Have we got a starting Secondary School Support thread?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

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

We only got 5 minutes slots with each which makes it pointless with DS and with DD its just everything's fine. At primary I stopped going to parents evening and just did the special needs meetings but more teachers involved at secondary. I think you will probably get the general gist with a few anyway though some teachers are more diplomatic than others I find.

I will probably focus on maths and english and pe (due to dc medical condition)

I haven't even thought about parents evening! Do people take the child too these days? I don't know if dd would cope.

Glad no one injured in accident Penguins

DS hates being talked about so we never take him. Also it stops free speech a bit if there are issues.

I just hope that I can actually attend..
school is in the other direction from work and other dc's school. and work is pretty strict with attendance.

DS2's school don't do parents' evening until May time. Apparently it is an utter nightmare, they don't offer appointments for all subjects and it's really hard to get any booked if you aren't quick enough to get logged in. Also expected to take your child with you. They did trial a meet the tutor for Yr7 parents last year but I don't think it was a success so they aren't doing it this year.

I've had a couple of feedback texts on the MyEd app. Only for French and history.

Attempted to take DS2 for his blood test but forgot the sodding form! I did at least realise on the drive there, so went to McDonald's instead. DS2 also managed to smash his phone. It's not been best start to half term.

DS is currently obsessed with going to our local co-op and their offers. Told me today he had been to the till with an offer for £1.50. Girl puts items through but its more so DS says there's an offer for £1.50. Girl says no there isn't. DS says yes there is. Girl says its my first week and till says there isn't. DS says I will wait for someone competent So manager has to come over and puts offer through. DS then apparently gave a lecture on how their offer of 2 £1 items for £2 was rubbish.

Hope your half term gets better Frayed and you get blood tests done.

Please can someone give advice on this issue.
Son is on waiting list for autism to be assessed.
He hates queuing and feels stressed. At dinner time they only get half hour and not just him but quite a few other kids are struggling to get their dinner as everyone has dinner at the same half hour.
He says by the time you have queued up the bell goes.

So now he has gotten into a bad habit of going to the desert counter picking up a flapjack or cake thing and going straight to the till as much shorter and he is only having a cake for dinner.

Obviously I've told him he can't keep having cake for dinner but the queuing is stressing him out and the time they get.

I'm having a appointment with his head of year Wednesday about some other things but realistically what can I do about him queuing for dinner?

I do know a few other parents have gone in about the dinner issue but been fobbed off saying give it time etc kids settling into routine but I know my son can't stand in a queue for 30 mins.

What can I ask them to do to help him?

Logic do they have any kind of queue-jumping system? At my secondary (back in the days of dinosaurs) we had to queue in year order and if we had a lunchtime club, we'd have a pass (a credit card sized piece of card) that we could show to get to the front-ish of the queue to give us time to eat and do the club. If they don't have a system like that it might be worth suggesting it?

We didn't queue directly in front of the food though, queued somewhere else and that made it possible to switch people in. That sounds daft now I think about it, queueing elsewhere just to be sent a bit nearer to the actual food!

DD says their school its the same though they at least get a longer lunch break, she's switched to eating a meal after school somedays which isn't ideal but she doesn't want to spend all lunch queueing. DS will queue and says he doesn't mind. DD says its as they got rid of 2 dinner ladies for being late so issue is staffing. I would imagine places may have trouble getting staff as pay is terrible like £8 per day as they only employ them an hour.

I think only option to avoid queue for us and eat at school would be packed lunch though worth asking school. Does seem a bit crazy. At DDs last school they also had issues and there she would get a sandwich at break and eat it at lunch.

dc takes a packed lunch.
school gets meals from partner school a few miles away and food is often late (due to traffic apparently).

hollow legs make themselves a 'pot noodle' type meal when back home.

DS1 (ASD, EHCP etc) takes a packed lunch as he doesn't do queues. The school will make some concessions such as getting the kitchen to put dinner of choice aside so they definitely get the dinner they want. They will give adult support to help queue, but a pass to the front is a short-term measure only. So first week at the front, next 12 pupils in front and so on.

DS2 takes a snack. He says the queues are awful and often the good choices are gone but he still doesn't want a packed lunch.

Mine takes a packed lunch but also has money on their cashless system to buy a slice of pizza if there's no queue (he's vegetarian so his options are limited but apparently the pizza is amaaaaaazing). The years take it in turns to have 'early lunch', coming out a few minutes earlier, to try and make the queueing a bit fairer. If he does buy something, he eats his packed lunch when he gets home. I wish I had his metabolism.

Sorry Ive not been on but had nasty d&v bug. Luckily DD is on residential trip-but I'm heartbroken without her. DD eats mainly cheese sandwiches. As do all her friends....

DS just tales packed lunches and buys pizza / cookie on top. I’ve told him he shouldn’t be not eating his sandwich and then buying cookie but I don’t think he’s listening. He was very pleased with himself about 2 weeks ago as he’d found a way to jump the queue in the canteen but that loophole was closed quite quickly as I told him it would be.

Sorry to hear that Froglet Hope you are feeling better now. Hope its not too much longer until your DD is back with you.

Dd has basic packed lunch of cheese roll and OJ carton so she only needs to use the canteen to top up. It sounds reasonably efficient.

Hope those on half-term enjoy their last day!
Our turn next week.
DS is increasingly getting low level bullying - stupid comments, elbows in the corridor. At the risk of sounding like I’m victim blaming, he doesn’t help himself as he has no clue about social stuff. So will be telling kids off for not wearing their cycle helmets or whatever. I’ve told him he shouldn’t tell tales or tell other kids off for their behaviour unless it’s literally life threatening (and not wearing a helmet isn’t!). I know that’s his Aspergers and we’ve re-started the books on social rules for Aspies. But it’s still incredibly frustrating!

Parents' evening last night (only with form tutor). She was lovely and very very positive, but genuinely upset and baffled about the set change. She didn't know about the nosebleed during the assessment: as soon as I told her she said 'Well, he shouldn't have been assessed on that!' She's going to push for them to let him sit another assessment after half term. Other than that, he is apparently kind, helpful, participates brilliantly in her classes and her extension club, and she said she loves that he's 'not a sheep' and is proud to have his own interests. Came out very happy indeed :)

TFI half term next week though - I am knackered!

cheminotte Sorry he's getting that - must be difficult when you can see that his behaviour is contributing, although it doesn't excuse the other kids' reactions. Mine once said to another boy who wasn't wearing a helmet, 'Oh, well - maybe your parents don't love you as much as mine love me'

cheminotte sorry DS is getting targeted. I know what you mean, DS1 is the other end of social interactions and he ignores everyone who speaks to him. Just totally blanks them. It is very frustrating trying to get him to accept his way of dealing with social interactions is not the best way.

spiderlight what lovely feedback and it sounds like the tutor knows and understands him well already. I hope she's able to get the assessment sorted.

DS2 still isn't right. He's o.k. until he does anything vaguely physical and then he's completely washed out. He went to the cinema then the park for about half an hour after yesterday and he was fit for nothing afterwards and I've just been up to wake him. And he is so tetchy which is understandable.

Going to ring about his results today but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. If it is glandular fever there's no treatment but I would hope the school will accept PE isn't a great idea atm. google tells me gf results can come back negative even when you have it, especially with children.

Poor lad - he doesn't sound well at all. GF is a nasty old thing, takes a long long time to get over and the worst thing he can do is to overdo it. The school should definitely be making allowances and letting him off PE at the very least.

I would hope the school will accept PE isn't a great idea atm.

I should bloody hope so. letter to class & pr teacher and followed up with email?

They've accepted no PE so far with no diagnosis or anything, just concerned about the longer term, particularly if result comes back negative. Apparently negative results are common with GF especially with children. He does look unwell and I'm probably being unfair, just thinking back to how PE teachers were at my school. that was a millions years ago though!

I will write a letter for him to go back and contact the HOY regardless of what the results come back as.