Year 7 Spring Term ....

[MaryAnnSingleton]

our thread, part two - all ready for the new term !! ds goes back on Tuesday...

DD had to do a leaflet on reproduction for science. She finds the whole S-E-X thing completely gross. She also said she really didn't know why they had to have sex ed in yr5. She has got a book somewhere I bought on periods etc which did get read as she asked a few questions. I'm just very open about things with her.

MAS - someone is looking for you

oh thanks bellavita ! and thanks for those nice things you said about me !!

I have just bought the lets talk about sex book for dd1 but haven't got around to looking at it properly yet. Did skim through it and although I think it looks good and well geared to her age I can't help but wonder how to deal with the questions which will inevitable arise from it. I mean I have a very good relationship with dd1 and she asks me about anything that pops into her head. I try to give her a matter of fact answer but there are some subjects I don't really think we need to talk about yet that are just touched on (maybe just a sentence in passing) in the book. How do you all manage these?

I try to be as matter of fact as I can be whenever ds asks me anything ! He is a one to voice his anxieties which is good- hope I can be upfront and not embarrassed !

DD's Science teacher is still off sick hopefully it's not going to be a long term thing as DD really enjoys his lessons. They've a trip to the Science museum in manchester next Monday which DD is looking forward to.

ds back from seeing tutor at pupil review day - all seems ok..he has to do more chatting to others and in class. Oh and to join in more with team games - that he does find tricky I know. He has his interim report and all is fine there,the only thing he seems to be not achieving so well in is ICT, but excellent progress in his attitude towards music and geography -yay !

magenta - DS will be in Manchester next Monday on a geography field trip!

Sounds like your DS is doing well MAS

We have our parent consultation meeting with DS's form tutor at 9.30 on Thursday morning. He is insisting that the Head of Year has said that pupils do not have to attend with their parents, but we have a letter stating otherwise

Glad pupil review day went well MAS. We have no idea when ours is yet. I am quite keen to meet her teachers, I have heard so much about all of them, but never even seen one!

thanks ! we can attend these meetings but ds wanted to go alone - @ bellavita's ds !

Aargh! DD1 has comehome saying that she has to take in a lamb's heart to dissect in science next week! Eugh at me having to buy it and even more eugh at her cutting it up. She really doesn't want to do it and is quite convinced she is going to pass out or throw up .

yick ! don't schools provide stuff for dissection anymore ?
Am glad I didn't have to buy my own rat and dogfish

Eeek!@dissection. I hope DD doesn't have to do it anytime soon,I think she'll play on the veggie card if she does!

I remember having to dissect earthworms. Pretty sure we didn't have to bring in our own though.

Polgara - , must mean that I have this to look forward to then - bleugh

Do any of you have a ds at an all-boys school? Did you have misgivings about the all-boy thing and if so, how have things turned out?

Dd is in Yr7 at an all girls school, which suits her perfectly but now I am slightly freaking out about the ds's as we obviously won't be able to get in under the sibling rule! Now that this year's places have been announced it is pretty clear that we don't have a hope of getting into our nearest mixed school as it is so over-subscribed. Our most likely option for the ds's is single-sex and I worry how ds1 in particular would fare there. He is very acadamic but not good at team sports, not great at making friends, slightly "girly", etc and I know bullying has been an issue at this school, hence my concerns.

The mixed school would suit him perfectly but unless we move closer I doubt he would get in... I suppose the other option is to try an under-subscribed mixed school miles away....

That's a tricky one GrapefruitMoon. We only have mixed schools in this area. Actually we only have two schools within 10 miles of us and there is nothing to choose between them. I think DD would secretly quite like an all-girl school.

I went to an all girls school and liked it very much but that was many,many years ago...don't think ds would fare well in an all boys, being similar to your ds Grapefruitmoon.

Yes I went to an all-girls school too as did my sisters and we all did well there. My brother went to an all-boys school and did less well - and I think ds is quite similar to him....

We don't have any single sex schools here. I quite like the idea - for boys and girls - but I don't have any personal experience of them. But I don't think single sex schools are particularly bad for bullying. Though an individual school may well have a lax attitude, if there are weaknesses in management.

ds1 is certainly not sporty or athletic or good at making friends. But he still spends almost all of his time with boys rather than girls, so therefore at a similarly-sized school he would have more potential friends. And out of those peers there would be more chance that he would find soul-mates and people with more in common with him.

ds1 is very academic, a bit nerdy/geeky. There are always other children around who are similar to him in some ways, but he needs to go and seek them out iyswim.

The school in question used to have a good reputation, then had quite weak leadership for a few years which seems to have had a detrimental effect. Has just suffered an arson attack by current pupils which is not doing anything to instill confidence in the current regime...

Well, we have been to DS's parent consultation and yay - all is well!!!

His form tutor had nothing but praise for him, said he was a little bit of a worrier (when he was unsure about something, but he takes after me on that score), but he is doing well on all of his subjects, his attitude to learning is excellent and he is very well organised.

Just need to work on his attitude and organisational skills at home now....

Ah yes, we had an interim report that said dd was very organised - we joked that they must have got muddled with another girl who has the same name! DD is obv a swan - they don't see all the furious paddling that goes on 2 minutes before she leaves the house!

ha ! well done Grapefruitmoon's dd and bellavita's ds