Year 7 New Starters Sept 2016

[Titsywoo]

Thought I'd set up a support thread . So much happening now with induction days, leavers assemblies and discos, uniform buying etc!

Dd had her induction day today. I was pretty worried after I dropped her off as she knew noone in her form or house and they all seemed to know each other. But she has come out full of beans and made some new friends so is excited about Sept. She is the oldest at her primary school now so more than ready to move on.

How is everyone getting on?

My Dd had her induction too. She only knew a few boys but made a friend today.

I have bought a few bits of uniform from M&S but have to brave the school outfitters yet.

We have so much on Leaving assembly, disco, leavers mass, confirmation, camping trip, music concert, end of term mass, sports day and party.

My son is going from a primary school with 174 students to a huge secondary academy with 200 children in each year! He knows no-one, I can only hope that they do some good integration early on.

Last day tomorrow, where has the time gone?

Hello, my son is in a similar situation to hornetgirl's - his village primary has about 120 children, his new year 7 will have 250. He has induction day next week.

I haven't got uniform yet, it's going to be more expensive than primary where the only branded thing was the sweatshirt. What's the point of official school trousers?

Dd had her information evening tonight and found out she is in a class with her best friend. She is thrilled and really looking forward to starting. It's her induction tomorrow so hopefully she will stay enthusiastic.

DD2 has just been to her induction day and came out smiling. They had a science lesson where they burned things and one of the uniform suppliers bribed them with cute little pom pom animals. She has a slightly scary form tutor (according to big sister) but I suspect they'll get along OK when she's settled in. Hope so as they keep the same tutor till year 11!

I will throw this in, in case it helps anyone - three years ago, DD1 started year 7. She had two induction days which were a bit of a let down. She found it all a bit overwhelming - she's very small and it's a big school. After a big build up about how exciting it was all going to be, she realised that, at the end of the day, it was "just school" and they were going to have to work quite hard.

The important thing is, she still settled in really well in September, and since then, secondary has been really positive. She's made some lovely new friends, learned loads of stuff that I don't even know and been on some awesome trips ( just back from German exchange with a fab new accent!). When there have been wobbles, the school has been very supportive - far more so than her primary.

So I guess I'm saying - if your child does not have an amazing time at induction day, don't panic! Sometimes it takes a while, and that is why they have them. Secondary school is not as scary as it seems when you are looking at it for the first time.

DD had her leaving party from Junior school yesterday and today is officially first day of the school holidays. Her induction day at her new school last week went well except that her bag is too big for the locker (she seems to have a smaller locker, they are not all same size) so new bag will need to be bought and we thought we'd got just the right one too! Uniform bought as DD's grandma is helping out in that regard and grandma was getting excited. DD looks so grown up, she looks about 15, not 11. No one she knows in her class but there are a few other girls she knows in other classes. The school is only just over a mile as the crow flies but as a walk it is 30 mins which with no bags is fine but with several bags is probably a trek and public transport will only take her half way so we are trying out the various options to see what works best.

IME, a bad time on an induction day doesn't matter in the slightest in the longer run. Indeed, two of my DC didn't make their (summer term) induction day at all as it clashed with their primary's year 6 residential.

Some transfer tips:

• think about how much uniform you are buying, because you may find only a very narrow range of styles are worn in practice and your DC might develop a burning urge to fit in. Especially shoes.
• do not buy a new school bag until they have been there a couple of weeks. Carrying on old backpack they used at primary, then replacing with the 'right' one is better than trying to guess what they'll want. This is even more important that having the right shoes.
• make sure they know the journey to school inside out, including what to do if things go wrong

DS leaves primary school today. I'm feeling slighlty emotional so there may be tears later.

I am more nervous about him starting high school in September than i was with DD 3 years ago. He still seems so little and is so quiet that i think he may be overwhelmed and overlooked in a bigger school.

He's had an induction day already (seemed to enjoy that) and has been put in a class with one of the boys from his current school. Our neighbour's son is going there too so plenty of familiar faces around as he know a lot of DD's friends.

Stella that is good advice about bags and shoes. Can't imagine that my son will develop a burning desire to fit in over the summer but you never know.

Shoes are tricky as he still can't do laces!

I'm going to take him on induction day but otherwise there is a school bus from the village. Have also promised him a mobile phone for when he starts as he doesn't have one yet, for the "help I've missed the bus home" moments.

Endoplasmic would these help with laces?
www.locklaces.com/blog/learning-center/#faq

I saw them on another thread and my children struggle - though so far we've managed to get Velcro shoes and trainers - though eldest, current yr 6, is showing signs that she may be okay with them now.

Rhaegal that's a possibility. We've still been able to find velcro ones so far but trainers might be a bit more difficult and I think he might need football boots for PE (which got the reaction "why? are they going to make me play football?"

I think PE is going to be a bit problematic in general, he is not sporty in the least. I hope that school have some provision for the hopelessly unco-ordinated.

Well my DS had his Induction day last week and we had the Parents Evening in which we ordered DS's blazer, games and pe kit. Got the rest of the school uniform from BHS as it was 50% off.
Just got to get DS ready ton how to catch the bus to school in the morning, so will be showing / teaching / trial run on the buses this summer holiday.

Dd just had her induction day and came home a little shell shocked. She had a lot of people asking her if she was a boy or a girl and whispering about her. She has short hair but was wearing a skirt! She is in a form with a friend and plans to join lots of clubs. Massively busy next week with leavers' stuff and a drama performance. Can't wait for the summer holidays.

A word of advice: Don't leave the school outfitter much longer. Ours is John Lewis and they were a nightmare. I went in five weeks before the term started and there was almost nothing in stock - no blazers, no skirts, no shirts, no jumpers - in the small sizes. I had to check their website every day for over a month to see if the various items had come in and the skirts didn't come in until early October!!!

Also, as everything was arriving at different times there was no chance of free delivery so everything was a separate click and collect. I wasn't going to pay for delivery - that would add insult to injury!

They must know that they will have 50-60 girls and 50-60 boys starting every September and a good percentage of those will be needing small sizes. The Chairman's office apologized but couldn't do anything and Customer Services were bloody rude and more or less said it was tough luck.

If they screw up again this year I hope the school gets rid of them.

EndoplasmicReticulum Dd isn't good at sport (confirmed by the marks in her report.) She is in year 7 at a fairly sporty comp and her form teacher and head of house are PE teachers. I do think times have changed though since we were at school. Her teachers seem to judge her more on effort and behaviour than how talented she is and it's been no problem at all as she gets good marks for effort and behaviour (and remembering her PE kit - helped by me!) even if attainment isn't brilliant.

Korma. I'm a fan of "scary" teachers. I think it does them all a favour, particularly the quiet kids as it keeps them in line, stops the most domineering kids from taking over and means they don't even bother to try bullying or being disruptive.

DD's school doesn't have the induction day until the day before term starts in Autumn. She is an only child so I have always told her to go up to someone and say hello. She went up to another girl who was on her own and started chatting and they have been friends ever since.

The Year 7 intake last year was from over 60 schools so there were a lot of children who didn't know anyone but most of them settled in quite quickly.

The best way to make new friends is to join one or two of the clubs - sport, drama, chess, science, music. I think when children know a few people around the school they feel much more comfortable.

Just to butt in as a current (just finishing) Year 7 - the lock laces mentioned above or triathlon laces are brilliant in my opinion for sports shoes. They actually give a better more comfortable fit above the top of the shoe as they more evenly distribute the tightness. And they're on and off like slip ons so easy to use. I always use them in my trainers too, and both DS have used them - the current Y7 has for several years, and they're great for cricket shoes for example as it's often 'no spikes' in the Club house.

(got a load of new, normal laces left over however that come out of shoes!)

Good luck to all of the new Year 7s! As suggested by some previous posters, for some uniform and equipment it's a case of wait and see what is actually needed and what is used. Set aside a time 2 weeks or so into term time to shop again when your son or daughter is into the swing of their timetable and knows what he or she needs.

Oops pressed send before finishing. As well as uniform, things like stationery and Maths equipment and even the types of pens that are most popular / easy to use will all become clear after the first days. Most schools ban Tippex. Erasable pens are popular but some teachers or schools don't allow them (the eraser can erase ink from facing / adjacent pages and also the ink doesn't come out properly when the pages are scanned or photocopied which might be part of their procedure for assessment).

Final post (for now), I promise. Does your daughter or son know what to do at lunchtime? Most schools operate a cashless system which is straightforward but may need to be explained and practised a few times to a newcomer! i.e. If there is a swipe card, what do you do if you lose it? How is the swipe card topped up, how can you see a balance, etc.? What time does their year group eat? How do they get permission to eat early if they have a club, etc.?

My son's school does fingerprints for lunch. I'm guessing that's fairly hard to lose. Am a bit concerned that he will get carried away in the canteen and spend the week's lunch money on the first day although have said if he does I'll give him cheese sandwiches for the rest of the week.

EndoplasmicReticulum Sounds wise! (Unless he adores cheese sandwiches...)

No, he doesn't really like them. So it should work.