what preparation do we need to do for secondary school
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
what preparation do we need to do for secondary school
Trying to think ahead a little, so asking advice of year 7 parents and above, what preparation do we need to do for the transition to secondary school. DS currently walks to small village school (65 plus kids) so I know the travel and size are going to be considerations along with the fact that I will not be in the playground to nag him about all the items he has forgotten. I also think time management and organisation are going to be key but are there any other issues I need to think about to make the move less stressful for both of us?
Re: what preparation do we need to do for secondary school
You'll need to develop a good relationship with the school office - at Stroud High called 'Student Services'.
This is so they know who you are when you take your child's forgotten lunch box, PE kit, musical instruments, etc in at least once a week.
Apart from that, we found Stroud Highs' handover worked very well. They sent out a member of staff to talk to every new pupil at their primary school, gave them their log-in details for the extranet so they could ask questions of older pupils, had a fun induction day. It was very positive and exciting.
We did a couple of dry runs walking to school, primarily on the induction day and en-route to friends houses, so DD didn't realise we were training her; we also let her start walking to youth club on her own (whilst making sure she was in a group of friends). Other than that, we didn't have to do anything special.
This is so they know who you are when you take your child's forgotten lunch box, PE kit, musical instruments, etc in at least once a week.
Apart from that, we found Stroud Highs' handover worked very well. They sent out a member of staff to talk to every new pupil at their primary school, gave them their log-in details for the extranet so they could ask questions of older pupils, had a fun induction day. It was very positive and exciting.
We did a couple of dry runs walking to school, primarily on the induction day and en-route to friends houses, so DD didn't realise we were training her; we also let her start walking to youth club on her own (whilst making sure she was in a group of friends). Other than that, we didn't have to do anything special.
Capers
DS1 & I found it a HUGE change.
Like you, we are a few minutes' walk from our primary (200 kids). But not just that, it was the work. He was exhausted for much of that first term - although the Autumn term is the worst one, increasingly dark, very long etc. Homework flooding in nightly was a shock - at primary we get, what? a piece a week. Nothing to stress about and my sons have tended to do it at breakfast on the day of hand-in. It has certainly not required any more input than the actual time needed to fill in the gaps in the worksheet.
Y7 brings 2, 3, 4 even 5 bits of homework, some needed to be handed in the next day and this when they are getting back, generally, an hour or so later than they are used to.
We found that there was absolutely no bridging between Ys6 and 7 and it was one heck of a culture shock. Then throw in the moving about between subjects and a multitude of teachers cf primary and one room, one teacher. They do get used to it, of course, but it IS tiring.
Like you, we are a few minutes' walk from our primary (200 kids). But not just that, it was the work. He was exhausted for much of that first term - although the Autumn term is the worst one, increasingly dark, very long etc. Homework flooding in nightly was a shock - at primary we get, what? a piece a week. Nothing to stress about and my sons have tended to do it at breakfast on the day of hand-in. It has certainly not required any more input than the actual time needed to fill in the gaps in the worksheet.
Y7 brings 2, 3, 4 even 5 bits of homework, some needed to be handed in the next day and this when they are getting back, generally, an hour or so later than they are used to.
We found that there was absolutely no bridging between Ys6 and 7 and it was one heck of a culture shock. Then throw in the moving about between subjects and a multitude of teachers cf primary and one room, one teacher. They do get used to it, of course, but it IS tiring.
[img]http://sl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/47/47055t4vjrz296r.gif[/img]
Yep, echo that. My DD was tired and emotional and felt she could not cope with anything at all - even very straightforward homework which if she had looked properly, would have taken 2 minutes. Where I would probably disagree with others is that I would say do nothing at all to prepare them! This is a rite of passage, it is a phase which goes, they all go through it and come out the other side. What I think is more important is to help them to enjoy those precious last few carefree months of primary school, when they can play outside, chill out, muck around with their friends, or without them, and not take life too seriously. You can't repeat your childhood, and if the last few months at primary are about 'preparation for secondary' then it is so sad. They will get through it anyway.
Let the children play!
Let the children play!
Our primary ramps up homework in Y5 and Y6; project pages once a week, maths, english and of course, spellings (though both mine never bothered until the morning before the weekly test). So Grammar came as little change on that front.Milla wrote: Homework flooding in nightly was a shock - at primary we get, what? a piece a week.
Capers
yes, I agree with Amber. I was glad that our children put on a play and had a residential trip and so on once SATs were over, since they'd have to get used to it once it was a reality so why intrude on the innocent time until you had to. That said, it's still a massive change! Am quite looking forward to it - maybe, finally, he'll go to sleep before 11pm!
[img]http://sl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/47/47055t4vjrz296r.gif[/img]
