What is a typical day like in secondary?

[fourthdimension]

DS won’t be in secondary for a few more years (so I’m hoping covid will no longer be an issue), but he has a statement of special needs (EHCP) and I need to start thinking about how he can be supported in secondary. However, I don’t really know what a typical day might be like and what he might be up against! Can anyone give me a general idea of what might be expected of a child in Y7? He has some mild learning disabilities and struggles with attention and organisation - is it going to be difficult to navigate the school and know where to go and what to do?

He will follow a timetable and have to move between lessons. I would expect him to be supported with this. Most schools would have prefects or teachers showing new yr7 to each lesson in the first week. I'd then expect him to have further support because of his needs.

It is a massive change between primary and secondary and all kids find it daunting. But a good school is understanding of this and makes steps to help.

My dd (additional needs but mainly emotional) is going into yr7 this September and I happen to work at the one she is going to. She mentioned that all her friends are really nervous but she feels ok as she has been in the school so many times already and met many of the staff. This has surprised me immensely as everyone is expecting her to struggle .

Obviously you won't have that situation, but I'd be discussing transition with both schools to see the plan. Our school gets the kids with extra needs (I'm not sure of my phrasing there, sorry) in for an extra day for example and it gives them more time to get familiar with all the people and the actual typical timings of the day.

Thanks for your reply. My understanding was that there are TAs to help in individual classes but not between classes, so it’s good to think there might be support between classes. That’s wonderful that your daughter is so comfortable with the school - best of luck to her! I suspect DS won’t be daunted by secondary, only because he has no idea what he’s getting in to... but I have a feeling he will be the one who is always sitting in the wrong classroom, carrying the wrong books, forgotten about homework, etc.

At ours the Y7s have all their lessons in their tutor group so there is always the same 30 kids going from class to class. The support centre is right in the middle of the school. Before my child started he got a tour of the school after hours, then if covid hadn't hit he would have had extra visits to really get his head round the map and learn how to get himself to the support centre. Heads of Years' offices are also right in the middle of the school. They have tutor time every day and my son meets with a mentor weekly too.

Organisation hasn't been too bad as teachers are holding onto all books except when they have homework. We have a second pencil case at home so his school one just stays in his bag all the time. You pick lunches or school dinners depending on what he can manage (again covid has made this simpler).

Tricky things for my child are writing down homework and managing his emotions. So far homework has been written down for him and teachers have been nothing but kind and understanding. He massively prefers it to primary so far.

I think this is very school individual. At our school (like PP) Year 7s have virtually all lessons with the same class, so although they move between classes they can move as a pack so be lost (or not) together.
TAs are not a normal thing unless a child has a designated 1:1. Also the older children love helping the younger ones when they get lost (for the first couple of weeks at least, then they get a bit bored)! SEN children have a base they are able to go to in breaks or lunchtimes (or after school when it's not Covid times). SEN children (depending on the SEN) also tend not to take a MFL, which means they have those sessions to have extra support as required.

Their school keeps books at school - everything is online - so pretty much the only things they need to take with them are diaries and stationery (which most shove in their blazer pockets so the don't forget them). The hardest part, I think is organising homework - although it's all online there is an art to working out when you are going to do it - and that it's not (for example) possible to leave everything to the last minute, especially if it's also a night that you are out at an after school club. The good thing about being online is that I can see what homework they have and gently remind if necessary.

It depends on the school. Some keep yr 7 classes together, others stream earlier and change groups.

There should be some sort of transition between primary and secondary to support all students, some school go above and beyond (one I worked in had dedicated two week summer schools specifically for students who needed more time to transition and for them to get to know the school and teachers without all the other students there).

As your ds has an EHCP, there should definitely be some focus on the change to secondary school in the near future. They may be entitled to an individual needs TA who would walk with them between classes too.

Definitely contact schools about this and question staff and SENCO about support on offer during open events

Thank you. We haven’t yet narrowed down which secondary would be most suitable (and haven’t visited any yet due to covid), so it helps to hear about different schools’ approaches. Homework will definitely be an issue. What about PE (are there even PE classes in secondary?) - I can imagine that keeping track of kit, getting dressed, finding the right place to meet, etc. will be a challenge without prompting from teachers. And lunchtime? Do they carry money to buy lunch? Need to find a place to sit, or have a designated table? All of these things that seem straightforward to most children would likely baffle DS..

Start doing your research on local secondaries early - you want to be going to the open evenings in year 5.

Typical school - 5 lessons a day. Some schools - 3 longer lessons - possibly easier for a child who struggles with organisation, but potentially worse for some who benefit from a change and a fresh start after an hour.

Typical school - some lessons as form group, probably different groupings for DT (smaller), PE, maths/languages (sets). Some schools - everything as form group. Some schools - different groupings for more subjects.

Typical school - SEN children distributed between forms. Some schools - "nurture group" for those who might struggle. Some schools - two or three children requiring support in the same group so they can have a TA with them consistently. (That can vary year to year. I once had a group with a few SEN, and they had the same TA in all their lessons - it worked brilliantly, but none had significant behaviour problems. You need the right combination to make it work.)

Some schools - regular homework timetable. Some schools - irregular, "set when educationally valuable", which makes it harder to plan (but avoids time-filler homeworks set to fit the timetable). Most schools have some sort of online system for homework (especially since covid) which will enable you to see what has been set.

By year 5 you might have a better idea of how your child is doing and what their support needs might be.

DS has SEN and is in year 8.

DS has a 1-1 for most lessons to help with recording his work. A few children have odd lessons with TA support and DS is unusual to have as many hours as he does (about 20 a week). Homework is set online so I can see what he needs to do. Lunch is paid for online and DS scans his finger print to pay. At lunch there are a couple of rooms set up for the SEN/ anxious children and they will be invited to a particular one depending on their needs. If DSs TA isn’t moving from one lesson to the next with him he will follow his friends, he also refers to his timetable but I don’t think he’ll ever know where to go from memory. I make sure he has what he needs in his school bag, he doesn’t have a locker which probably helps as he then doesn’t leave books at school.

There is a lot in place to help DS and other SEN children as his school, it’s a pretty standard comprehensive school.

PE's another thing that has been easier with Covid. They just wear PE kit all day on PE days. Lunch money is all online. My child just takes sandwiches, he thinks the lunch queue looks too crowded.

I think lunches will be easier next year when most can eat in their tutor rooms, and DS will have the option of the quiet area. This is invite only but they can bring a friend, and it's not just for those with SEN. Those who use it tend to bring sandwiches. Access has been limited this year because of keeping bubbles separate.

You need to be having these conversations with school staff though. Every school works differently but they should be used to people asking, and understanding that the transfer process needs to start very early for your son.

PE is a thing in secondary school, yes, but it will be pretty much like going to any other lesson. At DC's school they have to keep PE kit in their lockers (so would have to go to their locker and then the changing room). Other schools they may carry it round all day. Kit just all stays in the same bag. It's very normal to lose PE kit/normal clothes - stuff often materialises at lost property, but this again, is something your DC will need to go to and check themselves. as with primary, naming items means they are more likely to find their way back. Lunchtime is generally choice of buying food or taking a packed lunch. I don't think these days any schools actually use money - it's all electronic and they pay using a thumbprint or a card (depending on school). Schools will have their own rules about who sits where and where you can eat if you are eating school food/packed lunch. My DC have found that groups of friends tend to end up always meeting in the same spot, so that becomes "their" spot for lunch.

My nephew was 1:2 TA fully supported in primary. He transitioned well to secondary with a support mentor, several extra transition visits plus he has a red card safe system. This releases him from classes to a safe quiet space if he’s struggling. My sister has weekly calls with his support lady (she looks after around 30 students) to chat any issues around but he doesn’t have any in-class support now in year 8.

Ok, DD2 has ASD with no EHCP. There are lots of ways to help, even without masses of support.

Structure: At DD2's school there are 5 lessons per day, with 2, 30 minute breaks. The children get issued an A4 paper timetable, but I then reduce that to pocket size, so she can always refer to it. DD2 has taken to writing the rooms she needs to be in on the back of her hand, so she doesn't have to look at it throughout the day.

5 minute early pass - allows time to move around without being jostled.
Toilet pass - saves trying to use the loo with 100 other people.

My best tip is to buy a multi pocket organiser file. Label one pocket per subject. Then any loose bits of paper go straight in the file.

PE, they rotate through sports, but get given notice about which sport they will do next and whether they need astroboots that half term, etc.

Lunch - our school uses electronic accounts with fingerprints.

Homework is set on Google Classroom.

Secondary is miles better than primary.

DD, y11, has some as yet not labeled SEN. Not bad enough to need a TA. But processing issues, motor skills, and some dyslexia-like issues.

• 2 week timetable so you have to keep track of is it week A or week B
• moving between each lesson
• different teachers have different rules regarding things like blazers
• fingerprint technology for lunch payments
• lockers available
• noisy busy corridors at lesson change over

She has found the whole secondary experience exhausting throughout, with limited capacity to do much out of school. She was doing OK, but y10 was hard and then covid hit. The school environment contributed to, but was not the underlying cause, of her having a MH breakdown in lockdown.

We chose the school for its pastoral care, and they have been really good. I needed to do more 'scaffolding' at home than most pupils will need. (e.g. Helping organise books & homework).

Thank you for all of your responses. This helps me to imagine the type of support we will need to ask for. It’s quite encouraging that secondary has turned out so well for many of these children.
@TeenMinusTests, I really hope things start looking up for your DD and that perhaps school can step up the support to relieve some of the pressure.

Things our school does, or I know of other schools doing for pupils with extra needs:

• red card system, show the red card and you can leave the classroom for a couple of minutes to re-regulate
• teachers writing homework into planner for the child (might not be needed now with rise of google classroom)
• being allowed to leave a couple of minutes early to get to next class
• PE department holding onto PE kit (for a highly disorganised child)
• queue jumping allowed at lunch
• quiet area for breaks
• reduced timetable
• 'pupil passport'. A one page info sheet on the child with difficulties and how best to handle them that all teachers have access to online
• use of laptop

It varies so much from school to school - at Ds's school they do vertical tutor groups so theres a few from each year in there. The year is then divided into 10 in the first couple of years for subject groups in a top/middle/extra support format (extra support have smaller groups).
They do a 2 week timetable which I see the sense in, but is another thing to keep track of, but is live on epraise so you don't have to remember which week it is
They don't have lockers now, but when they did they were in rather random places so ds carried everything with him
No money or cards for lunch (fingerprints used) but it did take them all a while to get used to the freedom and budgeting for the week - as a parent its a pain to not be able to limit them on a spend per day

as a parent its a pain to not be able to limit them on a spend per day

At DD's school you can definitely set a limit on spend per day.

Alas not on Parentpay, and I can't set it to top up on a Friday either so have to remember every week. Though finally ds does seem to be getting better at it and not falling for buying stuff for his friends

cmot That's a pain. With DD's system (scopay) there is a default max and then you can ask the school to change it for you. You can't just adjust it yourself as far as I know.

Get a copy of their timetable and stick on the fridge or somewhere obvious. Do NOT let them remove it under any circumstances so that when they constantly lose their timetable or not know what lessons they have you can just point them in the right direction. The only reason the timetable can be removed from the fridge is to copy it and then it GOES STRAIGHT BACK ON!
Get bags packed the night before and uniform ready, including shoes

No idea if ours has a max but we do get an itemised list of everything they buy, and catering staff will question if they spend over a certain amount. Poor loves, no privacy these days!

The lunch money is on a electronic system so I did a deal with my then 12yr DD to reduce the incentive to buy crap. I paid her a set amount each week into her bank account then she can decide how much to spend at school and load her lunch account herself. So if she’s organised and takes a packed lunch she can keep it herself as pocket money. It reduced the volume of cookies & fizzy drinks bought in school, and is teaching her budgeting. I bought her a flask & helped show her how to make pesto pasta, & take fizzy water & juice instead. This way she can treat herself to a cone of chips on a Friday from the takeaway walking home from school as it’s her money.

@SSwimCycle21 how do you stop her taking sandwiches and spending £4 a day on chocolate on the way home? Or would you just say that's her decision? I think my DD's corner shop habit is only limited by the cash she has available, but we are going to have to let her have more freedom sometime soon.

It’s her choice plus she’s doesn’t as she’s a gymnastic who would rather buy the latest leotard and stay healthy. My youngest may do the chocolate shop raid though when it’s her turn because that’s exactly what I did as an older teenager. I’m hoping by giving more choice and more education about healthy eating they will make better choices than I did as my mum really restricted sweets and I went bonkers once I had my own money to spend at 15/16.

My DS has SN and is in y9 now. I would say the best thing to do is to contact the senco of the school he will be going to before and also get your primary senco and their senco to liase so a plan is in place.

Our primary was excellent but our secondary wasn't initially and had no plan for him at the start but over time we have established things as they realised he definitely needed one but it will vary from school to school, ideally you can have one in place before starting. Adjustments can be made for pretty much anything he can't manage. They are expected to take the right books each day, my DS takes all of them everyday. He tends to lose everything and his tutor got him a special locker they had the key for he could use and also used to find his bag when he had lost it, it was always in a previous lesson. School lunches is a card by us which you link to your debit card and has an auto top-up option - DS is a very reluctant spender of money and seems to manage to negiotiate discounts and get lunch for 50p every day but if you want to put a cap on it you e-mail the school finance office and they put one on. Ours do move rooms but lots of the kids move together and DS seems to manage that OK. He is allowed to leave lessons anytime they are too much. His lessons are 1 hour, he definitely wouldn't cope with longer ones. He has an exemption for homework and rarely does it but still seems to get good grades, think they go through it in class. He's a PE refuser at the moment, used to do it at primary but seems unable to cope at secondary and he just sits that out.

Lots of things are also online for parents - I can see what he has eaten for lunch or if he's not eaten on one system, another system shows me his grades and attendance for each lesson, another system shows me his homework so you can monitor a lot. The secondaries are quite big compared to primary and DS struggled with the number of subjects, he is ASD and prefers less and all maths / science so for him secondary has been harder than primary and I suspect A levels maybe easier though need to change school for those so that could be a challenge but he will much prefer 3 or 4 subjects rather than 12 or so now.