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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Have we got a starting Secondary School Support thread?

989 replies

JiltedJohnsJulie · 30/08/2018 17:49

I’ve just just asked DD what the sandwich box and bottle are for in the fridge. It turns out she’s made her first packed lunch ready for school. She doesn’t start till next Tuesday HmmSmile

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Bunnybigears · 17/09/2018 21:31

The homework has stepped up a gear recently but between me and DS we are keeping on top of it. Despite some of his teachers not using Show my Homework. We got a letter today showing his expected targets by the end of the year amd thus his 'flight path' up to the end of Year 11. It says in the letter that targets may be adjusted upwarss but never downwards and if they are below target they will ne invited to after school study sessions which DS said sounded the same as a detention.

redsummershoes · 18/09/2018 07:04

anyone elses y7 very tired?
dc is shattered and in bed at half past eight.

Penguinsnpandas · 18/09/2018 08:35

DS has gone in happy enough but today its his payment card he's lost again, third time of losing this. Its annoying as means he can't get lunch. Thankfully we live close by but I wish they would let me buy a locker but a week of chasing and nothing. I left DD last year to organise all by herself and she managed and coped well but DS doesn't seem capable or organising anything.

At primary they said to encourage independence as much as possible and this does seem to have helped him mature, he started walking to school then with his sister and loves going to shop a few doors down from us. But school is hopeless, conversations go have you got any homework, no, hmm well may be, oh yes. He has a planner and online system. Did get out of him he has to do 5 A5 sides of an adventure story for English by 4 October but he was suggesting it was fine to start that on 4 October. 😉 He hates English, suggested ideas no to all, this one will be fun. It's your adventure life in future which according to him is being a gamer all day 24/7 on YouTube. Think he's just saying that to appear cool. His ideal would be to be with animals in the wild but knows he would be teased for that.

Frogletmamma · 18/09/2018 09:06

Penguins DD is the same. If all goes wrong she wants to be a You Tuber. We had about 6 hours homework at the weekend as DD had been storing much of it since Monday. Yesterday we had a row on the bus as there were roadworks and the bus could not travel. Told her to get off a stop early and walk. She would not. Put me in a vile mood for the rest of the day. (we take same bus as it is bus I get to work on. Not helicoptering honest!)

Jeezoh · 18/09/2018 12:40

Is anyone else worried about their child making friends? Mine went to up with other children from his primary but they’re all girls so he’s not hanging out with them at lunchtime. He seems to be chatting to other boys in lessons but not at lunch. I suppose I’m looking for reassurance that friendships will develop over time. He seems ok with it but I’m a worrier! He’s already doing clubs so hopefully that’ll help

Penguinsnpandas · 18/09/2018 13:12

I have been assured YouTubing gaming is the way to make yourself millions Froglet, infact I wonder why DS bothers with school. 😎

DD joined y8 and made lots of friends straightaway but in y7 it was more difficult - no one from her school or even our area as a grammar. She was friends with a couple of girls then they left her, but she got new friends via her class and clubs and ended up with the most friends in the class by the end. So can take a while and there can be regroupings at start. DS, have no real idea if he has friends. He hangs out in a group of 12 boys but he's more a tag along and watches them. DD didn't help saying as my brother cries at school noone will want to be his friend ever. Hmm If it persists contact the form tutor and they maybe able to help.

FrayedHem · 18/09/2018 13:59

DS2 if off sick today. Ongoing sore throat and he looked dreadful this morning. Apparently it's viral so no antibiotics. He's perked up a bit now, will see how he is tomorrow.

DS2 has always claimed he is very unpopular and has no friends. This isn't actually true, but he has a habit on dwelling on minor things, and deciding the person must hate him etc. All his class has gone up to the same secondary and I think he is mostly sticking with them for the time-being.

spiderlight · 18/09/2018 14:14

DS is also intending to be an overnight YouTube millionaire.

He's made a couple of new friends but is mostly sticking with his primary friends - they've all gone up together so I guess it's easier, but I hope he broadens his horizons a bit.

stegosauruslady · 18/09/2018 14:37

Ah...I'm fortunate. DD wants to be a chef, possibly in the navy as she is a Sea Cadet.

DD has gone to her school not knowing anyone. She has become friends with one girl in particular, but she is leaving the country after Christmas! Hopefully by then she will have made some more friends!

We have been having a different kind of homework struggle to most people...she stays at her Dad's house one night in the week and every other weekend and he is not encouraging her to do her homework! She has been great about doing it at home, but he is disorganised and she is struggling to organise herself (Sea Cadets doesn't help here, as she is out at that two night a week and often one day at the weekend too!)

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/09/2018 16:48

Well it doesn't take them long does it. Dd getting grief from a group of boys who keep deliberatly pronouncing her name wrong and chanting it, and other random stuff. They had a trip today and they punched her seat the entire journey home Hmm

Dick heads

elkiedee · 18/09/2018 17:22

DS2 wants to be a Youtube person. Last year he kept uploading videos of himself playing games and talking while he did so on Youtube. They were very samey and I think he has something to learn about creating material that people want to watch, but I suppose it may be useful/ necessary for everyone to know how in the future if not as a full time thing

spiderlight · 18/09/2018 17:27

Oh Giles - your poor DD. Are these other Y7s? I'd have a word with the head of year - they should be setting a firm stance on this sort of thing from the outset. Is she upset?

Mine has come home today having been pushed into a hedge (with his three friends that he was walking home with) by a bunch of Y11 boys, but he's insistent that it wasn't done maliciously Hmm He only told me because I said 'You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards!' when he walked in and he was able to give the smug reply 'That's because I have.'

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/09/2018 17:29

Yes other year 7s. She's not too worried at the moment she doesn't want me to say anything yet although obviously of it ramps up i will. She's says she's ignoring it and sticking with her friends in the hope they get bored

Witchend · 18/09/2018 22:12

Dd getting grief from a group of boys who keep deliberatly pronouncing her name wrong and chanting it, and other random stuff.
Dd1 had that when she was year 7. Actually she just rolled her eyes and thought they were stupid, but someone else in her form reported it to the head of year and I had a phone call from the head of year saying that they were pulling the boys who were doing it in the next morning and warning them that they'd be in inclusion if they did it again. It worked and she didn't have them doing it again.

Ds is another wannabe YouTuber. Apparently I'm thwarting his ambitions by refusing to buy a gaming computer with video camera. Grin

Bunnybigears · 18/09/2018 22:15

Ah DS was a wanna be youtuber until we went on holiday and he realised if he kept up with his Lifeguard training and got stuck into Spanish lessons he might be able to get paid to sit on a beach in Spain.

Penguinsnpandas · 19/09/2018 02:30

Good that so many of us are going to have millionaire YouTubers 😎 Maybe we should all start that ourselves, pay seems much better than MN. 😂

SassitudeandSparkle · 19/09/2018 10:07

How are we all doing, the homework is really kicking in here this week so the weekend will be busy! Have to make sure she doesn't leave it all until the Sunday night like I used to

Titsywoo · 19/09/2018 11:04

Yes homework is starting to build up now. I've done a little plan so they can do 30 to 45 minutes a night and get it all done in time. I left dd to it in year 7 and 8 and she just left everything until the last minute and rushed it so I'm being tough on them now.

Ds is actually using his locker. I paid for it when dd started but she never used it so I'm glad my money isn't going to waste anymore!

He has rugby yesterday but wasn't keen as he said everyone was cheating. Today is a good day for him - drama, art, science, dt and computing - so he went in happily! The difference so far between dds experience of y7 and his are worlds apart. I thought she'd be fine and he'd struggle but it's been the opposite. That really comes down to her being an anxious person who overthinks and him being pretty blase about stuff. People have taken the piss out of him but he gives as good as he gets whereas dd takes it to heart and goes silent. I'm pleased he isn't finding it hard but feel sad that it's been so tough for her.

spiderlight · 19/09/2018 11:19

DS has joined the Drama club. This is brilliant because he's very loud and articulate and loves an audience (and is bloody good at creating drama), but he's slightly worried that he's one of only a small handful of boys who've joined. I've told him that this is a good thing because there'll be less competition for male parts. Hope he sticks with it. Only minor down-side is that he has red hair and this term's production is 'Annie', so everyone's telling him he should audition for the main role, which is winding him up a bit (we've had lots of ginger-ist bullying over the years). Hopefully that will die away after the auditions next week and he'll enjoy the rest of the club.

He has Welsh homework to do tonight. That'll be fun.

Penguinsetpandas · 19/09/2018 11:23

DS got 4 homeworks yesterday.

Form tutor got DS a free locker in the end but he's refusing to go near it on the grounds he will lose the key and the rest of his life will be permanent detention. Form tutor has offered for a staff member to keep key for him or leave it open. He also said DS is much happier now so maybe settling. He says his form tutor and Head of House are nice.

elkiedee · 19/09/2018 12:09

Penguins, that fear about detention is so sad. Glad the form tutor is being more sympathetic but I'm really worried by secondary school detention policies.

My DS1 left his long ruler out on the table where he was doing some homework last night, hopefully he's got taken a smaller one in his pencilcase, and there won't really be a problem with him not being considered Prepared for Learning.

PermanentPortakabin · 19/09/2018 12:25

Homework hasn’t been too bad here. School use an app for work tracking, so dd2 doesn’t have to write it all down in her planner. This is worked well so far - work appears as it should, dd2 accessing it ok etc.

Work also seems to be set with a week to do it, and is (so far) due in on a day where that lesson is timetabled, so hands in in lesson. This is a huge improvement over dd2’s prep school, where she had to remember to hand in homework on random days as well as planning for lessons etc. She is doing well with trying to get stuff done in the week, but we will need a weekend catch up too - probably 50/50.

She is still very wobbly going in, but that transition has always been hard for her. She is ok when there, engaging in lessons, and joining in various clubs and activities - she’s in the netball squad, has auditioned for the school play, and is getting to grips with music lessons etc. All in all, I think it is going ok.

Dd2 is fixated on the fact it doesn’t feel like her old school, and I’ve been trying to talk her through that - she has a very rose tinted view of her old school (not that it was bad, but she is very much focusing on the bits she loved), and I’m trying to remind her she had plenty of days where it was ‘just school’ there too.

It’s hard, but she will get there.

SassitudeandSparkle · 19/09/2018 13:07

My DD is also nervous about detention, I almost wish she'd get one so she can see it's not the end of the world! They get a one hour detention after clocking up a few offences, such as not having the right equipment, uniform issues, being late, blah, blah.

Penguinsetpandas · 19/09/2018 14:54

They are strict now, its hard on them. DS though used to put himself in the timeout room at his old school for peace and quiet. 😎

TeenTimesTwo · 19/09/2018 15:04

elkiedee 2 sets of stationery, one for school bag and one for homework.

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