Children and transition to secondary school - your advice/experience.

balletshoes

*mudangel* wrote: »

She has an iPod Touch, but no actual mobile yet. We do have 'family mobile' - we termed it that as we didn't want her to think of it as hers! It's a really cheap PAYG phone with £10 credit for emergency calls. It's only got our contact numbers stored.

I do wonder if she'll get laughed out of the school for it!

What phone is acceptable for most year 7s? I'm reluctant to spend much until I'm sure she can take care of it.

if she's not fussed at the moment, I wouldn't worry too much about it. She will have a better idea herself once she starts school in September, and she can guide you.

susancs

My youngest daughter is now at the end of Year 7 and I had all the same worries as you, even though my eldest daughter attends the same school. My youngest child is a quieter, less condident child than her sibling but has made lots of lovely new friends of her own and really loves school.

Like others have said a mobile phone is useful, especially if you set up a pre-paid bundle of so many texts and minutes as this works out cheaper than just adding pay as you go credit. They use this to text about school, homework, meeting up in holidays as well as for emergencies. Facebook is also very useful as they end up having a lot of their class year on it. I would set up the safety ground rules and let her know that you will be her friend on FB and check conversations regularly.

If she has friends who are going to the school, ask parents if she can have their mobile number to use in the event of emergencies. Also set up places near to home they can go if they forget keys or do not want to be home alone. We have often had children come to our house to wait if parents are running late home from work. We also have a spare set of keys in a box and plastic bag buried in our front garden which our girls have dug up when front door keys were forgotten.

Ensure you check how lunch is paid for if she is not taking a packed lunch as for example my children's school operate a cashless canteen system, money is taken off their finger print and this has to be topped up by a parent using parentpay. Also have a good supply of light snack items as your child and any friends will come in from school very hungry and unable to wait until dinner is ready. Current fav of my children and friends is toast and milk, but yogurts, fruit, cheese and crackers all go down well.

My year 7 child has had a samsung galaxy mini and a lot of her friends have similar.