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?

[LockedOutOfMN]

Lilyray89 Our school's blazers have slits at the back so the students can sit down in them (still buttoned) for assembly also when they're giving presentations on stage or in debates, choir, orchestra, etc. and stuff like Prize Giving or visitors' talks (like police, local sexual health clinic, careers, universities etc.).

However I'm sure your older children would have said if there was any problem with their blazers ... I was only saying this for info. At our school (I'm a teacher as well as a parent) most of us don't buy the blazers from the school shop as they are SO much cheaper elsewhere and the school shop ones are of a nasty, itchy, sweat-inducing fabric.

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

We have to get uniform from one of two local shops, as most of it is branded.
I think I am going to start him with canteen lunch, the food is good but apparently the queueing can be a bit of an issue, and if he wants to do any lunchtime clubs he'll need packed lunch as there won't be time to do both.
He'll be going on the bus as we are rural, and it's our nearest school, so he gets a free bus pass.
Yes it was first choice school.
Have spent £150 on uniform, signed up to monthly payments for an Ipad and paid the first term's music lessons already. Have shoes and "stuff" still to buy. It's going to be expensive - and I have another child only a year behind so will be doing it all again next year.

[Lilyray89]

I've got a dd starting in September she's seems very excited even though she'll be the youngest in the whole school(29th of August)but she's in top sets for everything at primary and was "gifted and talented" (if that counts for anything) so no worrying there.
We've already had about 4 days where they've gone up to the school and have found out their forms already.for lunch at school they do a fingerprint system where I can add money online.
I've already ordered most of the uniform as with my past Dc at the same school it sells out quick.ive ordered all the pe kit(apart from shoes),short sleeve badged school shirts,ties and blazer badges from the school shop.(would buy blazer here too but they have little slits in the back of it which I hate)then going to buy blazer,long sleeve shirts,trousers and skirts from uniform direct.i buy both skirts and trouser cause they always end up changing the mind half way through the year depending on what their fried s are wearing
Questions:
Where do you guys buy the uniform and shoes from? (School shop,uniform direct,Clarke,sports direct)
Are you doing packed lunch or canteen food?(canteen food as its actually decent and healthy)
Bus,car or walking?(walking)
Did you get your selected school(yep but she did also get into the grammar school but no one from her primary was going there)
How much have you sent on starting year 7(haven't bought everything but estimated £450 and then another £60-70 because they're gonna break and lose stuff)

[Titsywoo]

Just off to pick up DD - we are going to the park with the rest of her class but I think there are going to be tears! Looking forward to the summer though :)

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

Job for the summer - teach the boy who can't do shoelaces to tie a tie.

[Titsywoo]

So uniform now bought, year 6 play all over and done with and leavers party done. DD is starting to feel a bit sad about the week ahead - still lots going on with record of achievement evening and the park after school with the whole class on Friday. Thank god the weather has turned!

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

Son is at his second induction day today, he enjoyed yesterday, is in a form with one other boy from his primary but also made a new friend. I am going to take him to the uniform supplier this weekend, he'll love that.

[SisterMoonshine]

I wonder if any of us were on the same starting reception thread....all that time ago.
My DD's going from a very small primary to a massive secondary. Along with her best friend. But I am hoping the two of them don't depend on each other too much - they are the only ones going to this secondary from their school.
She came out of her taster day ok. But it was the same day as the teachers' strike, so none of the rest of the school were in, which was a bit of a shame as won't have got a proper feel for it.

[LockedOutOfMN]

Titsywoo Don't worry, she will soon get in the swing of things. I would say bring water from home and also some snacks that won't get squashed in the backpack - apples, cereal bars, etc., then give her money on the fingerprint to buy lunches. Otherwise, as you say, it will get expensive, and if there's a long queue or she has something else to do at breaktime she'll go hungry.

[Titsywoo]

I'm pretty sure they use a system called wisepay at ours which we'll be able to pay online. Most things have that facility now. Yes DD is eating so much more now - £3.50 a day is a lot more than she has at primary.

[sunnydayinmay]

With the finger print thing, can you top up their account online? I always make sure ds has more than enough, as lunch is so lat that he needs a snack at break. They do get through an awful lot of food!

[Titsywoo]

Yes DD's school has the fingerprint thing. For the induction day I gave her the suggested amount of £3.50 for snack, drink and lunch. However break time is at 11 and lunch at 1.20 so she got confused and got a baguette at breaktime which she then had hardly any time to eat and when lunchtime came around she only had 70p left! Apparently they have the same food out at breaktime that they do again at lunch (pizza etc). I think I'll have to get her to take snacks in or this will get expensive!

Off to buy uniform on Saturday morning - so much stuff to get! Hopefully it won't be as expensive as I am expecting.

[colouringinagain]

Hi there my dd had her induction day last week and came out completely shell-shocked and told her brother it was terrible.

Despite having a good friend from school in her class she couldn't find anything positive to say. It is a massive change - yr7 same size as her primary school, loads of people very loud. "No teachers smiled". I am doing my best to reassure her but am finding it pretty heart -breaking tonight.

Reading this makes me think I should get in touch with the school. Her form tutor is a new teacher so bit unknown, should I go for heat of year 7? She is a quiet, sensitive girl so it was always going to be a big transition for her. I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can....

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

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

[LockedOutOfMN]

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

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

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.

[LockedOutOfMN]

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.?

[LockedOutOfMN]

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).

[LockedOutOfMN]

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.

[SAHDthatsall]

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!)

[Cleo1303]

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.

[BerriesandLeaves]

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.

[Cleo1303]

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.

[Balletblue]

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.