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

[MaryAnnSingleton]

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...

I remember when I was back in High School we had to put dust covers on all our text books. DD hasn't bought a single book be it a text book or an excersise book home! She says all are collected in after the lesson! I find that a bit odd and I fancied a peep at what they had done/will be doing!

She's had a great week. Nothing lost so far -she informs me her dinner card is in her locker as it wasn't in her bag last night. And if it isn't she said she'll go to Student Services and ask them for another one.

Homework wise we've had a few bits to do and she's just got on with it after a bit of chill out time when she comes back from school. Hopefully when it gets more she'll settle into a good routine of getting it done when she first gets it - I don't want the Sunday night tears of I've got sooooo much homework ll to be in tomorrow

She's also going to find out about the girls footie team,an after schools dance class plus the book club.

I'm just relieved she's had a good first week and appears to be settling in ok. I know it's early days but it's great to hear her so excited about school and all the different stuff she'll be doing.Hopefully the novelty won't wear off too soon!

I am slightly annoyed with dds school - firstly I thought there was a standard price for a meal (as in primary) but a few things to choose from - apparently not so... Then I sent dd in with the exact amount for meal of the day to find out they had put up the price since last year without telling anyone.....

Then they finally sent home the swipe cards which are to be used instead of sending in money - great idea I think so I go onto the website and transfer some money onto it. The school has said nothing in the letter home about how long it takes for the transaction to go through but the website says about 10 minutes so I assume it will be ok for her to use the next day. Send her in with card but no cash and of course the card doesn't appear to have any credit on it . At least they gave her a meal and are supposed to be looking into it....

Wish she would have a packed lunch as it would be so much cheaper. Hopefully when the Yr7's stop getting sent to lunch early next week the novelty will wear off!

DS1 has informed me that he will have to run for his life next week to the lunch queue as this week they have been going in 20mins earlier than the rest of the school and from next week it will be the same time

I gently asked him about the teacher (who is really lovely by the way) and her calling him by DS2's name etc and he started to fill up and said it had annoyed him . So I left it at that. Then 5 mins later he came into the kitchen upset and said he did not want to play anymore, I gave him the option of a couple of weeks off to decide and the tears just streamed down his face so I have left it. He was so upset it brought tears to my eyes

TheGirlWithGreenEyes - hopefully the swipe card will be sorted for your DD on Monday. Yes, I agree with you that packed lunches would be cheaper, we are giving DS £2.50 a day which he is spending, but I think he wanted to do what the majority were going to do!

Roisin - I am sure he will find the vegetables next week, everything is a bit of a blur when queueing up.

Another shock (for me) is that they get turfed outside at break and lunchtime in the rain, have been used to them having indoor play at primary in poor weather.

ds1 has been going early for lunch too. I'm not sure when that will stop though. At my school it goes on for about 3 weeks I think.

Magentadreamer - I'm shocked in the other direction. At my school students rarely take any books home. If they have homework it's often done on paper rather than ex books, as the expectation is that students will lose things.

ds1 has brought home an exercise book from practically every subject so far. Even when they are just blank books with just his name/details on the front! He says they have to get into a routine of having a storage area at home, and checking their timetable the night before to work out which books they need to take with them. And if they forget their book, PE kit, or Perf Arts uniform they get in big trouble. It sounds great to me, to get them into good routines of managing their own stuff.

Anyway, he's had 6 homeworks so far and has completed 5 of them. One more later this afternoon then he can have Sunday off

I hope we get a homework timetable soon, so that we can plan it. He likes the idea of doing a stack on one evening, then having the next day to chill out.

We have just been out and bought some coloured folders, going to put a sticker on each with the day of the week, then when DS1 does his homework he can put it into the relevant folder so in reality the night before it is due in all he has to do is put the folder in his bag and all homework for all lessons is there. At the moment any homework he has done seems to be lying around in various places!

He has still got quite a bit of homework to do, so after I have had a quick tidy round am going to go through it with him.

Thanks Roisin I was wondering if that might be the case. A work colleagues DD has got all her excersise books and doesn't have a locker so is having to cart then all around with her. I've bought a load of plastic A4 wallets so DD can put done homework in those.

DS is carting his books around also.

Some pupils at our school have one of the smaller/thinner concertina files to organise their paperwork, with a section for each subject.

I actually bought one for ds1, but it's too big to fit in his bag!

So far he doesn't have many loose paper sheets, so he just has a clear plastic envelope-style wallet to slip them all into.

As a member of secondary staff, it's been a revelation to me how much 'parental involvement' it's taken so far to get ds1 off on the right track. I know he will soon be able to take responsibility for it all himself, but he really does need support getting the routines designed, sorted, and established.

Hope everyone has a good week next week.

So glad to hear that I'm not alone in stressing for my dd's first few days at high school.She seems chilled-apart from scary english teacher.
Lost one PE sock already-HOW do you name socks?I've got woven labels to sew on and iron on ones too-but where do you stick them????

Well I haven't! Not sure where you would actually put a name tape? Suppose if the socks turn over at the top, then you would sew it underneath?

Glad your dd was ok.

I have only put nametape on the thick rugby socks (sewn badly into the tops,but they're sooo long he can turn them over a few times !!)..the indoor PE socks are little white ones and I got a thing of 3 from Woollies,so no prob if lost.
Tomorrow he has to take entire PE kit in..will be able to leave it in his locker but it weighs a ton...we also have to fit the gum shield,which he isn;t keen on !
I have covered his decorated German and French exercise books in clear plastic film but I did it very badly which made me feel crap (his homework was to decorate them - he drew flags,maps,a rottweiler (!), a man in leiderhosen and a boulangerie)..

MAS - just seen your thread on gumshields

We don't know yet if DS1 will be doing rugby or football so have not had to buy a gumshield. £40 is an awful lot of money for the dentist. I think I am giving enough to the dentist this month as it is - have to have two crowns done with work starting tomorrow - £196

I know - dentists horrifyingly expensive - dh will need a crown soon (£300+) so I'm not keen to fork out unless necessary - ds finds any games quite hard( he has balance/coordination difficulties ) so would probably keep out of direct contact if he can ! I'll see how it goes..really don't want him to risk his lovely teeth though...

DD is going to be playing tag rugby according to the stuff sent but no mention of a gum sheild! Argggggh as she's a candidate for a brace when the dentist decides it's time to sort out her teeth!

DD has confessed she ONLY thinks the elosive dinner card is in her locker so she'll be at student services first thing if it isn't to get another one....

Hope everyones DC's has a good 2nd week.

yes, hope they all have a good week too- sent ds off with enormous bag of PE kit plus usual rucksack and my mantra of 'mindtheroads,makesureyougototheloo,eataproperlunchanddon'tforgettoputweverythingbackinyourbagandput yourpekitinthelockerandmindtheroadsagain'...now,I really must get a grip !

There is one good thing that has come out of DS1 going to secondary school - the upstairs/bathroom - I was in the sink first/I need to brush my teeth fighting between him and DS2 has stopped.

DS1 goes up a lot earlier to get ready now whilst DS2 is still coming round eating his breakfast.

So all is peaceful at the moment on a morning in the bellavita household!

Thanks for the sock advice!DS went off on the bus loaded down with a bag full of heaven knows what-I dutifully helped her cover some exercise books and got into a sticky mess....much crinkles too

House seems really quite now and a LONG time till the bus gets back-4.10 as opposed to 10 past 3

Hint from DH to mark out PE kit back from the others-electrical insulating tape around a strap in jolly colours!

Well I suppose it's back to the day job-accountant coming on fri so lets get on with the paperwork and all the other jobs that have been on ice......

Have a great week and hit those cappucinos...

Is anyone unexpectedly nervous about their DCs going awol between home and school and vice versa? DS#1 has had independence for ages and goes all over the place alone...but with his mobile. Not allowed to have those in school and I surprise myself by getting nervous when he isn't back by about 3.45. I know he's OK, I know he will turn up but I can't help being nervous.

Perhaps I'm belatedly turning into a over-protective parent

So far, he has turned up on time usually 4.10pm....... but am not unduly worried at this stage.

Orm,I worried today as he was coming all the way home on his own,the last few days I met him half way..but he turned up on time - I'm sure that anxiety should wear off in a bit !
He really hasn't been out on his own at all before now - we don't live near enough shops for me to send him out on errands - though I do send him to post letters etc.
Anyway, back safely, doing some homework.

I'm most impressed. I had an message on my answering machine from DD's form tutor. My heart sank when I heard "this is Mrs ***" I was like eeeeeeeek whats she done? The message went on to say DD appears to be settling in nicely, was a little bit quiet but and hasn't had any problems so far and if I needed to contact her to not hesitate in ringing to talk to her. I thought that was really nice of her to ring.

ds1 has had another good day - no PE on Mondays!

Tomorrow is PE and he still hasn't sorted out a locker, so will have to carry all his kit around all day.

In lots of subjects they've been doing tests, which is no surprise. But ds1 says in Maths, English and Science they've been re-doing the SATs papers from 2008, which sounds rather odd to me. Has anyone else come across this?

roisin DS1 has had pe today and has got it tomorrow - so that is two days in a row he has to carry his kit around.

He has not mentioned any tests to us and from the work he has brought home it does not look like he has been doing any.

magentadreamer - that was nice of the teacher to ring you.

magenta - that's lovely ! is it usual ? nice if it is...

ds has a locker but for some reason has carted the entire kit home again...