Y7 in Sep 2019 - support

[stubiff]

Is DC (not) looking forward to it.
Is DC (not) ready for it.
Are you (not) apprehensive about it.
Have you got equipment, etc, sorted yet, or are you leaving it until the summer hols/last minute.
How have the transition days been going.
Anything else that is relevant.
Thanks.

Is DC (not) looking forward to it. - DD is looking forward too it.

Is DC (not) ready for it. - Yes very ready. As she is not getting a lot of teaching at the moment due to her academic levels.

Are you (not) apprehensive about it. No she be fine and she has the bonus of her older sister will be in year 11.

Have you got equipment, etc, sorted yet, or are you leaving it until the summer hols/last minute. - She has some pieces of uniform that older dd grew out of, but won't get the last bits until end of summer holidays.

How have the transition days been going. - That doesn't happen until 4th July.

Anything else that is relevant.
Thanks.

My youngest is y9 so have done this twice.
It seems very scary but it will (probably) be fine.

My tips:

• work on independent travel skills suitable for how they will get to school
• think about organisation - where will they do homework, where will any school books that come home be kept
• talk about what ifs (what if the bus is late, what if you get lost at school, what if you see someone being bullied)
• aim to have a pencil case at home as well as one in school bag

Dd2 is very much looking forward to it. Her older sister is at the school and she takes a dance class and used to do gymnastics there, so it’s a familiar place to her.

She is very much ready for it. She attends a small village school and the majority have out grown it by y6 and are very ready to move on.

I’m not in the slightest bit apprehensive about it. Dd2 is more than ready and I’m excited for her.

I have her uniform ordered and she will collect it on transition day. Will get everything else in the summer hols.

DD Is about to finish Y7. A couple of things I found helpful so far

Keep a second set of maths equipment at home, our school is hard on losing items so DD always has something to replace immediately.

At induction day she took some paper slips with her phone number with her and gave it to girls in her new form. She managed to meet up with some over the summer holidays and texted with others, a good way to ease anxiety esp, as she wasn’t in a form with girls from her old school.

Forget about decent information flow from school, we get a lot less paperwork and DD learned it the hard way to tell us if something is needed. We have to sign her planner each week and she has to transfer all homework into a family planner so we can see that she is on time.

Think about a fixed space for your child to do homework and keep books and equipment. We have around 1/2 of all homework to do via websites plus another chunk where she needs it for research so DD will get her own laptop by next Christmas.

We allowed 2 weeks of eating rubbish to get used to the canteen system.

If the school is not around the corner do a test walk/bus trip so they know exactly how long it takes and how buses work. Get a bus app if you can get. Organise bus passes, think about keys and phones.

DD will be going to a school none of her friends are going to due to EHCP for her speech.
Lots of worries from our end but she doesn’t seem too bothered. Haven’t got anything new yet- need to sort out a homework area. I don’t think she’s ready- she still plays with little toys and was super excited at getting a monster high doll last week. She has a nice group of girls in her class that are v similar and share toys so unless she finds a group like that, I don’t think she will stay like this for long.

My DS is very nervous about starting, as am I.
He has dyslexia and struggles academically, so I'm anxious around the support he may or may not get.
Have not bought anything as yet and transition day is in July.
Thanks for the thread.

DD is going to a secondary school with Hearing Impaired Unit and has EHCP, not many kids from her school are going to the same school. Transition day is next week. Not brought anything yet but starting to think about uniform as some has to be ordered online and takes a while to come.
I am nervous about her starting and particularly her getting to and from school on her own.

Make a small budget for losses!

From walking to primary which was 5 minutes, the transition of a 30 minute bus ride and a big school meant that DD lost just about everything that could be lost in the first 3 months - house keys; pe kits; bus pass; fob; school shirts; winter coat you name it! I did label everything and had to go to a massive lost & found day where i got most stuff back but it took about 5 months!

So i realised that this was part of the transition was "losing stuff" - i have a tracker on her phone so i know where she is whilst on the bus - and has helped me locate her mislaid phone twice - once in the middle of the park!

I bought too much uniform - I should have bought just enough for the first month or so - DD went from a trouser wearing child to only wearing skirts (so trousers unworn) - school very warm so long sleeved shirts unworn, only short sleeved shirts worn....

DS is very excited. He is totally ready.
I am so anxious. None of his friends go there, but it is meant to be a superb school.

There is a whole page of uniform and other requirements, so it will take a little while for me to get there. Uniform orders need to go in next month.

Rather unexpectedly they will have a couple of compulsory(ish) sports sessions in school in August, so holiday childcare is a mess.

DS loved the first taster day, the next one is this week.

Thank you for your advice reluctantbrit and iwantavuvuzela.
DS already loses everything. [sigh]

DD fluctuates because while she is looking forward to some aspects, she gets anxious in new situations. Currently she doesn't want to go. I'm being really cheerful about it because I know she'll love the range of lessons and activities/clubs on offer. We will start to order uniform etc in July after her induction days.

However... she's my PFB and inside I am DREADING it. She's the only one going from her school because of where we live and (here's the kicker) I am a teacher there! So I KNOW it's a good school, I KNOW she'll thrive there. It's just the thought of her going from a tiny primary with about 100 children in the whole school to a largeish secondary with over 200 just in year 7.

I forgot to add, all of her friends at primary are going to different schools though so they'll all be in the same boat.

Is DC (not) looking forward to it. Yes, he can’t wait!

Is DC (not) ready for it.. Even as a summer born boy, he’s more than ready for it

Are you (not) apprehensive about it. No, dc 1 is currently in year 8 so we’ve been through this once.

Have you got equipment, etc, sorted yet, or are you leaving it until the summer hols/last minute.. He’ll have whatever unicorn we can pass down from dc1 and I’ll order the rest in the next month. Pencil case, stationary and maths equipment etc will be sorted during the summer holiday.

How have the transition days been going.. Great. Ours do their first residential trip with all the other feeder schools in year 5 and another in year 6. Transition days started at the start of year 6 and they had their last one of 5 last week. They now know their registration forms and form tutors and are raring to go.

Anything else that is relevant.. Just got to get through the leavers assembly now!

Unicorn = uniform !!

Muchtoomuchtodo I was ever so impressed by your family unicorn.

Thanks for starting this thread OP.

My niece would love a family unicorn

My son starts secondary in September. There are about 12 from his school going including three of his besties plus children he knows from other clubs he does, so that's fortunate. He's winter born, outgoing, bright and NT so no concerns from those perspectives (luckily).

He has been ignoring the thought of leaving his [beloved] primary but they had a visit from the secondary's "transition leader" last week which seems to have been well enjoyed. DS will spend the day there in 2 weeks time. They also run a 3 day "transition camp" during the school holidays for the new year 7's to get to know each other and the school. Which I think is a good idea.

In terms of what prep. I've done - I have ordered some school uniform, opened him a student current account, paid for his locker, purchased the iPad and installed all the required apps. He got a phone for his birthday. The school is a little over a mile away but there is a bus he could take if the weather is bad. We'll spend more time on the journeys over the summer.

I'm a little apprehensive about it. Mainly because I'm a control freak and I know everything about, and everyone at, his primary and that's obviously going to change!

It will be great; the school has just had a wonderful first Ofsted report, the parent survey results on the Ofsted site are all really good and the extra curricular clubs are awesome (I'm considering self-identifying as a Year 7 so that I can go too )

All, thanks for the replies so far.

Summary:
Do test runs of walk/bus to school, particularly if public bus.
Decide where they will do homework.
Decide where they will put their books.
Have duplicate things at home, for homework and if/when things get lost.
Sort out tracker on phone.
Don't buy masses of uniform in case they don't where a certain item at all.

If you have a child who is less good at picking up social cues, then talk to them about how expectations change at secondary.

• ignoring rule breaking that doesn't impact them (unless bullying or something else serious)
• knowing whether/when to involve an adult
• not acting like Hermione leaping out of her chair to answer every question
• being 'respectful' of the upper years - not over familiar without good grounds

Scaffold being organised to start with. e,g. Checking timetable to ensure correct books packed, planning when to do homework etc. For many, many, kids you will be able to drop back quite quickly within the first weeks. However if your DC needs longer then keep going. My DD1 turned out to have dyspraxia...

Take a copy of their timetable and have it up easily visible somewhere, eg on the fridge. We have an cardboard arrow blu-tacked on pointing out which week number it is (most schools have a 2 week timetable).

My ds started last September and agree with all the suggestions on here lol. We've lost ties, pencil cases and loads of pe kit this year.
We've been through loads of glue sticks, all his classwork seems to be done on worksheets which then get stuck in his workbooks, we also got a big roll of plastic backing to cover all workbooks with.

On transition day and first couple of days there he got phone numbers and xbox passwords of lads in his class he liked and that helped him get to know people.

We got a big calender for the kitchen wall and I got a copy of his timetable, I've an app with most of his homework on and he puts it in his planner but he got a bit overwhelmed at first trying to organise it. Putting it on a calender helped him prioritise it and see when it was due in.

The first couple of weeks school held a couple of mornings with activities for parents to attend, one was a bake off. I went and found it really helpful as a lot of senior staff attended and joined in so I could put faces to names as contact with secondary is sparse compared with primary.

Finally lol although ds was looking forward to it I kept telling him everybody would be feeling the same as him x

Ooh, glad I found this. Thanks for starting it and for the advice posted:
Is DC (not) looking forward to it. Yes, super excited though a bit apprehensive at times
Is DC (not) ready for it. Yes, she really is. She's outgrown her tiny school where we currently live and is ready for a new challenge. But she's also v dreamy and forgetful so it's not going to be 100% smooth sailing!
Are you (not) apprehensive about it. Both in equal measure
Have you got equipment, etc, sorted yet, or are you leaving it until the summer hols/last minute. Def last-minute. DD is going to a school with no uniform so that keeps it simple, but we're moving back home from abroad between now and September and so things are a bit chaotic.
How have the transition days been going. She's missed them because we are abroad until school holidays. We're all a bit concerned about that because she hasn't even been able to visit the school and look around other than on the banding assessment day. So there are many many unknowns. She did just have a chat with the head of year on the phone and that went quite well
Anything else that is relevant. DD is in the older half of the year but is quite a young 11 in many ways. Good at talking to adults and making friends but still into her teddies and whatnot, very happy playing with younger kids etc. She hasn't got a phone yet, and I'm a bit reluctant to give her one but I also don't want her to be excluded because she hasn't got one. Hadn't even thought of the tracker app thing.

DS1 is starting secondary in Sept (not UK but a British school) and is very excited! A little anxious too as he doesn’t know a single person going to the same school.......

He’s had one induction day so far and really enjoyed it so is ready to properly start now. He’s been in a lovely but small primary and is desperate for better sport and more children. His secondary is an 8 form entry so a big change, I’m sure it will be an adjustment for us all.

Off to get uniform next week

My ds is attending his school for an hour a week, for 6 weeks, seems to be helping... as far as I'm aware they use that time to have a tour and a chat.
I've got his uniform, just need shoes, gum guard, shin pads, bag and stationery. I don't think I've received a stationery list.

Apparently all the hw is on a website/app, so he can do it on his phone, the family laptop or his iPad. I imagine I will end up getting him a cheap laptop for Xmas.

26/30 of his class are going to that secondary school so I think he'll be ok. However, since his sats his year have been on some sort of jolly, no homework and not much learning, so the change of pace may be a shock..

My eldest DS starts high school in September (well July really!). He leaves his junior school on 5th July and the last two weeks of term are spent at high school. They wear their “old” school uniform and do lots of fun transition activities.

He’s quite excited about it but I am nervous! I think it’s the buses that he’s apprehensive about. Hoping it’s on time, not too full etc.

We’ve got all the uniform apart from PE kit. Bought double amounts of pencil cases etc to cover for losses!

It’s just nerve wracking thinking about the size of the school. Year 7 alone has more children than the whole of his junior school.

looking forward to it here, she knows the walking route, need to sort out a bus pass and check she knows what to do so that she can get the bus if it is heavy rain or something. got uniform, pencil case, calculator etc so feel pretty organised really at the moment.

Thanks for starting the thread. DS is starting in September and I don't know if we're ready or not! We've got most of the uniform sorted, but I haven't heard anything yet about stationery, calculators, pencil cases etc, so I've no idea what they need yet! Hope I find out soon.

DS is quite a home-kid, not wildly sociable, so I'm not sure how he'll adapt. Because of location he's going to get a lift there and back each day, so we don't have to do the independent transport thing - which I think has both advantages and drawbacks. He's really looking forward to school, but I think that's more about the new subjects and the clubs - I don't think he's really thought much about the friendship side of things. He doesn't know anyone else going to the school, but he doesn't seem too daunted at the moment. The tips above on how to get along if you're a bit socially awkward are really helpful, thank you. I also love the tip to think about a homework area - that hadn't occurred to me, so we must do that.

Question on boys and phones - where do they actually carry them? DS has had a phone for a few months, but he never takes it out of the house at the moment; because of where we live (and the type of personality he is) he doesn't really see friends independently much, and only at each other's houses, so he never has any reason to take his phone out with him. It's too big to fit easily in a pocket - so what do they do with them? I guess at school he'll have his bag with him all the time so he can keep it in that.

DS carries his phone in his trousers pocket. They can't have it on in school, so I am guessing it is going to live in his backpack.