Oh! Oh! My firstborn starts secondary school in September. Surely that warrants a support thread?

[Cadelaide]

Am I a bit too early for this?

I mean it's months away yet, isn't it?

For me it is really like diving in the unknown. I grew up abroad and my secondary school was in the same building as my primary one (small village)only on two different floors.

It was very hard for me to go through the process of finding her a high school and it will probably take me a lot of time to understand how things work. DD1 is my little guinnea pig the poor girl!

How did it go Kid?

DS went off this morning. he looks both very grown up and very small in his big blazer!

Still sewing fecking name tags onto fecking rugby socks..

So did you all sent your DC with full PE kit on the first day? DS! insists he will need to take it all just increase, but I think just the basics (and not full on rugger kit) will be sufficient. He'll need a suitcase on wheels to take everything.

lol Lyneyye.
I know what you mean.
Ds had his school bag, pe bag and football kit bag today. God knows how he sat down on the bus.
I had to drop something off at his school, and in the foyer was a display about the Summer School they'd had. And ds had some work displayed in it (proud mother face)

He is having trials for the football A team tonight, so will be home later.

I dropped dd off half way to the school with the instruction to phone me when she got there. I didn't get a call so I phoned her but her phone was off. At hometime, I expected her to arrive at ds's school by 3:20. I phoned her at 3:27 and she was on her way with her aunt. Obviously my sis worried about her getting there safely so met her on my behalf!

She has arranged to meet her friend tomorrow which is good.

I'm going to get dd a plain black coat, I don't care if there is a uniform coat, the paperwork said they can wear a dark coat, I just need to find one now!
She has pe on Wednesday and only has White trainers. I assume they will do as they didn't specify a colour.

She has her first piece of homework which is due in tomorrow.

This morning was a disaster - ds's pencil case was still lost and the zip on his schoolbag broke - sob!!! Mad scramble for spare pens and pencils and a lot of digging in a wardrobe produced an ancient rucksack so the day was saved!

Ds looked so teeny going off on his own.

What did your ds make of the headmaster's tale of woe about the Chelsea tickets? Ds thought it was hilarious! He wasn't quite so pleased about getting 2 pieces of homework .

Hope everyone else had a good day.

Oh no, Caoimhe, just what you need added stress to the day!

ds2 starts tomorrow. There was less eye-rolling when I chatted with him again today about stuff and first impressions and "what if" scenarios and making friends, etc. So I guess he realises it is important.

ds2 is taking in a basic PE kit - polo shirt, rugby shirt, shorts, rugby socks and trainers. But not the full works (tracksuit bottoms, football boots, shin pads, etc.)

ds1 isn't taking in any PE kit. He says it's OK not to on the first day. (He says he probably won't have PE, if he does they'll probably just talk at them anyway!)

Dino - we were told that it should be a plain, black coat; fortunately last year's still fits! He was less impressed today - the novelty is wearing off.

DD loved it today, she hasn't stopped smiling and talking about it this evening, such a huge difference to Friday!

I checked the paperwork again to see about trainers. The photo of the girl wearing the PE kit has white trainers on so I won't worry about trying to get black trainers.

She has completed her first piece of homework, after she played out. That will not happen again, homework will have to come first.

She will be doing a language this year and has to decide which language she would prefer. She is opting for Spanish as her first choice. Hopefully she will get it as I won't be much use to her if she gets French or Bengali! Mind you, my Spanish isn't fantastic either lol

Is Bengali a first language option? Never heard of it as a mainstream option before but maybe thats just due to schools in my area of london.

DD will be learning a language this year (Y7) and they gave an option of 3 languages. They told us to show our preference and if we don't send the letter back, they will assume we don't mind and allocate a language for her.

We are in East London, bordering Tower Hamlets which is why Bengali is an option I assume.

Is anyone else feeling like there's not enough time in the day for everything?

DD is leaving at 7.30am and got home yesterday at 5.30, tonight it will be 6.30, due to the ASC's she is signing up for. Then after tea there's homework (already!) and hardly any time to relax, watch TV before bath and bed.

And there is so much to remember and sort out. I don't remember it being like this in my day!

She is worn out already, and so am I.

How far away is her school??

DS left, day one today at 7.55am and will return home at 3.05pm! School day is 8.35 to 2.50, and 3 miles away.

Don't know if I can coerce him into any after school clubs or not, guess she'll come home today to say.

Ds goes in today for 2 hours, his head has posted on Twitter about how excited he is Lovely man! It says full school uniform is required, do you think this includes PE kit?

Ampere, her school is probably 2 or 3 miles away, but there's not a direct bus route. They have to be in between 8.30 and 8.40.

School finishes at 3.10, but she keeps signing up for sports clubs. If she comes directly home and manages to get on a bus, she should be back sometime between 4 and 4.30 depending on buses.

I waved DD1 and her friend away this morning. Both very exited she got on the bus fine but did not text me once she arrived. I cannot wait for her to come back and tell me about her day. On the way back she is going to stop close to her siblings school so we can all walk back together (probably won't happen every day). The other Dcs thought it was "weird" for us to walk to school without her.

MmeTrevignon, were you given a list of the ASCs to go through at home?

Well we got a list of last years (which are still on their website!), but I think the teachers are jsut telling the children daily which ones are doing trials on the next day and giving the ones that want to do it the permission slips. I just hope she doesn't want to do one tomorrow - she needs an easier evening!

Took my DS on the bus to school this morning for his first day. He was SOOOO excited, as was I but I was trying to act cool (shouldn't it be the other way around ).
I can't wait for him to come back and tell all. I have changed my name to reflect my current obsession

Well, I put dS on the bus today, and to my horor found they have changed bus companies, and instead of having a coach they have a double decker.

Do double deckers have seat belts? Is a 13 mile journey, down a mixture of country roads, and a dual carriage way. I very nearly phoned the bus company to complain, but a (childless) colleague talked me out of it. The council have obviously given the contract to the cheapest bidding company.
Should I say something to the bus company? or the council? Or both? Or am I being precious?

Dd isn't as happy tonight. She phoned me after school to come and collect her which I did as I was nearby and she waited in the car while I picked ds up (from her old primary sch)
I hope nothing has happened, I'll keep an eye on her and see what happens. It might just be a case of being tired. I won't jump to any conclusions just yet. If she starts refusing to go to school, I'll start asking her questions.

Oh dear kid.

It seems like all the new Y7's round here are exhausted - mine certainly is, and it's only day 2

I'm exhausted too, from treading on egg-shells!