Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

pfb -in fact only child - off to secondary on Thursday...

788 replies

MaryAnnSingleton · 02/09/2008 08:07

am being calm but every so often panic strikes me - ds is fine about it, it's just me fretting about roads to cross/ money for the canteen - will it get lost/stolen, what about the lockers, arghhh ! Plus,as with the beginning of every term,I'll miss him - I love having him here in the holidays !
It also means that I have no excuses not to sit at my desk and work on the job I'm meant to finish by the end of Seot...

OP posts:
magentadreamer · 15/10/2008 21:53

Hope he got home ok Roisin.

MAS is it this weekend your DS is on his bonding trip?

bellavita · 15/10/2008 22:06

I think it is this weekend magenta.

roisin · 15/10/2008 22:12

ds1 safely home, he enjoyed performing. But it was part of a big event and there were lots of speeches, including a "very boring accountant". Apparently the yr7s were good but MrG had to tell the yr10s/11s to be quiet several times.

Promises of chocolate rewards tomorrow break for those who turned out today and maybe Lazerzone tickets for people who did today's and do next week's concert too.

So that's how they manage to get a 50-strong boys' choir in a state secondary: bribery and corruption

bellavita · 15/10/2008 22:14

Well done roisins DS. Is he going to be tired tomorrow morning?

roisin · 15/10/2008 22:19

I think he should be fine. He was still in bed with the light off at 9pm as usual, though possibly not as 'wound down' as usual!

He's up-to-date on homework too because he wants me to take him to a lecture about CERN/LHC tomorrow evening

magentadreamer · 15/10/2008 22:28

Bribery and corruption can work wonders!

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 16/10/2008 10:29

! glad he enjoyed it roisin Lecture sounds good too !
Ds off tomorrow at 11 (Marchant's Hill PGL place) so into school at usual time with all his kit - feel a bit wibbly about it, but ds seems fine so far ! am going to pack his bag with him this evening.

bellavita · 16/10/2008 10:31

He will have a fantastic time MAS - just be prepared for all the dirty gear that is going to come back!

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 16/10/2008 10:46

-weekend weather looks fine too

roisin · 16/10/2008 16:42

I'm sure he'll have a great time. Are they back on Sunday? Then back at school Monday? They'll be shattered

ds1 has a "Key Day" tomorrow on Opening Minds - he's just thrilled because he gets to miss PE, which he's still not enjoying!

His timetable is:

  • Team Building Activities
  • Who am I? I am a sheep?
  • Understanding and coping with my emotions
MorticiaAnnSpookington · 16/10/2008 17:02

key day sounds like ds' school's focus day...don't know what he'll be doing - I like the sound of the Am I a Sheep !
They'll be back sometime after 6pm on Saturday so time to recover - it really is a very short trip.

roisin · 16/10/2008 18:04

Oh that sounds OK then MAS. He'll be able to have a chilled, relaxing Sunday!

roisin · 16/10/2008 22:25

The lecture was fab: I understood more of it than the previous one we went to! There were only about 4 U16s there, and most were retired engineers by the look of things.

ds1 asked an obscure question about gravitons, which I didn't understand, but the speaker got quite excited about

magentadreamer · 17/10/2008 07:24

Hope your DS has a great time on his trip MAS.

DD has a 15 minute detention for being late for school yesterday -she was at her Dad's on wednesday night but his alarm didn't go off so they slept in till 8.30am. DD now wants her own alarm clock! I told her I don't want her coming home telling me she has a new bestest buddy who she met in detention

bellavita · 17/10/2008 07:41

Your poor DD magenta.

DS had to write a report last night of his version of events of what happened on the school bus on the way home from school - this has to be handed in to the Head of Year this morning. Unfortunately, the bus monitor was not on the bus so he was not able to sort things out.

The bus driver pulled over, went upstairs to where DS and others were and took their passes off them. They had to seem him at the end of the journey.

One of his friends rang him last night to see what DS was putting in the report and when he recalled his version to DS (I was listening with DS) luckily it sounded the same ie. both of them were not involved, DS did try and tell the driver this but he was not interested.

We asked DS not to name names on his report but I think he is that worried that he will be interrogated further he just wants to get it out of the way, we kind of think there might be repercussions with friends if they know they are named - if that makes sense.

But, I suppose he will have to learn his own way.

magentadreamer · 17/10/2008 08:02

It's only for 15 mins Bellavita - she's not too bothered by it as in she understands why she got the detention. I'd have been fuming with her if she'd got it for being late due to messing about on route to school.

Reading your bit about the school bus I'm just relieved that DD walks to school. Hopefully there won't be further reperussions regarding the incident but it's a worry isn't it.

bellavita · 17/10/2008 08:05

He has taken his report with him in a sealed envelope and I have said if any of his friends ask to see it this morning to say no to them.

I can understand the drivers point of view, if kids are messing around he he loses concentration and there is an accident because of it.......... we spoke about this to DS and he understands why they driver had to do what he did.

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 17/10/2008 09:29

am glad ds can walk to school and doesn't have to go by bus - hope all will be well bellavita
Also about dd's detention magenta
at roisin's ds1 and his scientific question - that was brave of him - I'm very impressed !
Well ds has gone off, managing his bags ok I think..seemed happy enough..I feel a bit sad but happy that he is going too..will miss him this evening though !

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 17/10/2008 14:40

joyfulness - have found ds a winter coat in H&M - seems really nice and warm and looks good and was £25 which seems good to me - looked in the Gap too,but nothing very exciting.

OrmIrian · 17/10/2008 14:52

Aghhh.... been stuff in our local rag about DS's school getting the outstanding Ofsted report. Much back slapping and general celebration. But it means that everyone is desperately rethinking their school applications! Colleague has spent hours grilling me over DS's school as they had only put it down as choice no 2 before. Nearly deadline day too. So on the strength of what I told him he's changed his sons's application. His wife liked the school anyway, but he wanted him to go to the school with the good academic results but less than perfect pastoral care (and only a good. This child is seriously academic and on the G&T register...what if I've put the kybosh on the boy's future. What if he gets nobbled by the big boys in the playground on his first day, or inveigled into naughtiness behind the physics lab. Oh god the guilt...

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 17/10/2008 14:53

Orm !!

roisin · 17/10/2008 16:38

Yes, ds has made a friend on the (service) bus
Fortunately they are not in the same class.
Unfortunately they were in the same group today all day for their Key Day: Opening Minds.

ds1 came home full of what "Billie" has been up to all day. They started off with a questionnaire about themselves, these are Billie's answers:
What do you like doing? eating cheese
What makes you angry? when someone eats my cheese
What would you do if you won a million pounds? knock down the school and build a cheese factory
What do you want to do when you are older? eat bigger cheeses
etc.

Oh boy!

bellavita · 17/10/2008 18:03

at the cheese fetish

roisin · 17/10/2008 22:13

Did I tell you ds1 was disappointed this week? On Thursday he needed sandwiches so he could go to the rehearsal at lunchtime, but he also needed to go to a meeting at breaktime so couldn't order a 'grab-a-bag', so he made himself sandwiches instead.

Grab-a-bag costs £1.50 but he normally has £2 lunch money, so would 'make a profit' on those days. But on Thursday he didn't get lunch money (obviously) so feels hard done to

MorticiaAnnSpookington · 17/10/2008 23:20
Grin