11yr old ds in tears over summer school.

[kissmethere]

Ds's new secondary school have sent an email to invite him to 5 half days. He will be starting in September. This will take place in August.
He is flat out refusing and I do feel for him. They have liaised with his primary school and he has been part of groups throughout his primary school life for additional support which has done him the world of good.
I need to respond today to confirm his place but I feel like it's causing him so much upset at the thought of it I'm tempted to say no although I think he needs to do it. He's currently under cahms as last year he was so down about the pressure of year 6 he wasn't sleeping and was in tears every night.
It sounds very casual with activities revolving around maths and literacy. Lunch provided, no charge.
What do I do?

At ds' school, this sort of thing is called "Bridge the Gap" (and I think that's what the organisation that runs it is called) rather than Summer School. I can fully understand why your ds was put off by the name.

I once had difficulty in getting ds to go to "Ski school" for the same reason. The ski school company called it "The Fun Factory" - for similar reasons.

I'm so glad, for you and him, that he went. Hope it has a positive impact when he starts properly in September.

The summer school title did not help. Thankfully it's all done now. It's so beneficial especially for him and children like him. It was a huge commitment and I explained the teachers had given up some of their holidays as well.

Maybe feed that back to the school: that they'd get a better, more positive response if they called it something else. Otherwise it sounds like punishment rather than support

Definitely feed that back to the school . The equivalent sessions at dd's school were called 'transition camp', run by a specialist provider, complete with special camp t-shirts and activities, and the kids def perceived it as fun. Summer School is a terrible name.

I know it sounds daft coming from someone you don't know but well done to him for going in again. He should be very proud of himself!