Any wise words from parents who have children that have already started in year 7?

[Joyfulincolour]

I know some schools went back last week / early this week so just wondered if there are any things that would be good to know!? My dd starts a new secondary tomorrow and isn’t going with any friends. She also has some additional needs. We think we are ready but if you’ve already been through it over this last week, is there anything we should know / consider?

My DD2 is going into y10 and is a peer supporter for the new y7s.

If she gets lost ask an older girl to help, most are kind to the new ones.
Encourage her to find out where pastoral care is.
Make sure she has some conversation openers.
Don't say negative stuff about others, some pupils like to stir and it will get back to them (plus people will wonder what she is saying about them behind their backs).

Provide a bit more support and TLC than you did in Y6. Everything is new and tiring and a bit scary, and even my very organised dd has needed a bit of help with things like remembering to plug in her phone to charge each night and what sports equipment to take in for which day. She’s definitely liked having me up early with her (6.30!) to have a chat and manage any last-minute panics.

Have open communication going with the SENCO. They are usually brilliant. They may have a special club or room open for children with additional needs that you DD can access if she wants to.
Encourage her to try different lunch time clubs if there are any. Lunch can be a bit scary at first. I also would give her packed lunch plus dinner money so she can just go with whoever she makes friends with rather than have a conversation start with someone then have to separate to eat differently iyswim.
Just be prepared for your home to be her real safe space where her frustrations come out. Have fav treats, dinners, play fav board games, spend time watching her fav tv shows with her, etc. That’s when the school chat will come out naturally and you will learn more about how she is getting on.
Good luck to your DD.

Some may not be relevant:-

If your school has an online portal to top up dinner money, see timetables etc, get familiar with it- and top up dinner money. Some do it before day 1, others on day one, depends on your school.

If she’s going by bus- Make sure she has money, bus money/bus pass, knows where to get on and off the bus, and what to do if she misses the bus, loses her bus pass etc.

If she’s taking a phone, that she switches it to silent before going into school.

She has a water bottle full of water, nerves can give a try mouth. And a cereal bar or snack in her bag in case she gets a rumble tum. Maybe some mints to suck.

That if she feels unwell, she knows where to go.

If she’s lost, to ask an older kid. 99.9% are brilliant. When ds got lost on day 3, a 6th former walked him all the way to the classroom, and explained to his teacher why he was late. He realised they weren’t scary after all!! Now Ds is doing the walking and explaining!

That’s it really for day one. Going forward, you have a copy of her timetable to easy access. Remind her the previous night for games/ PE kit, and any musical instruments. You keep any eye on what they eat- many get over excited with choices and blow a weeks worth of money in 2/3 days 😡can you tell I went through that?. Make sure school has the correct email address for you, and you inform them if you change it, or you will miss out on a lot, judging by the emails we get each week!

Teachers can be brilliant! DS1, who started Y7 last September, not knowing anyone, told me the other day that his tutor introduced him to one of his now best friends on the basis of shared interests (art, drama, reading). You could try and contact your DD's tutor, remind them she knows no-one, and ask them to make some introductions.

Good luck!

If she gets given a locker get a couple of copies made of the key! Year 8 ds (Dyspraxia and ASD) lost his twice in the first term of year 7. The SENCo at ds's school has been amazing, they also had an arrangement where he could go and see his (fantastic) tutor at the end of each day to debrief before he came home which helped a lot as he was bottling anxieties up and then exploding days later.

Wow, thanks everyone. These are great tips. We've done another trial run of walking to school today so hopefully she will be ok.

Pack bags the night before to avoid morning stress. And the best tip I was given was to buy lots of A4 zip lock wallets, one for each subject - keeps books together and avoids homework sheets getting crumpled. You can get really good extra strong ones - it's quite an outlay, but worth it!

Buy 5 cardboard magazine holders and label them Monday to Friday.

When she packs her bag at night get her to put any books not needed for the next day in the relevant holder (for example if she has maths again on Thursday the book goes in the holder marked Thursday). This way she knows where her book is, not buried under a pile of stuff, if it's not in her bag or in the holder then the teacher must have it. It means there's no panicking as to where her books are.

My DDs have used this system for the last two years and it's worked really well.

Oh good idea re the books Mrs. Thank you.