New Year 7s

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Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: New Year 7s

Post by Okanagan »

I've actually been pleasantly surprised with ds1. No major blowouts on the prepaid lunch card, hasn't yet forgotten anything (although I have been checking), all homework done (albeit with a fair bit of prompting), and nothing lost as far as I know (but I've not exactly done an inventory or audit of his pencil case).

Mondays are going to be a bit of a logistical challenge though, with homework to get in for nearly all subjects, PE kit and football kit needed, and ingredients / containers to take in for food tech lessons, not all of it chosen for easy transportability/durability. Next week he has to take in a pineapple (without stabbing himself with it - I might get him to trim the top leaves first even if they are supposed to do all the prep work themselves in the lesson) and strawberries (without crushing them) amongst other things. I dread the day they decide to make something which needs eggs - not sure they'd survive the bike trip, and I wouldn't fancy the cleanup operation afterwards if they didn't!

One thing we have done is set up a whiteboard for homework - each piece is entered on to the board against the day it is due, ticked off when it is done, and wiped off when it is handed in. That's helping quite a lot with the planning as the timescales vary quite a lot - some are two days, others a week, others from whenever they're given to after the weekend. At the moment that is helping with the planning as he can see which ones need to be done with more urgency. I'm also trying to get him into the habit of always doing them with a day in hand - so if it is due on Thursday he'll have it complete by Tuesday evening, to allow for any unforeseen last minute issues. That's probably the biggest culture shock - the amount of homework. Some subjects seem to be setting work which exceeds the amount of time they actually spend in the lessons, and the overall amount is already a lot more than the approximately an hour a day which was suggested before they started.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: New Year 7s

Post by southbucks3 »

School buses are very harsh environments, it is brilliant that your son has his big sis, but she will of course need to keep with her own peer group. Both on my sons school bus, and my friends indie school bus text bullying is harsh, particularly grabbing someones phone and texting nasty things to their contact list, so make sure his is password protected, and he does not get it out on the bus. My son came home on Monday flabbergasted that a year 7 had got away with sitting on the back seat, turned out he was the bruv of a sixth former, he said it was funny watching other year 7 kids try and fail though. He is year 8 and happy to earn his stripes! There is no solution other than finding someone to sit next to every day, and not getting involved. My son made the mistake of getting involved once, as he rescued a school book that was being held to randsom by a child. I ended up with a week of texts from a parent suggesting my son had bullied the child who had stolen the book! He had not, he is a very gentle giant, and many witnesses backed him up. Popularity bribery, in the form of sweets and doritos is also rife on my sons bus. In fairness though, whenever things get left or lost, kids pick them up and return them, it is like an unwritten bus law, as it could happen to you, it only applies to the confines of the bus though.
KS10
Posts: 2516
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:39 am

Re: New Year 7s

Post by KS10 »

DT is a major pain: lots of find 3 pictures and stick it in your book-type things (so a major waste of paper as they tend to be internet-based), but worse than that, some of the questions are so badly worded and the websites so clearly not geared towards KS3, that it's almost impossible for your average child to feel positive about it. Sometimes it seems as though there is so much content that they're trying to cover as much as possible by getting them to do much of it in the form of research homework.
Reading Mum
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Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: New Year 7s

Post by Reading Mum »

It has all been fairly smooth here so far. DD gets home around 3:40 and I don't finish work (at home) till 5:30, at least, so she has done all her homework the night it has been set. Luckily it has all been smallish pieces as far as I know.
She has coped with walking to school on her own for the first time really well. As far as I know she hasn't forgotten anything and has made it to her new sax lesson too. She hasn't tried any after school clubs yet so that might make homework more of a challenge when she does.

sorry to hear that some DCs have been teased - not nice.
DC17C
Posts: 1197
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: New Year 7s

Post by DC17C »

:( Not nice! How much older is your DD?
DD is 12 so Yr8 somewhat quirky and quite confident and takes no messing :D

Another poster mentioned she needs to stick to her peer group - this she does not do she has a lot of friends in higher years - yrs10 & 11 mostly through her being recruited as a school librarian and spending a lot of her spare time in the library. She has managed to recruit a year 7 for library duty already. She also does guides so mixes with a wide age group through that. Her guider made her a patrol leader when she was 11 as she could see she was a strong character and would cope well with it.
Last edited by DC17C on Fri Sep 13, 2013 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hera
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: New Year 7s

Post by Hera »

(I would say this wouldn't I but..) don't get the self fit ones, they won't cut the mustard in a nasty ball/stick strike. Go to your dentist. It won't cost any more than the school ones do but you have a bit more comeback if it's not comfortable.
I did ring our dentist and the receptionist said about £60 which is double the opro one. Maybe I should try another dentist. I think part of the problem is his teeth are very short.

I think it is a big learning curve for all our year 7s. Getting themselves to and from school, organising bags, homework, new friends etc. My DS is very happy (apart form the bleeding gums). I hope and am sure that those with kids taking time to settle and encountering difficulties in the first couple of weeks will soon settle and find their niche. Amber can we come to your DHs practice - sure you are nowhere near!
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: New Year 7s

Post by Okanagan »

I'd love "find three pictures" - he could be left to get on with that one himself. Over this weekend ds1 has got to create a presentation on "a historical character".

Perhaps the collected wisdom of the site can help with that...

He wants to do Alan Turing, which is an interesting choice: Enigma which helped to shorten WWII and arguably saved many lives, a pioneer of computing and the consequences of that on modern day life, withdrawal of security clearance and discrediting in the post war/cold war era, changing modern views which put that in a different perspective (and surprisingly liberal views on that coming from a Y7 boy). But would Alan Turing be considered too obscure a subject? Are they likely to be looking for a more major historical figure? Or someone from rather longer ago? More of a political figure? And perhaps of most concern, will there be negative consequences for ds1 of him of putting in a presentation that his chosen character was homosexual - I'd not like to see his willingness to include a potentially awkward topic turned back on him if others in his class are less tolerant.

Should I let him do it, or steer him towards a safer choice?
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: New Year 7s

Post by Reading Mum »

we have never yet had a mouth guard that fitted. DD's junior school insisted on them for hockey so we are a few years in now.
We tried the opro in school fitting service the first time but what came back was unwearable. They sent us a mould to do at home but that also was unwearable so eventually they refunded and we went of a basic home fit one. They never stay on that well so DD has learnt to keep her moth shut!
She has a very small mouth with several shark teeth (one behind the other) so we are off back to the orthodontist soon to see which ones need to come out next :( She still has all her baby molars and several other baby teeth and the only self fit guard that will actually fit in her mouth is the 'up to age 9' size.
ginx
Posts: 2151
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: New Year 7s

Post by ginx »

I'm really pleased so far. My dd2, now at gs, was terribly disorganised at junior school, deliberately forgot weekly maths homework, never did any reading or literacy (because she is lucky, she can naturally read and spell quite well).

I had to nag her to do a reading log in the holidays but she did it, albeit the absolute minimum.

However, although I have to nag her to do homework daily, and she doesn't seem to have much compared to her friends at the comp., I am looking at her planner and making her do as much as I can daily. But she hasn't had much! Cover books. Write a few words. Learn some French/Spanish. She has to be nagged and has cried a couple of times and said she doesn't know what to do, but a phone call to a friend and suggestions from us and she has been ok.

The problem is the flute; she needs to practice and won't. But I suppose she can always give that up.

She's cycling to school and even in the rain, without moaning. She wants to be independent. But I'm so glad about the homework. She seems to have made a friend, but of course I have no idea what life is like in the classroom.

But a good start for her. However, she's not looking after her diabetes and that's very difficult to monitor. I keep threatening to go into school (that would embarrass her) but am unsure what to do.

Re mouth guards. We bought one, but our dentist provides and fits them for free on the nhs! The one we have hurts her back gums as it is too big, so we will be going to the dentist next week.

I suppose I should be glad, but she doesn't seem to be getting much homework compared to all of your dc. I suppose she will gradually get more.
Last edited by ginx on Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: New Year 7s

Post by mystery »

Okanagan wrote:I'd love "find three pictures" - he could be left to get on with that one himself. Over this weekend ds1 has got to create a presentation on "a historical character".

Perhaps the collected wisdom of the site can help with that...

He wants to do Alan Turing, which is an interesting choice: Enigma which helped to shorten WWII and arguably saved many lives, a pioneer of computing and the consequences of that on modern day life, withdrawal of security clearance and discrediting in the post war/cold war era, changing modern views which put that in a different perspective (and surprisingly liberal views on that coming from a Y7 boy). But would Alan Turing be considered too obscure a subject? Are they likely to be looking for a more major historical figure? Or someone from rather longer ago? More of a political figure? And perhaps of most concern, will there be negative consequences for ds1 of him of putting in a presentation that his chosen character was homosexual - I'd not like to see his willingness to include a potentially awkward topic turned back on him if others in his class are less tolerant.

Should I let him do it, or steer him towards a safer choice?
Oh goodness. Just one weekend to do that? What guidance and teaching have they received on doing a presentation? Maybe he can discuss the advisability or not of putting in the homosexual element with the teacher? Are all children going to be given a chance to give their presentations ... that will take up a lot of lesson time. What is the time limit?
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