Finishing yr 6 starting yr 7 - useful to know (a year on).

Spendless

My eldest child is in yr 7 now. So this time last year we had just got his secondary school place thru. So with the benefit of hindsight this is what I wish I'd known then - to help others with kids moving up to Secondary school. Fair enough some may be exclusive to my school/area but at least you'd know to check.

So

I had 10 days notice to find £30 for a stationery order for DS. :eek:The items on the list were cheaper to buy via the Secondary school - the bundle was given to each child when they spent their transition days there in the summer but it wasn't much notice. Fortunately we could meet it, but for some families that would be a struggle.

I really wish I'd bought a larger bag for DS especially on PE days when he has to take rugby shirt, pe shirt, shorts, trainers, football boots, football socks, sports socks and shin pads and would receive a detention if any part of the kit is missing. There is nowhere for them to store the kit, no lockers so it has to be carted round all day.

Uniform- Luckily I knew enough about my town to know there was an Independant shop that sold a very good copy of the school jumpers a couple of quid each cheaper.;) However beware the 'you can buy a school item or the equivalent in the school colours' and school colours are just not found on the high street. My friend fell foul of this when she tried to buy a rugby shirt in school colours in shops. She was saved when I received my school one and the label had been left on so I could tell her which website the school were using.

balletshoes

This could be a really useful thread for us secondary school newbies . Any more for any more?

patchwork_cat

I think that a lot of things are school specific. However the one thing that does seem to be is expect unexpected expenses.

My DD does have a locker, so doesn't need a larger bag on PE days. You can not buy her uniform from any where else as it is badged. I wish I hadn't bothered buying hockey/football boots in yr 7 as she is only just using them in Yr 9 and ofcourse the ones bought in Yr 7 are too small and unused!

jane130

I know the secondary my kids go to like to take them away on camp for "bonding" at the end of september so it might be a good idea to start saving a little now if that's likely to happen

Seanymph

Don't buy every item on the uniform list until you've checked with someone who has older children at the school. I bought school socks (£8.99) and apparently 'only losers' ever wear them, and they were unworn five years later when they left school.

peachyprice

:rotfl::rotfl:
Yes, same with the jumpers at our school, again, only for 'losers'

Spendless

Oh backing books. I bought the 'sticky backed plastic' stuff but though most of the school subjects have a diff colour exercise book, some share the same colour. DS got a detention for not doing his History homework. He had done it but pasted it into his French book cos they were the same colour (rolls eyes!!!). What a lot of people have done instead is to cut pics out before covering in plastic so French book has pic of Eiffel Towel on it and Geography a pic of a map, History Kings and Queens etc.

I also made a 'station stop' for DS. A drawer in a cupboard in our hallway. All loose books, pieces of homework etc I come across go in there. I recently bought him a Thesauras as he said he'd find it helpful with English and am glad I didn't buy at the 1st shop (smiths) where it was about £8 as I picked it up for 99p in The Works.

CruisingSaver

My DD is also in Y7 and moved from a small primary school (one class per year group) to a huuuge high school (more children in Y7 than the whole of her primary school put together!).

Here are some pointers/things I've learnt from me, some of which may be school/LEA specific or just plain common sense:D:

The KS2 SATS served no purpose other than to boost the reputation of the primary school. For virtually the whole of Y6 we were continually told that the SATS were soooo important because the HS would stream the kids in Y7 based on their results. In our area at least this was utter phooey and the kids were retested by the HS during September!

If your child is going to be using LEA provided transport to get to school, apply early for your travel pass even if you live less than 3 miles away. Once your application has been sent in, phone them regularly for updates on the process. If I hadn't followed up DD's application I'm convinced she would still be waiting for her bus pass!

If lockers are provided then make sure you get a spare key (or 2!) cut as the charge for replacing them can be quite expensive.

First day nerves are going to happen. Some of us who had kids going to the same school arranged for them to meet at the school doors on the first day. Even if they don't speak to each other for the rest of their time at HS it helps to have a familiar face to walk into a scary new school building with.

I'll probably think of some more later.......

chocdonuty

Same kind of thing for us although dd moved to a middle school in yr5 and she will move again for yr 9, even more uniform changes!!
Keep an eye out for uniform in the local charity shops/freecycle, you could put up an ad on freecycle asking for old uniform, even if the qualitys not great they would be fine as spares until you can afford a whole new pe kit or jumper that gets lost.
Find out where best to park and get there on time if you can,
If you walk like me with your child then try to find the safest/fastest route for you and the time it takes to get there.
Kids will definatly become more independent once they change schools it's quite scary!

gingin_2

My ds started this year too. Big shock for me more than him - he went to a very small primary school for 7 years, I knew all the parents and it's weird letting your child go off with someone you have never met.

My son is awful at losing things. I keep a spare bag of stationary items to fill up his pencil case with - I have made him contribute to this at times because losing 4 pens in a week is not acceptable! We put a cord on the zip of his bag and attatched his phone and door key. Whilst it was attatched he never lost it - once it came off we never saw the phone or key again.

I keep a pack of plain postcards and once he has met up with a friend a few times I give him a card to give to the parent with my name and mobile number on. I've only done it a few times and it has been reciprocated.

I wrote his timetable out and stuck it inside a cupboard door and made sure it had the room numbers on - it helped in the first month, so first thing in the morning he could easily get his head around where he had to go and when.

Good luck Balletshoes and all new year 7 mums.

mrcow

CruisingSaver wrote: »

The KS2 SATS served no purpose other than to boost the reputation of the primary school. For virtually the whole of Y6 we were continually told that the SATS were soooo important because the HS would stream the kids in Y7 based on their results. In our area at least this was utter phooey and the kids were retested by the HS during September!

Every secondary school I've been to retests in September in English Maths and Science. You can take the KS2 results with a pinch of salt in many cases as often the level given is not the level that the child is working at.