Y7- 2023/24 support thread

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Hi, just dropping in a thread for those of us who have kids starting secondary this coming September. There was a lovely thread going last year and they are carrying it on into Year 8, so here is a place for us the year behind.

How is everyone feeling as they finish Primary and prepare for Secondary?

Dd is moving from a single form entry "family feel" type cosy Primary into a large 8 form entry, multiple building secondary. She's going alone, her primary class are really split up across multiple secondaries.

The transition days helped, and she is excited,but has been really sad this weke saying her goodbyes

Is everyone prepped for uniform etc?

Thank you for posting this, it has put my mind somewhat at ease!
@TeaandHobnobs yes all uniform etc purchased and taking up too much room! The DD of a good friend of mine, she has ADHD + Autism, started Yr 7 last Sept and the school were really good at facilitating small friendship groups until she found her confidence. They are used to dealing with stresses of change of routine/new surroundings etc especially with ND children. After the first term they changed her to a different form group as she wasn't settling in the initial one. This was successful and helped her settle into the new school. Hopefully your son's school will be equally as good.

There were 3 classes in each year at DD's Primary. However Secondary is still very big with so many new people. She's not even got on a bus alone 😬😬

I'm.a teacher in a secondary school. I.think I'm.onmy 4th form. We see them.through from y7 to.y11. We aim.to be approachable and keep our eye on the pupils. We do understand that there is a level on anxiety for parents and carers. Try not to worry too much as we have their welfare at heart.

Re dinner card. I would set a limit. Someone mentioned 5 pound a day- too much. At our school you can rack up a large spend at dinner time if you are not careful. Most pupils choose to buy snack etc and that amounts up. I would advise them.packing some snacks and water from.home- cuts down on the cost.

The bus is DDs biggest fear as her primary was in our village so we walked every day. The bus does pick up from the village but it is the fear of not having someone to sit with I think, rather than the logistics of catching the bus.
She is going from single form primary to 3 form secondary so a big jump up!

@twistyizzy 3 forms is tiny for a high? Less than 100 children. In our area some children go from 1 form entry to 10 so sure she'll be fine. Sounds like a rural bus so hopefully all will be fine

Yes I know for some schools it is small but she is going from a rural primary with only 14 in her year group 😄. So 3 x forms of 24 kids will probably feel enormous 😄.

My dd is starting secondary this September. She's excited but I have my concerns.

She's been placed in a tutor group with a well known ( not in a good way) child from a different primary. I am worried my dd will not stand up for herself. Many people have told her she needs to stick up for herself in secondary which is making me worry.

That's really good to hear. Thanks for sharing

Do they actually do lessons in tutor groups? At ours they only do a couple of subjects in forms.
I also think people over egg the 'stand up for yourself'. Millions of shy nervous 11 year olds start high schools every year, often knowing no one

DD1's moving from a tiny tiny primary (15 admitted each year) to secondary. Add in the fact she's just been accepted onto the waiting list for ASD and ADHD assessment - so is starting without a diagnosis but WITH the problems that are leading up to that - and it's going to be an interesting ride as she didn't qualify for any of the supported transition that went on for the kids with SEND. Secondary didn't even come out to see the kids at primary because there were only 3 from the school going there (the primary doesn't have a major "route" all the kids tend to take - they very much scatter across about 5 different schools)

Academically she's very bright - but socially she's very likely to flounder and when she's floundering she gets louder, sillier, more confrontational to authorities - so I'm hoping the primary SENCO's passed this all on to the secondary (the main reason we picked the secondary was it's the one where the SENCO seemed more on board about actually listening). She's loved the transition day though which is a bonus and she's very keen to get going now.

I've booked the first few days of the year off on annual leave in case there's any shit hitting fan moments I need to tackle. It's also not the easiest one to manage the school run to get her to (and not doable easily via public transport) - but it was avoiding the outstanding but lousy with SEN, massive bullying problem and drugs issues nearby school that was the priority - this one's smaller and much more caring in terms of ethos.

@sillyuniforms
For year 7 most lessons will be with the tutor class. They set them from year 8.

I have half the uniform sorted. It's just that sizes were so weird with the supplier so we've had to order some and then send some back or order entirely new sizes because they were completely off on DD2. Bag ordered so after that it's shoes + stationery which can be sorted during any trip to the high street. I am not worried right now as long as everything arrives by late next week.

As for school size, DD is going from a 3 form primary to a 4 form secondary so it's not much of a jump. It's a pretty small school physically too because it's right next to the town centre. So it doesn't have much space wise which has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Well DS has really enjoyed the sports camp this week! I wasn’t expecting that. I feel rather relieved. And he’s even managed to remember some names of the other boys today 😂

Brilliant news @TeaandHobnobs Is that it, or is it all week? Here I think we are all prepared now. I expect I’ll find out what I’ve forgotten soon. Any ideas?

I've forgotten shin pads!!

I've not done the whole shaping the gum shield thing, otherwise....dangerous words, I think I'm all prepped 🤔

That sounds good @TeaandHobnobs , glad your DS had a good time.

@ElvenDreamer I also still need to sort the gun shield. Any top tips from anyone about not messing that up?

Oh god yeh I've got to do that too! I'm too scared to try in case I mess it up.

Do they really need need shin pads and gum shields? I was assuming only if they were keen and wanted to play outside lessons - DS1 has survived without them so far (he has autism though and getting him to wear them would be interesting- so school may just have realised and not mentioned the lack). I don’t even know what sports he’ll start with - might well be basketball and cross country then no problem to start with anyway. DS2 will not be keen on anything in his mouth (shin pads might be a good idea considering how many bruises his legs get though).

Argh, doubting myself now! What kinds of shin pads / gum shields has anyone else got and are they expensive?

@Walkingbkwrm well they were both on our list so we bought some! No idea if the ones we bought are any good though!

@Walkingbkwrm both are mandatory at DDs school

Dentist made gumshields are far better than the terrible boil in the bag ones. Worth paying as a lot cheaper than a lifetime of dentistry caused by broken front teeth.
Needed for contact sports eg rugby, hockey
DS had twin block ortho fitted yesterday which will be another thing to get used to. Poor sausage.

Just found this thread.

DD starting moving with just one friend, also very split up primary. DD seems quite excited at the moment but I think in the few days before the anxiety will start.

We’ve got all the logo’d uniform but have a shopping trip planned tomorrow for the shoes, bags, trousers etc. Wish us luck with all the stupid rules they have to meet!