Changing schools mid-year

sumsup

My child is changing schools at half term. knows a few other children at the new school, but none in the same class. Does anyone have any tips for helping my child ( and me!) to cope with the change? We are having lots of tears and bad behaviour since doing a "settling in" day last week. staying at current school is not an option!

thank you

pigpen

make sure he gets the addresses and phone numbers of his best friends so he can stay in touch.. if he thinks he may never ever see them again I can understand the upset.. make sure he knows they can be in contact!

If he goes to any after school clubs.. ask what is available at the new school and see if he can join there too..

Don't make a big deal about it.. be calm and reassuring but avod things like 'when you go to your new school...' that will be another reminder he is leaving everyone and everything he knows and will make him more scared.. just talk to him and answer questions as they arise and when/if he mentions it and stay calm yourself!

mirrorimage0

as long as you do not react in a negative way to it then it your child should not start to panic, make it into an adventure for them, as pigpen has said make sure he can stay in contact with friends from his old school, but reassure hm he will find friends in this school. ie promise them a playdate after the first week at school with a new friend just to the park for an hour or something.

find out if they wants school dinners or pack lunches as there may be certain children they want to sit with.
i generally get my boys to find out some facts about thier teacher, can be interesting or funny, like what football teams do they support or do they snore when they are asleep lol

unfortunatley you will worry no matter what, but i bet it wont take long for them to settle in. x

sumsup

Thank you for the replies. It was last day at old school today, no tears thank goodness. I'm going to make sure we have lots of activities in half term so no time to get worried!

moodydonkey

Sorry, not sure how old your child is. My girls relocated when 5/6 and then DD2 went to a High School in a different catchment so knew nobody. I think I worried more than they ever did! We haven't had any problems, it's amazing how quickly young people move on from their best friends in the world ever and find new ones. Just be positive yourself. I found I spent a lot of time worrying about things that MAY happen and they never did. Best wishes.