Anyone’s child blossomed at secondary compared to Year 6

[Marypoppins19]

DS is hating Y6. So much pressure on SATs. He is bright but totally lacking confidence as peers incredibly able. I’m worried he will be boarderline to meet ‘expectations’. He is so capable though and I feel really sure that he needs to be doing Science, PE, IT, DT to get a chance to shine.

I think some children 'outgrow' primary a bit earlier than others. So year 6 can be a challenge or monotonous or boring etc.

Many thrive when they get a wider variety of subjects (rather than a heavy maths and English curriculum geared at passing sats) and get equal time to do things such as geography and history and technology subjects. They also have far more freedom (teachers in yr 6 need to be on them all the time due to sats) and things like extra sessions during lunch disappear. They get to eat where they like and hang out in the playground or school grounds.

They are often mixing with a greater number of children rather than lessons etc with the same 30 people day in day out. There's also a greater variety of clubs and so greater opportunities to find people with similar interests.

It does usually take them half a term to settle properly and teachers are strict from the off to set the expectations. So don't dispose of he doesn't love it from the off.

MH ds has asd as well!
But he is in his second secondary. The first (an academy) had no interest in supporting him. His current MS secondary have changed his life around.

My ds was quiet and well behaved at primary, we always got good feedback from the teachers, but it always seemed that he was decidedly average.

At secondary he has absolutely blossomed, it helped that he did really well in his SATS, so was put in set 1 for everything, which boosted his confidence. The regular tests and clear targets seem to focus his mind.

Yes! DS1 spent most of year 6 feeling smothered and frustrated as he seemed to have outgrown primary and was ready to move on. He has flourished in secondary he loves the different specialised lessons rather than just maths, literacy, spag etc. He loves the independence and responsibility and has made a lot of new friends who he shares interests with.

I'm so relieved to hear this. DD1 suffers with anxiety which has been a lot worse this year. She's not enjoying year 6 at all and has definitely outgrown the school. Rather than being familiar and easier for her it's making her more stressed. I was hoping that a change of scene next year would help a bit. Im glad it sounds like there's a chance it might.

I think having a broader range of people to find friends from is the key.

DD1 went into overdrive from day 1 of y7. She is very bright and I realise only with hindsight that she was never particularly happy at primary. She is in y12 now and she told me a few weeks ago that she made a deliberate decision at the start of y7 to come out of her shell and try hard at subjects such as drama that she was not so keen on.

DD2 on the other hand, who is quite anxious and a bit lacking in confidence is now in y10. She still says she prefers primary!

Absolutely. My dd did ok in primary but lacked confidence and felt overshadowed by a handful of children who were considered the “clever” ones since reception.

She has blossomed in secondary school. The format, with different subjects and teachers, suits her much better.

I think having a broader range of people to find friends from is the key
Yes. This is why my dd has been a lot happier at her comp than her primary.
They both like having separate subject teachers too

This is so helpful and reassuring. My lovely DS - bright, sensitive, not allowed Fortnite - has not found his people and I had been thinking secondary will be hard.

Secondary school is much more interesting . . a child's world suddenly expands! I think many children (and their parents) don't realise how ready they were until it happens.
In the small world of primary, reputations formed in the early years inevitably stick no matter how outgrown later on, despite staff best intentions . . . This incidentally particularly affects the late-summer-borns who are unlikely Ever to be labelled the best at Sport, Art, Drama or anything else in KS1!
In secondary, with so many teachers, each forming their own impressions, this kind of labeling is much harder. My August-born DS is only in Y7 but on experience so far, the school is so keen on all-round achievement I cannot imagine any kind of aptitude falling under the radar.

So amazing to read these replies! Thank you so much.

YES, my DD didn't do her days (long story & bad teaching). She started off in bottom set for most subjects at secondary.
She has started her GCSE courses, and is in top set for most subjects.
They do grow up, change so much during in y 7!

Should read SATS not days!!!

DD1 always worked with those in the year above her in a small mixed-age class at primary school. From being very young, she would ask: "what will happen in year 6?" They had 5 years to get used to the idea, but seemed rather clueless when she got there as she had already done the work. She was bored so we used music as a distraction and she worked for & passed her grade 5 theory. Once at secondary school, she had one mini-wobble but absolutely thrived. She is now at her 2nd year at university having done brilliantly through secondary school.

Since SATs were "Gove-d" the year 6 curriculum has narrowed and kids who are less academic must really hate it. However, once they move to secondary school with a range of subject specialists, they realise that English and Maths are not the only things on offer, and then flourish.

DS loved primary and did really well - but he's come on leaps and bounds in secondary (he's in Y8 now). He's got more friends, interests, knowledge and engagement with learning, especially as a lot of it is new and hands on. He's more confident with people too.

@Zoflorabore that's a lovely post. DS2 is also autistic and like your son far better suited to the humanities than science, just to buck the stereotype of maths boffins. He had a rough time throughout primary and a rocky start at secondary though we knew he was in the right school. He's since thrived. Got pretty good GCSE results with great marks in his three favourite subjects which he's now doing to A level. he's happy and confident and really motivated in his schoolwork now. A different child.

DD loved school till she hit year 6, she hated it, saying its tests tests tests for SATS all the time and half of it we have not learnt yet and she was told she was going to fail her SATS!!! but good on her she passed (2 fingers up to her teacher) started secondary school in september and she has gone up from emerging to confident in most subjects including maths, she loves it there, she said they make it more interesting and easy to understand and have the time to explain it. They are much more understanding of her disability (no left arm below elbow and being a pain in the butt she is a natural leftie!!) so her handwriting is a bit behind but instead of constantly moaning at her for it they help her, yay loving secondary :)

I really wouldn't worry about DC being unhappy at a Secondary. Most schools now have transition teams and they understand how it feels for Y6 primary school children making a huge leap into secondary. If you have concerns meet the Head of Year or pastoral assistant beforehand and they can keep an eye on him, they can also have a word with teachers in subjects you think he will flourish in and give him extra support with confidence

However, there is so much more breadth and depth of subjects and much more room to be creative. Also, there is so much investment into teaching training how to get the most out of students including bringing out confidence and teaching children that it's great to get a question wrong and there is no judgement.

Please don't fret about it. Contact the school and arrange a meeting with the Y7 team and express your concerns

Plus there is a much bigger pool of students to be friends with, being in new tutor groups allows new friendships to form too. Your DS will be incredible and so happy. I'm sure of it