New Year 7's induction day and parents meeting

[Halfblindbunny]

So DS is going to his induction day at secondary school tomorrow then in the evening parents are invited to go to meet form tutors, listen to a talk from the head teacher etc.
What should I be asking? We obviously asked lots of curriculum, pastoral.care type questions at the open evening before choosing the school, but this is the last time we will be in the school/have an opportunity to talk face to face with anyone before he starts in September I feel I should make the most of it, but how?

I would get the form tutor's e-mail address if they don't give it to you. In secondary it is sometimes very hard to get hold of the right person, to e-mail the tutor is much preferred in my school and then they can forward on to the relevant person. You will often get a much quicker reply out of an e-mail than a phone call.

Apart from that just make sure you know if they will need any specialist equipment before the school year starts (maths sets, calculators) or to bring money in (locker key deposits) when they return in September. On the whole it will be a very busy evening to get lots of information.

Have a look here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3289702-What-to-look-out-for-st-xecondsry-school-induction-day

We just had ours last Thursday and these are the points we really needed to know and I doubt DD would have kept up with it herself when bombarded with informations in a new environment.

Payment of lunch etc, do they have a key card system, cash, what happens if lost or forgotten on the day.

Communication- we will have a planner which the parents can use for notes like DD has an orthodontist appointment next week”, emails addresses were announced but for everything urgent we were to call the office.

List of stationary and other equipment was handed out.

System of parent evenings, test weeks

• you could ask about any planned residential trips. When my dd started Y7 I seemed to miss the boat on signing her up for some optional trips or for others we already had plans and she couldn’t go....

Also check what the preferred method of communication is. Not all schools like you to email form tutors directly. My dds school likes emails to go to the school office who then forward them on and make sure a response is sent back.

Some schools have staff email addresses on their website.