Y7 State Primary to Private Secondary checklist

[wuwubaba]

Hi I was just wondering if anybody can helps?

My ds will start his private secondary this September. Coming from a state primary background I am aware that he might be behind in most of of the subjects.

I had emailed the French teacher for standard that he should know before he start school.

Is there any other questions I should ask and start preparing for the next couple of weeks before he start school?

Any other tips any of you guys can share? Thanks

I would relax. On the assumption that they think he is good enough to have achieved a place, and given the craziness of this year, I would just let him enjoy his holiday. You will not win any friends emailing the French teacher. Modern language teaching at year 7 assumes zero prior knowledge for all. The first half term of any secondary, private or otherwise is all about settling in. Given some kids won't have been in school since March (my local primary didn't take year 6 back), all will be fine. And don't assume that all those that came from private primary will be smarter and ahead of the kids from state primary either, this will not be the case. It's not a positive mindset to pass onto your son either

I agree that Y7 language teaching will assume no prior knowledge

You are best to concentrate on his personal organisation, organising his bag, running through travel plans and what to do if travel goes wrong

My son switched from state primary to private primary for years 5 & 6. It was a big shock for him as there was a lot of homework expected, and separate subject teachers, but after the first term he adjusted. I don't think there was anything that would have prepared him. It worked well to just let him go with and adjust to the new pace.

I agree with previous posters, you are definitely over thinking this. There will be a range of standards, particularly in MFL, so don't assume that the prep school kids will be significantly further ahead in French or in anything else. The teachers will differentiate for children arriving with different academic experiences - that's their job. Private school classes tend to be smaller, so it's easier for them to do this. My DS went from a small state primary to a highly selective independent secondary with no issues at all. It honestly never occurred to me to 'prepare' him - they obviously thought him worthy of a place, so it's their job to teach him!

Incidentally, I know a private school MFL teacher very well, and we have had this conversation in the past - he says that any differences between prep and primary children are ironed out within weeks, so that you'd never know one had previously studied French for longer.

To be honest, the only area where I noticed a difference was sport - the prep school kids had generally played much more sport than DS, and particularly more competitive sport. It hasn't been a problem though, and it's probably going to be less of an issue this year anyway, as who knows what sort of sport will be possible in September, particularly competitively.

I would honestly just let your DS chill out for his last couple of weeks at home, and do all the usual preparing for secondary school stuff. Certainly don't let him get any idea in his head that he's going to have to work harder to keep up with his prep school counterparts.

The school will take care of the academic side, if they’re any good at all.

What I did with dd was to make sure she was clear about how different it would be from her small primary; things like:

• moving between classrooms every lesson
• daily homework
• the commute and what to do if things go wrong
• tech (school runs largely on email, she hadn’t used email before)
• pace and level of work (turns out they cover in one lesson what she would have covered in a week at primary school, which she likes)

She was clear already that she wouldn’t be the top of the class and find everything easy, unlike primary school. But it’s worth checking your ds know that’s likely to be the case.

The reason why I like to prep him, is not because I want to "rush" him, but because I believe in preparing to reduce the stress when time come. I would rather let him have the luxury of preparing one subject for an hour during the summer hols, then cram everything during the school terms, I. E. Maths eng lit French everything after school.

He is very excited about the new school and kept going over the timetable and kept asking me what is he learning in history, French and physics. I told him to just repeat his KS2 workbooks and do online kangaroos maths.

I have told him he might be behind on few subjects and that's normal so he kept questioning me so why not prep now so he will not be behind.

Thank you guys for the reassurance x

Moving between classrooms every lesson may not be the case this year - I know that in DD's school the year groups are being allocated different areas of the school, and KS3 will be in the same classroom for all subjects except practical ones and any that are set. Year 11 are occupying the science labs, so it looks like science will not be a practical subject.

I'd really hope there won't be too much 'cramming' during the school term. DS found Year 7 quite an academically relaxed year (not too much homework or pressure), which was great, as they need a lot of energy to just get used to the whole secondary school experience. So I really don't think you need to worry about preparing in advance to relieve the academic pressure (based on our experience, anyway).

As lanthanum says, things won't be normal this year, so the set up will very much depend on your individual school. At ours they're continuing to move from room to room for different subjects, for example, while at others they're keeping specific bubbles in specific areas. I know different schools have also made different decisions with regard to masks. Hopefully you'll either already have had, or will soon be receiving, detailed information about how things are going to work at your son's school, so you can go through it with him.

@wuwubaba

The reason why I like to prep him, is not because I want to "rush" him, but because I believe in preparing to reduce the stress when time come. I would rather let him have the luxury of preparing one subject for an hour during the summer hols, then cram everything during the school terms, I. E. Maths eng lit French everything after school.

He is very excited about the new school and kept going over the timetable and kept asking me what is he learning in history, French and physics. I told him to just repeat his KS2 workbooks and do online kangaroos maths.

I have told him he might be behind on few subjects and that's normal so he kept questioning me so why not prep now so he will not be behind.

Thank you guys for the reassurance x

You can use some of the online Oak National Academy videos and just search Year 7 for the subject you are after.

I understand where you are coming from. My DS will be joining a prep school for Year 7 and almost the existing students have prior knowledge of Spanish and Latin as they have been taught the former since Year 3, the latter Year 5, so during lockdown, my DS used Oak National videos and now has some knowledge of these 2 languages. The school already mentioned though that they aim to close any gaps within a short time and even said they would sometimes use breaks and after school time to close any gaps.

DD's school doubled in size at year 7/secondary. They did a lot of work making sure that all children felt part of the school. I imagine that there will be an even greater emphasis this year after lockdown where standards of tuition have varied so much. The school made a conscious decision to have limited homework in those early weeks.

Her school has a fortnightly timetable covering 18(?) subjects, each in a different room with a different teacher. Yes the kids got lost in the first few weeks, but they soon get the hang of it. That sort of thing is water off a duck's back to the resilient children, but it is worth discussing strategies with a more anxious child.

The staff expect that there will be a few hiccups in the first few weeks (like bringing the wrong books to classes, getting lost, possibly asking for an extra day for homework). They are less sympathetic after half term.

Hints and tips:

• make sure DS can use Word and Powerpoint (on whatever type of computer the school uses). If he can type at moderate speed that will make things a lot easier.
• sort out a workstation for him and a computer (just in case we go into lockdown again-most private schools moved everything onto Teams and continued the timetable as normal). Homework gets done a lot quicker when it isn't done in front of the TV!
• think about how to carry/organise all his books and work (DD has an A4 zipped "Tough Bag" for each subject and a storage stool to hold it all)
• maybe learn a bit about hockey/rugby/cricket if not played before
• buy him a smartphone. The children that struggled with friendship issues in the first few months invariably seemed to be the ones who weren't in class group chats and various other social groups (but do explain that you will check his phone from time to time)
• make him do some handwriting - is it legible? It sounds daft, but now would be a good time to fix it.

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about academics, though if he hasn't picked up a book in the past 6 months it would be a good idea to get into the habit of reading.

Agree with what pp have said, and certainly Madcaps post looks very practically useful.
First term for yr7 is a challenge for all kids - large upgrade in responsibility and workload, familiarity with school computer systems and methods.
There will be yr7s coming from lots of different schools, state & private. They will all be at slightly different levels, and this gets catered for by early setting (entrance exam performance?), and a good level of monitoring. I doubt very much your son will be at an academic disadvantage, but if so it shouldn’t last very long.

A very good sleep routine before term starts would be a good move.

The first term we found very hard, but I’m sure school will be very desirous to help with any problems and support to help everyone settle down. We found ours very understanding and forgiving of lateness/forgotten books or homework issues in the first half-term, certainly.
Make use of his tutor support.

Focus on DS being happy, healthy, and on top of things rather than performing at his best. Plenty of time to settle in and find his groove/up his performance.

Thank you so much for the suggestions. Have bookmarked this reply and show it to my ds. Thanks

Also, our DD was from state to an indy and she never felt out of place at all. There were plenty in the same boat and most were new to each other. The school facilitated everyone mixing and getting to know each other. It's never been an issue.

You don't need to stress. He won't be the only one coming from state school, that's for sure. Not even if he's going to Eton.

So relax or he will catch your stress.