Is this true about year 7?

[justanotherusername1234]

I was talking with another mum, her dc is in year 7 and she claims her dc has not learned anything new in year 7 and is pretty much doing the same kind of work as in primary school, is this true? Surely this can't be right?

[ittakes2]

My teacher friend told me the same thing. It sounds like from this thread it depends on schools. I think it also depends on whether a child has studied for the 11 plus.

[brizzledrizzle]

I think it's about as true as a flat earth, a cheese moon and Elvis being alive and well on Mars. Could be wrong I suppose.

[Justpick]

DD did very well in SATs with marks between 108-117. She’s learnt so so much in year 7. She’s really been challenged and has definitely been pushed academically. It’s just a normal academy school too. Maths wise especially, she’s moved far on from year 6 work.

[BakewellTarts]

DD1 has had a very interesting Year 7, learnt loads academically and developed some great skills in personal organisation and responsibility. She did exceptionally well in KS2 SATs. I think your friend is mistaken.

[Trampire]

Awarded pints!! Points obviously, although I suspect pints would go down well with some teens

[Trampire]

My dcs school have a points system where they are awarded pints for good behaviour, good engagement in lessons and exceptional work. At the end of term they have a small treat for the top 30 or do with with the most points but it's a film afternoon or similar treat, not a trip - and NOT for the necessarily 'cleverest' children.

[CoffeeIsNotEnough]

I expect reward trip is for well behaved, helpful, enthusiastic kids who try hard.
I have one of these and he gets to go on his school's reward trip each time!

[MarchingFrogs]

DS2's school did this when he was in years 7 -9 (may still do for these years, but he's in year 10 now). Mainly smaller things, though, like a tea party (food usually being an attraction), but I think there as one trip he went on which was merit-based.

[justanotherusername1234]

I think she was just showing off really. Saw her again and she told me her dc is going on a reward trip because her dc is in the top 25 of the best ones. Do high schools really do this? Only the ones who achieve the highest grades go on a trip?? Or is this another lie and it's the top 25 with better attendance or behaviour or something like that?

[montenuit]

nonsense.

[worstmotherintheworld]

I have one DC in a state grammar, who found Year 7 fairly stress-free after all the worry of getting a place! There were new subjects to learn (so I would not say that she hasn't learnt anything) but nothing seemed to be overwhelming. I think there is now such pressure in Year 6 in literacy and numeracy that a lot of the groundwork has already been done by the time kids go to secondary. On the other hand I work with lower ability kids in Primary school and have heard that they find Year 7 pretty tough - maybe because they had received so much support in Primary which may not be there in Secondary?

[CoffeeIsNotEnough]

My children have all learned new things in Year 7. State primary, state secondary, three boys all with different interests. I've enjoyed hearing about new things too!

[Titsywoo]

DD found this to be the case for the first month of year 7 but they hadn't been set yet so I assume they were trying to gauge where everyone was at with their learning from primary and get those behind caught up.

[Moneyhelping]

DD came from a prep to highly performing state comprehensive where she was drilled for 11+. She has certainly learnt new things this year. I wouldn’t say she has flown with maths at all, she’s below the middle of top set so plenty to work on. 11+ means that their science is no further ahead than in state primaries so she has found that a challenge. She’s doing Spanish rather than French and I’m not sure her French was that great despite doing it since year 1. She has definitely advanced her English, which was already very good, it’s the first time she has done real critical analysis from texts to the level they are doing now and she has plenty of new subjects such as tech and food tech. Music is taught differently, history and geography with focus on sources is new. She has learnt plenty.

[BarbarianMum]

Oops wrong thread

[BarbarianMum]

In fact if my ds had pulled the trampolining stunt he'd have got a right bollocking and Id tell the complaining parent that.

[BubblesBuddy]

By the way, it’s certsinly not true to say that prep school children who have been taught French for years outshine everyone else! After half a term of French, with no previous French, DD had come near the top in the first French test of Y7! Other children might have attended the lessons but they didn’t learn much.

These days in state schools, children have the opportunity to work in depth at core subjects. Some preps don’t do this and whizz through it. Working in greater depth benefits all children and even the prep school children benefit in Y7 who, surprisingly, don’t always get to Oxbridge above everyone else in y13! Peaking too early maybe?

[BarbarianMum]

Ds1 left primary having aced all his SATS too. He'd been treading water for 2 years at that point. He's learnt loads of stuff this year (esp in subjects he's been setted for it's true). But even in the non-setted humanities he's got specialist teachers so it's not just what is taught in class - he's supported to stretch himself. No 11 year old has "done" so much on the tudors, or so much French that they've no more to learn surely? And then there are the lunchtime clubs - he does engineering, computing and robotics but there are loads to choose from. Only problem has been music where he's far ahead of most of the class in theory/ability to play and totally uninterested in the learning about the history of music. But he just has to make the best of that and carries on playing outside school.

In short, he's learnt loads.

[Rudi44]

Someone above mentioned above that yes in state school, my dd is currently in yr 7 at an independent and has learnt so much in the past 10 months, including Maths far more advanced than at primary and a basic grounding in 3 new languages.

[Neolara]

I'm pretty sure my dd learned nothing new in maths in Year 7 and only a little in Year 8. She had come into the school at a pretty high level and the teachers refused (yes, actually refused) to differentiate. Was not great.

[halcyondays]

Surely any secondary will have them doing a lot of subjects that aren't normally down in primary. Seems unlikely.

[Anasnake]

Your friend is talking bollocks and trying to show how clever her dc is. Don't be gullible, it's obviously nonsense

[Makinglists]

Would only say this was true for the first term of maths. Ds1 is average at maths so it seemed they just wanted to make sure they were really secure with everything. Other Subjects have been a huge jump esp. Science/Technology/computing. Having specialist teachers means they can really push them on.

[PerspicaciaTick]

DD had to get used to studying Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geography and History as separate subjects. She began learning French, German and Latin for the first time. She learned about studying Art and Drama as academic subjects. She studied Tech and had to learn to write up her projects properly. English Literature as a standalone subject was new especially the essay writing skills. Maths and English were the least of it. The content in Y7 may not be massively challenging but learning to study, write effectively and research topics was all largely new for her. She loved but the schools expectations were clear from day 1.

[AlexanderHamilton]

It was true for dd who moved from private to nonselective where they were not set.

It wasn’t true for Ds.