he clearly didn't bother. I doubt either teacher is going to be impressed that he didn't approach them about being off on Monday and that's if he manages to get hold of them, as he says he doesn't know how or where and there isn't any time.

If he doesn't get hold of his Maths teacher he will undoubtedly get a detention for not doing his homework, as it's due on Friday and he won't be able to do it. Unfortunately they were put into sets last Friday and he none of his close friendship group are in the same set, so we can't even text anyone to ask for the questions or where to find them.

To cap it all, we're busy all weekend and he's put off some homework that's due Monday and Tuesday, when he won't have time to do it over the weekend. He was fully aware of this at the beginning of the week and promised to get it all done on the nights it's set.

So after all that, he then looked at me and said "Can I have computer time now."

I give up. Perhaps he needs to be given a detention to wake him up.

I know he's tired and under the weather, but he has to do this himself. We can't email teachers like we can for ds1's school, so if he doesn't sort problems himself during the school day he's stuffed.

Moosemama to be fair to your son he couldn't have known the French log on wouldn't work so they will need to sort that out for him. I am sure there will be others who have left it until the last minute who will also have trouble logging on.

As for Maths, you're right, he should have asked the teacher but it is early days. Could he ask first thing and complete it in his lunch break? I think it would be a bit harsh personally to give him detention for not doing a worksheet he didn't receive but if they do, it won't be the end of the world and like you say might make him more proactive.

Feeling pissy right now as after two days of 'homework due tomorrow' as were told (until Xmas) DD has science homework due next Wednesday. And it's a honker of a homework as well, homework by Wikipedia. Plus she's being really non-committal about extra-curricular, I've been a bit snippy and she's accused us of forcing her to do clubs ... I've spent seven years running her all over the place while she refuses to give up anything (bar ballet, which we insisted she drop and she guilt-tripped me for a year.

I'm sulking in the kitchen until GBBO starts.

kgov1 I know he couldn't have known about the log-in issue, but it seems the teacher was and still is, unaware that ds was missing from class on Monday, which means ds didn't approach him for advice on catching up what he'd missed. That's what I was cross about, because he told me he'd checked and hadn't missed anything significant, but he hadn't actually checked at all.

Dh came home and pointed out that ds was probably too scared to approach the teachers - and he's probably right.

Anyway, we're friends again now and he's planning on teacher hunting at break and lunch in the hope of catching both of them. (He has a large post it note on his homework diary to remind him.) I suggested, if he can't locate either of them, he could perhaps ask at the office where's the best place to look and see if they might be kind enough to help him, because his tutor just keeps saying she's too busy to answer any questions. She seems a bit disorganised actually, eg all the other groups had their homework timetables within the first couple of days, but ds' group still don't have theirs.

I've just sat and gone through the whole of the school's website with a fine tooth comb, to try and find out if/how parents are supposed to contact teachers and tutors etc and when it would be acceptable/appropriate. It does say that any problems with class or homework can be directed straight to the relevant teacher, but it doesn't say how and there's no email list.

Someone has suggested sending a message to the main school email address with 'FAO Teacher's Name in the title line', but I think I'll see how he gets on on his own tomorrow first, as he does need to learn to tackle things himself.

DontCallMe ds has had lots of homework that's have been due in next day, then some that aren't due in for three weeks. He's finding the inconsistency of how long he has to do things really confusing.

Moose. Do children definitely get into trouble for not finding out about homework they missed due to sickness and meeting the deadline for it? I don't remember having to do that when I was off sick as a kid, but that was a long time ago.

I'm not 100% sure, but that's the impression we've been given by some of ds1's friends that have been at the school a couple of years. I think because he was only off for one day and saw most of the teachers for classes he'd missed in lessons the next day, they might be unimpressed that he didn't at least mention it - and if he had he'd have what he needed to complete the homework anyway.

We would have got into trouble for it at my secondary (back in the early '80s) and our school was/is very similar in reputation to ds2's.

That said, our school had a central staffroom, where pupils could go and ask to see their teacher if they needed to. Then if they weren't there they could leave a message to at least let them know they'd tried.

Amazingly good start to yr7 so far, but (need a moan)

ongoing meltdown tonite over DT homework. DS hates anything creative.

2 white shirts I bought, brand new in August, aren't fitting, don't suit his broad shoulders, think they're off to charity shop & I have to buy bigger size (argh).

DS seems to only have 2-3 pieces of homework a week. Thank goodness, I couldn't take any more!!

We had a parent information talk tonight
They're expected to be set three pieces a day each lasting 20 minutes so an hour a night
If it takes longer than an hour we can stop them & note in the diary it was taking longer than 20 minutes
All written work is meant to be written in rough first & spellings corrected
I'm more freaked out than ever !

Moose - don't worry he will get the hang of it. It can be quite hard to pin down teachers at secondary. We teach upwards of 200 kids and it's hard for y7 to catch up on missed stuff because they worry about how to get to the canteen at lunch and are busy trying to work out how to get to the next lesson. Just advise him to find the teacher before school to ask. It would have to be a fanatically well organised teacher to track who was missing, expect them to find them, have the worksheet to hand and chase it up afterwards. You're right to be "a bit cross" with your son because that sets the expectation for him. But now you've done that, let him run about sweating and sorting it. You sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that you have explained what to do.

On another occasion you could just look empathetic and say "oh noooo that could well mean a detention... I wonder how you're going to sort that one out...?" And leave the ball in his court. You don't need to email anyone. That makes it your problem not his. Remember that saying "not my circus, not my monkeys".

moosemama yes, the inconsistency is confusing - some people don't like it but I was delighted by the homework due next day thing, DD is disorganised and really needs a routine sorted. But no, undermined on the third day.

I was thinking on the way home how easy life is at the moment, no school run, work going fairly well, DD mature enough to be given a little independence but not mature enough to abuse it, and then BAM homework is ruining life again. I hate it. Especially the kind of thing she got today. Research task. Why don't I just do your job for you, Mr Science Teacher?

Good grief, I'm grumpy. I'm off to find pictures of puppies to look at.

dontcallmebaby
Yes I agree ! Thought things would get easier not harder !
One thing they said last night was by year 9 we won't need to help at all
Aarrgghh two years !

Seems like quite a bit of homework is Internet research based, never got the point of this really. This often looks like homework for the sake of it. Looks like they will all have GCSEs in Wikipedia

That's really quite poor she bird in my opinion.

A lot of my Childrens homework, did especially is completed at times/places when they don't have Internet access. Children shouldn't be disadvantaged in that way.

Iguana oh I totally understand why the teachers wont't have known he wasn't in on Monday, that's why I impressed on him how important it was for him to take responsibility for catching up.

He's gone off this morning with a plan of action for finding the teachers he needs to see either before school, if there's time (one of his friends is consistently arriving late to the meet up and holding the rest of them up) or failing that at break and lunch. He seemed ok with it and I'm hopeful he'll get it sorted. (Famous last words! )

I am mean and won't let my dcs use Wikipedia, other than to find interesting sources via the bottom of the page. I've told them that, like Horrible Histories, Wikipedia can be interesting and entertaining, but isn't always accurate and you never know when it's going to steer you wrong. [mean Mum emoticon]

balletgirl I was saying something similar to ds2 last night. Quite a bit of their work seems to involve downloading Word documents off the school's homework web. What about pupils that don't have access to Word or whose family only have one shared computer that they have to take turns on? They've been told they will simply have to do it at school, either at lunch or at homework club, which isn't exactly fair. That said, I have been trying to encourage ds to go to homework club, but he's very resistant. He just wants to get home and collapse at the end of the day so far. Some of his friends are going regularly though, so I'm hoping that might encourage him.

moose how did he get on ?

Thanks for asking Lilac.

His French is sorted and he's done that this evening. Unfortunately, it turned out his maths teacher doesn't work Thursdays and he didn't see anyone from his maths group all day, so he hasn't been able to sort that out.

So, he has said he will tell the teacher tomorrow that he sought him out as soon as he realised he didn't have the questions for the homework, but obviously couldn't get hold of him because he wasn't in, so couldn't do the homework. I have said I will write a note to back him up and it's up to him whether or not he wants to use it.

He seems quite happy with that, so we shall see what happens.

He says he's exhausted and desperate to get to the weekend now. Dh is taking both boys to EGX (massive international gaming expo) on Sunday (we usually try and think of something they can look forward to at he end of the first month back to school in September to give them something to look forward to). I'm a bit worried it will be too much for ds2 with all the walking, especially when he's already so tired, but he is ridiculously excited about it. I think I will have to have a chat with dh about making sure they have plenty of sit-down breaks.

Dh, ds1 and ds2 all have friends going, so it's a proper gamer-boys day out for them. Dd and I will be having a quiet day at home and hopefully doing some baking.

My DS is going to EGX on Sunday as well . Going with a couple of friends and parents of one of them - I just need to get him up early as its a way away from here.

DS seems to have very little homework. Has already managed to lose his locker key without putting anything in his locker but managed to buy a new key. Also finally brought his PE kit home - has only been at school since the first day of school over 2 weeks ago....

Hope he has fun Miranda. If he's interested in gaming as a potential career, there's going to be a careers fair there. Ds1 is definitely heading along that route, so dh has promised to make sure they go along and have a chat, quite timely for him really, as he's choosing his options this year.

It's not far at all for us, but dh is already stressing about the traffic, as he used to work near there and knows how bad the roads get when there's an event that big on.

Late to the party, but better than a no-show.

DS started on the 2nd and so far is loving school, but not so enamoured of the homework. His organisational skills are dire, so we're trying to get him into a routine of any new homework done that night so he doesn't have to think about it any more. I bought a pack of cheap plastic folders from Tesco (5 for £1) and he has a clear one for completed homework and a black one for 'to do' homework which he can just keep permanently in his bag. It also means I can check easily if he's fibbing about not having homework.

We're working on him putting the due dates for homework in his planner, and ticking off what he's completed. I don't like signing off something I'm not sure has actually been done, but it's not easy to check up on the way it was in primary.

Like a previous poster I found poor DD, in Y4, was being sadly neglected as the focus since about May has all been on DS leaving primary, DS transitioning to seniors, DS starting Y7 and she has just been an afterthought. Bless her though, she has taken it well, and I think has been a little excited for DS although sad they've got three years of being in different schools after so many years in the same one.

His independence has definitely grown though, and he's always been pretty independent anyway. A couple of days ago I got held up and he let himself and DD into the house; they were in for about twenty minutes before I got home - and they didn't kill each other. Which was great.

Well, DD remembered she needed to clarify her science homework with her teacher but didn't need to, as he explained if further in class. Wonder why that was?

She has had a classic 11 yo girl falling out with friends today - concerned a bottle of cherryade and blew up and over in the space of lunchtime.

Hi Muddling. My dd (y2) is very sad that she no longer has any big brothers at her primary school. She's gone from having two brothers there, to none. Ds2 came to pick her up from school with me the other day, as his secondary closed early to prepare for Open Evening and she nearly knocked him over she was so pleased to see him!

I'm impressed with how much ds2 has matured in such a short space of time as well. He's so good with getting himself up, ready and out without any prompting and packing his bag the night before so it's all ready to just grab and go. I'm doing my bit by filling his water bottle and putting a snack in his bag every morning. He used to do that himself at primary, but I still have the need to feel needed, even if only a teeny bit.

Ds2 has gone in today with his note re maths homework, so fingers crossed he'll be ok. He said he might not give it to him, depends how the teacher reacts to ds just telling him what happened.

He has cooking and PE on the same day today, so went off loaded up with bags. He has PE and food tech on different days to each other earlier in the week. Shame they didn't consider the complications of carrying both PE kit and ingredients/food when they were planning which lessons to do cookery practical in.

Don'tCallMe we've had a few pieces of homework set that made no sense whatsoever, until the next lesson when they teacher actually covered what they needed to know. The worst was technical drawing, where they set the homework just before the weekend, but no-one knew how to do it. Lots of them wasted several hours attempting it over the weekend, only to have a different DT teacher on the Monday, who had planned a lesson teaching the technique they needed.

Hope dd and her friend make up today.

Gosh Moosemama you have been through mill a bit ! Hope the homework thing is sorted soon.

DD has been using her planner which is good so I can check - but we got an emails saying stuff is going online which I am dreading..we like the planner and ticking buts off. She seems to be doing around an hours worth each night ( takes her longer as she faffs around though and gets distracted) and she has got into the habit of doing it long before it is due which is helpful, She has a mixture of Long term projects and weekly homework which I like. It helps her to plan her time - her English Literacy is a 15 week project but they have been given a list of one thing to do every week which is good.

Still a bit of organisation need packing bags and out the door in mornings and don't even talk to me about how much she has spent on her dinner money account!

DD sang me a song she has been practicing in her Voice lessons "Castle on a Cloud" it was lovely!! I can her the difference in her breathing and tone already - less shouty trying to emulate someone from Glee/Whitney Houston and I am so pleased..just wondering when they will bill me!! No news yet about school joining up with another Academy trust but am sure it will happen the other trust is based around one school they already work closely with which would surely be preferable to a chain? It is all about the finance these days I guess so was inevitable.

Hey moosemama.

DS walked DD to school the other day, he was leaving later than usual as he was getting a lift and she was in breakfast club, but she didn't really like it. Don't think she liked that he wasn't going in with her.

Wish DS was good at getting organised in the morning. I still seem to be shouting at him a lot to get out of bed.

Yes, I think my dd would have been the same if he was leaving her at school, rather than being there for her to run to at the end of the day.

I think we have an advantage with ds2 getting up in the morning. Ds1 has to be ready for taxi pick-up at 7.20. They share a room and he's not exactly quiet, so ds2 is inevitably awake anyway. In primary he would just snuggle down and go back to sleep for half an hour after ds1 had left, but now he just gets up instead.

DD1 is now in year 9. She found the transition to secondary very difficult. She seemed to have masses of homework and was overwhelmed by this and by the organisation skills needed. However, year 8 was a great improvement and so far she is loving year 9.

DD2 has just started year 7 and seems to coping very well so far although she did have an absolute meltdown this morning when her water bottle emptied itself all over her PE kit