How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
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pheasantchick
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How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
Just wondering how all our dc's are settling in, as they come the end of their third week?
Have they settled, made friends, joined clubs, coping with transport etc?
Don't they look smart in their uniform!
(Was hoping to post a 1950s type school photo of Gs uniform-clad pupils but failed)
Have they settled, made friends, joined clubs, coping with transport etc?
Don't they look smart in their uniform!
(Was hoping to post a 1950s type school photo of Gs uniform-clad pupils but failed)
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
Mine looks lovely and smart ( that is a miracle in itself) and I feel I can see the young man he is about to become. Very proud. He has also joined just about every club imaginable and is enjoying pursuing new interests. Enjoying all the new subjects too and made lots of friends.
Ok, that's the gushy part over with : he has lost 2 locker keys ( they were still together
); has to pack and re-pack his bag three times and there are still missing things in the morning; carries his entire body weight in books everyday and still insists he stuff his PE kit in the same bag ; his form teacher said there have been 2 missing home works so far although I have been doing my best to check that he does it all on the night he gets it; and he insists he can remember everything rather than put it in his planner (hence missing homework).
I am tired and so is he.
Ok, that's the gushy part over with : he has lost 2 locker keys ( they were still together
); has to pack and re-pack his bag three times and there are still missing things in the morning; carries his entire body weight in books everyday and still insists he stuff his PE kit in the same bag ; his form teacher said there have been 2 missing home works so far although I have been doing my best to check that he does it all on the night he gets it; and he insists he can remember everything rather than put it in his planner (hence missing homework).I am tired and so is he.
UmSusu
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Reading Mum
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- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
- Location: Reading
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
It has gone really well so far. We are all very happy.
My shy and slightly nervous DD was walking to and from school on her own from day 3 - it is only about a mile but the roads are big and full of rush hour drivers and school run parents. She had never done this at junior school. So far no homework has been missed or kit/instrument/food tech stuff left behind. Homework is being done on the day set as she is actually home much earlier than she used to be when I collected her from after school care.
This morning she said that if I need her to pick up anything from the CoOp to just send her a text as she passes it on her way home - until recently she had only ever shopped once on her own and that was part of a Brownie badge! A couple of minor issues to this plan would be having the phone charged and having any money on her but it was a very grown up offer
She has slowly started going to some after school clubs as otherwise she is home by 3:45 and I don't finish work for another couple of hours after that (at the bottom of the garden).
My shy and slightly nervous DD was walking to and from school on her own from day 3 - it is only about a mile but the roads are big and full of rush hour drivers and school run parents. She had never done this at junior school. So far no homework has been missed or kit/instrument/food tech stuff left behind. Homework is being done on the day set as she is actually home much earlier than she used to be when I collected her from after school care.
This morning she said that if I need her to pick up anything from the CoOp to just send her a text as she passes it on her way home - until recently she had only ever shopped once on her own and that was part of a Brownie badge! A couple of minor issues to this plan would be having the phone charged and having any money on her but it was a very grown up offer
She has slowly started going to some after school clubs as otherwise she is home by 3:45 and I don't finish work for another couple of hours after that (at the bottom of the garden).
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
DD is still disorganised but I think that she's improving. I'm not too keen, however, on the Year 10s who have been giving her advice in the toilets on what she can get away with and when in terms of makeup. They need to treat her as though she's invisible and she needs to know her place ... I think.
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
Reading Mum, my quiet dd2 is cycling to and from school, it's only a mile and a half and her father cycles with her half of the way, he'll do this until half term as he did with the older two.
Same here - no homework has been missed - and it's being done on the day set - I have to "encourage" her (but not nag - there's a difference). I'm not helping her, just checking it's done and looks reasonably ok.
She's made a new "best" friend (never sure whether that is good) but seems to have a couple of other friends. It's so strange, I have no idea what these girls are like as I don't see them. I don't think she'll invite a friend round till at least half term and maybe later.
I still worry her work is up to scratch (she was never cleverest at junior school), and work that has been marked has not been perfect (well, English).
But she's happy and organised. Much better than I expected or hoped for, given her lazy track record at junior school. Despite a major meltdown last night when she couldn't find two books; I contacted the pastoral care lady who had it all sorted out by 9am. Dd2 had handed these books in for marking. Honestly. Talk about scatty. There's a lot to remember.
She is far too scared to even wear nail varnish. I'm happy.
UmSusu, I know what you mean about tired, though!
Same here - no homework has been missed - and it's being done on the day set - I have to "encourage" her (but not nag - there's a difference). I'm not helping her, just checking it's done and looks reasonably ok.
She's made a new "best" friend (never sure whether that is good) but seems to have a couple of other friends. It's so strange, I have no idea what these girls are like as I don't see them. I don't think she'll invite a friend round till at least half term and maybe later.
I still worry her work is up to scratch (she was never cleverest at junior school), and work that has been marked has not been perfect (well, English).
But she's happy and organised. Much better than I expected or hoped for, given her lazy track record at junior school. Despite a major meltdown last night when she couldn't find two books; I contacted the pastoral care lady who had it all sorted out by 9am. Dd2 had handed these books in for marking. Honestly. Talk about scatty. There's a lot to remember.
She is far too scared to even wear nail varnish. I'm happy.
UmSusu, I know what you mean about tired, though!Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
Umsusu your post made me laugh. I can definitely relate to feeling tired aswell, as can my DH. I have 2 DS who have started year 7 in 2 different GS....so it's been quite a journey.
With DS1 we have had pe kit lost twice, once during the first week and again tonight he can't remember where he left it. We have also had a water bottle leak in his school bag and all of his books got wet. He gets a lot of homework, normally 2-3 subjects a day and he is good and does it on the day he gets it (so far). However he takes ages doing it. Packing his bag for the next day seems to take him a while as he refuses to use the individual subject folders I brought him.
With DS2 he leaves his books in his locker at school, so only has to get pe kit ready on the days he has pe. He does not get much homework in comparison to ds1 normally things like cover your book, draw religious symbols etc. He has finally started to use his planner properly.
Whilst I had and still have these teething problems both are doing great, as they both wake up on time and catch buses to school and are quite independent...although I do have to nag to get ds1 to start his homework as he gets so much, and the whole evening just goes, and ds2 will do the bare minimum. I assume they are making good friends but as I don't see them I can only go on what the boys tells me.
With DS1 we have had pe kit lost twice, once during the first week and again tonight he can't remember where he left it. We have also had a water bottle leak in his school bag and all of his books got wet. He gets a lot of homework, normally 2-3 subjects a day and he is good and does it on the day he gets it (so far). However he takes ages doing it. Packing his bag for the next day seems to take him a while as he refuses to use the individual subject folders I brought him.
With DS2 he leaves his books in his locker at school, so only has to get pe kit ready on the days he has pe. He does not get much homework in comparison to ds1 normally things like cover your book, draw religious symbols etc. He has finally started to use his planner properly.
Whilst I had and still have these teething problems both are doing great, as they both wake up on time and catch buses to school and are quite independent...although I do have to nag to get ds1 to start his homework as he gets so much, and the whole evening just goes, and ds2 will do the bare minimum. I assume they are making good friends but as I don't see them I can only go on what the boys tells me.
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
The highlight of the term to date for my dd2 is a disco with the boys' gs tonight. She can't wait.
Alas, I promised her a new outfit (well, she paid half out of her pocket money). She chose a trendy but tacky outfit, shorts with braces and short t-shirt. She's slim and likes to show that off. Unfortunately, just as we had paid, we saw a girl in her class trying on a really pretty dress. Another girl is having her hair "done" by a professional for tonight. I'm afraid that had never crossed my mind.
I have this image of a hundred girls in dresses and skirts with their hair "done"; and my dd2 there in her scruffy shorts. They look quite nice but are more appropriate for a summer day.
She has been a little upset because her new "best friend" (they never learn) is not going, but in some ways that has been good because she is trying to make more friends for tonight. The disco. I bet she doesn't even talk to any boys (she knows some, they were at her junior school).
She also has a few school tests (not surprise ones, she's had a few of those and somehow scraped through) next week. She's done a little revising but I think she needs to do more; I suspect she'll say she's "too tired" from the disco. In which case I will tell her - no more discos. So that is the highlight of the term so far. Not learning Latin, Spanish, Philosophy - no, a school disco.
Alas, I promised her a new outfit (well, she paid half out of her pocket money). She chose a trendy but tacky outfit, shorts with braces and short t-shirt. She's slim and likes to show that off. Unfortunately, just as we had paid, we saw a girl in her class trying on a really pretty dress. Another girl is having her hair "done" by a professional for tonight.
I'm afraid that had never crossed my mind.I have this image of a hundred girls in dresses and skirts with their hair "done"; and my dd2 there in her scruffy shorts. They look quite nice but are more appropriate for a summer day.
She has been a little upset because her new "best friend" (they never learn) is not going, but in some ways that has been good because she is trying to make more friends for tonight. The disco. I bet she doesn't even talk to any boys (she knows some, they were at her junior school).
She also has a few school tests (not surprise ones, she's had a few of those and somehow scraped through) next week. She's done a little revising but I think she needs to do more; I suspect she'll say she's "too tired" from the disco. In which case I will tell her - no more discos. So that is the highlight of the term so far. Not learning Latin, Spanish, Philosophy - no, a school disco.
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
Highlight of ds1's school year so far - getting to be captain of the football team. And, slightly more surprisingly, debating. They have "vertical tutoring" and getting to take on one of the older ones in the debate sessions seems to have appealed to his competitive spirit.
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
DD has a disco tonight too. They've combined it with a Cheese and Wine evening to encourage parents to help out more with fundraising, I think. It's a dress here too but no hair and makeup. The problem with dresses is finding suitable shoes. She's a 6 1/2 already and finding a child-friendly pair of shoes to suit several dresses is a bit of a nightmare. I bought her a 6 for her leavers' do, but only because I'm a 5 1/2 - 6. She will wear that pair if I can't find anything today. I just hope she doesn't go up in size again for another year at least. The highlights of her week are biology (she doesn't like science but loves the eccentric teacher) and PE.
Re: How are all the year 7s settling in - good and bad?
I have been really impressed with DS - he gets himself up and dressed, thinks about what he needs for the day and seems to like going for the bus - so is walking a lot more than if I tried to drag him out for a walk He is coping well with the level of work even did his history homework without any reminders last night. DS is never going to be a star of the rugby field or the stage but seems happy so that is good enough for me.
He is coping well with the level of work even did his history homework without any reminders last night. DS is never going to be a star of the rugby field or the stage but seems happy so that is good enough for me.