any advise on state primary to private seconndary induction

[alann]

Ds going this week to induction day of new school,he doesn't know anyone and feeling very nervous, any advise welcome.

It can be rather scary - particularly if the secondary school has a prep school or major feeder schools and your DC is the only person from their school. When this happened to my DS, he looked around for other boys who were on their own and stuck with them. Of course, as time goes on they all mix, but at induction days the new pupils tend to stick with the groups they know in a defensive manner!

Thanks for your posts, some very sound advise, I'm probably just being a neurotic mum.
Thanks again

My DD had same situation but induction day was so busy that she was fine. Same applied to start of term as well.

I would also second amicissima's point that the school did expect the "oldies" to be extra welcoming to the "newbies".

My school organises 'buddies' from present year 7 for each new child, to show them round, go to Break and Lunch and make them feel at home.

Any decent school plans for this and is aware that a lot of children don't know anyone, and should bend over backwards to help them get to know others in their new form etc. There will be activities aplenty, I'm sure.

When I went to secondary school (state) I was the only one there from my primary and I just turned up on the first day, never having even been inside, and had to get on with it. I can assure you things have changed completely!

I am a Year 7 form tutor in a school with its own prep school. We get about half of our senior pupils from our prep school and the other half from outside. We tend to split our prep children evenly into the forms and then put twos and threes from the same school into the same form, we will also group the singles into 2s and 3s. This is fairly standard practice.

I wouldn't worry about the integration. The existing pupils are eager to befriend the new ones. Senior school is so different for all of them, and friendship groups at that age are all very mobile anyway.

I find that everyone leaves the induction day as very happy children.

My son moved to a prep school for Year 7, he is now 17 and in the lower 6th form at an independent school. My hubby and I would say that it was the best decision we ever made. He was very happy from day 1. He moved into a class of 13 (from a class of 36), he was the only one from the state sector and never looked back