Moving house to Devon at start of year 10 studies

[user1496562685]

Hi, we are moving house from Northampton to Devon - overall a quality of life move, but a big decision nonetheless.
I have a 13yr old girl who will be starting in year 10 GCSE's in September, she has a few close friends here currently and she does enjoy her school. She is very happy so the thought of me moving her to a new school does worry me a bit.
She has told me that she is sad to be leaving, however on the face of it she does seems ok with the move. Obviously she may not be telling me how she really feels for fear of worrying me. I understand that it is a big change for her, new uniform, being the new girl when she starts.
I am being very supportive and I have already made contact with some people where we are moving who have daughters who are also going into year 10 and she has made friends with one.
I have also told her that she can have her current friends to stay during the holidays.
I want to make the transistion as stress free as possible for her, any other suggestions/advice would be welcome xx

If I were doing this, I think that is possible I would try to move prior to the end of the summer term so that the DD could join y9 for a couple of weeks (I think I would even consider just staying down in the area to achieve this even if not yet moved). It would mean she could learn the layout and systems of the school and get to know a few other pupils and teachers.

The reason I would do this would be to a) get to know some people before the holidays and b) so that y10 could start not as a brand new pupil to give an easier transition in to y10 and GCSEs.

(I can imagine however there may be many practical reasons why you can't do this).

Thanks TeenAndTween, good idea although it may not be achievable. I am taking her for a couple of school visits and she has already made contact with a girl who lives in the town we are moving to and is also going on the same bus and same year as her. We are hoping to get them to meet up when we visit the school for the first time. x

I think check if they will have looked at any of the syllabuses etc before year 10 starts. Think about GCSEs - eg if she was doing history focused on say nazi germany and the new school's gcse is on the industrial revolution, is it still something she wants to do?

Are there any clubs she does, can you find out where to rejoin them once you move?

Is she gonna go to a grammar (I know there are some in Plymouth) or the comp? Have they started any of the GCSEs already - does she need to catch up over the hols?

Really boring basic things like does she need folders for GCSEs or do they use books? Does the school expect them to buy textbooks etc before they get there? Will they get information for setting your daughter from her current school, or do you need to tell them? Do they do any non-standard sports, where she's suddenly gonna discover everyone else has been playing eg lacrosse for 3 years and she doesn't even know the rules?

Can she ask her friend about the school uniform? If it says trousers or skirts but all the girls wear one or the other she might prefer to "fit in" even if that's not what we'd want in an ideal situation.