Yr 7 parent group

[MHhh]

Joining a new school in coming sept for yr 7, how to join the parent WhatsApp group?
No idea at all.

Ha ha I forgot the mumsnet rule that you shouldn’t be involved in your kids lives from age 11 onwards! They should be totally independent and you should keep your nose out 😂

Of course parents are still involved in their kids' lives at secondary age, but surely the kids keep track of stuff like non-uniform days for themselves?

To be fair something like that will matter to them so they probably would, although don’t forget some kids have issues with organisation.
But parents WhatsApp can be helpful for lots of different stuff, like sourcing uniform or kit. We put a reminder for the opening hours for the second hand shop on ours. We ask advice about trips/ clubs. Who is best to contact about issues at school etc..

Am hoping there isn't a WhatsApp group!

They may exist - we have one for the whole year and a smaller group for the neighbourhood. It's mostly about transport - bus and rail strikes and lifts to sports matches

There was one for DS1’s grammar form in year 7, one for DS2’s house in year 9. We have a year one for DD’s year group for year 7 too.

if there isn’t one OP you can always start one.

Some mums started one at DD’s school (150 pupils in a year) and I was invited as I knew a mum who was on from primary.
It had a flurry at beginning then only occasionally used.

I doubt that your average 250+ pupils per year intake secondary school would have one TBH.

You will find most parents clam up when their kids are teens. They don’t share much with other parents unless close friends as concerned with teens privacy etc and the teens are doing the practical stuff themselves (or should be). So what is the communication with randoms needed for?

Doubtful there is one. Yr7 sort there own stuff out. We have gateway & google classroom which tell you everything you need plus emails from school.

Our school (large state secondary) has year group Facebook pages and class WhatsApps set up by the parents themselves. They are useful for asking about lost property and food tech lessons. I am sure we should all be on the ball, but I find them quite useful. They tend to tail off after the first couple of years. If you have heard that a WhatsApp group exists, ask the person who mentioned it to request that you join. If there isn't one, but you would like one, set it up yourself.

If there isn't one, but you would like one, set it up yourself.

How is it possible to do that if you don't have other parents phone numbers?

We have class WhatsApp groups and a whole year FB group at my DC's secondary for parents. 270 intake yearly so not a small school. I assumed this was commonplace, all years do the same.

Oh god I remember a very annoying DM from primary school setting a WhatsApp group up for Secondary school which I immediately deleted myself from.

Way ours got set up was one mum invited her friends and they invited people they knew. You probably have numbers of people from primary school so can start there.

Ours wasn’t busy but occasionally useful. School have habit of sending loads of emails. Then would upload reports on portal with no key/explanation - you’d not be the only parent thinking what the heck. And someone would say email sent 2 months on x date before explains 1 good/3 bad for effort etc.

i can imagine anything worse than being on a WhatsApp group with 180 other year group parents-there are always needy families who ask inane questions every day.
thankfully they are not a thing at dd’s school nor DS’s new secondary school. Both have parents fb pages.

My DG daughter is starting secondary school.

The mums do have a chat room. My DD is considering coming off it. There is to much information, some of that is not relevant to Yr 7, more about the parents.

A DD has asked DMs to keep the chat room to the point re: their young ones navigating the start at secondary school.

It is a WhatsApp chat room.

I can't see how a WhatsApp group with so many participants would work TBH. I am on a group chat for a charity, and there are about 20 members. I have it on mute because it is constantly pinging. If there were 200 plus members it would be ridiculous.

We have one. It’s got 200+ members. Is pretty respectful and brilliant for notifications when a child has lost their pe kit etc and getting things back.

You are usually added by someone else who is already a member of with my teens school there is a Facebook group where the admin will take phone numbers of anyone interested.

My advice though is swerve it.

I was added to the parent Facebook and it was utter nightmare fuel.

Parents seem to forget that others may disagree with their opinion and as a result start to behave worse than their children.

Our headteacher absolutely hates it and the WhatsApp group.

I actually ditched mine because the admin was like the Queen Bee at school who all the rest desperately want to suck up to. Think Regina George and you're halfway there.

The school decided to change the PE kit rules in late December 2020. They had let the kids wear black bottoms and tracksuit tops for years as long as they wore the (frankly overpriced) logo PE polo. So of course most of them wore Adidas, Nike etc.

Overnight, they banned any and all logo stuff. They also went on some daft offensive over sweatshirts saying they had to be zip up.

A few parents, myself included, voiced how daft it was, what with Covid and money being tight. That perhaps they could've told everyone before September, not say within 2 days you must change something done for years.

For some reason, and despite my comment bring politer than most and one of about 30 others the admin and her crew decided to write some of the most horrific and abusive messages back to me and only me. Along the lines of "if you're too poor to do as you're told you should leave the school" and "your kids are probably the type that everyone else hates because they don't follow rules down to you". The final straw was one of the crew has a child in my DCs class and came out with "no wonder your DD is the weird gay kid who dresses like a boy".

That was that for me. Bless the headteacher, she did speak to those involved without my knowledge but there's very little they can do about adults. And the stupid rule was actually dropped.

I would steer clear and keep your child away from pupil WhatsApps as well. They are awful, neither of mine bother.

Well looking at ours:

• The school sent out an email last week saying certain info was available on one of their three apps - lots of people including me can’t find that info - it turns out you can only see it if you use the web site not the app and also if you are using a laptop. Would never have known that without the group.
• Lots of uniform and revision guides for sale
• New parents asking how children are getting to school, advice on best buses etc (v wide catchment)
• The uniform supplier has a backlog, parents are sharing concerns and letting each other know how long uniform is taking to reach them
• New Year 7 parents reaching out to others with kids in same class and meeting up over holidays as many start knowing no other children
• Sharing advice on SEN, best people to contact at school etc

and that is just in the holiday. There’s a lot more specific stuff in the term, as school communications are often confusing and contradictory, so trying to find out what they actually mean.

That's appalling behaviour from a bunch of adults @ReformedWaywardTeen. We're those messages public for everyone to see or through direct messaging?

We have a Facebook group for the new year 7s. Just for information.

No for all to see on the group in the thread. Likely it's a locked group you have to answer questions to join.

I have to say, many on there did actually voice genuine disgust in it, especially about DC being weird. But no apology was received despite myself and others demanding it. And the mum who said her daughter said it, well her daughter is a vile bully who, because of what her mum said was finally caught out and dealt with by school over the scummy stuff she had been saying to my DC for months but there was no actual proof until her mum gobbed off.

I have never missed it and have a parent who I've known since Primary era who tells me anything important. However it's mostly been the same load of rubbish since.

The worst was the grassing up and naming children from their snapchats that had been screen grabbed, presumably by their kids, and posting on the group as breaking lockdown. Or "saw X kid and Y kid by CoOp, they should NOT be out that way messing around". Yes, no one should break lockdown but if you're that bothered report to the police. It was pure worthiness and eventually was pointed out posting images of minors stolen from their social media is skirting the lines. That soon stopped the photos but not the shaming.

I'm best out of it.