I think this may be an issue with how you are framing it - you are clearly very proud of your child getting into grammar school and being 'the first in the family to do so'; but really at the end of the day it is just another school and the transition for all children from primary to secondary is potentially tricky. We didn't even particularly refer to the whole 'grammar school' thing when ours went, just called it by the name of the school, and have never made any kind of big deal out of it being a grammar school, except occasionally to tease them if they do something stupid ('blimey, and you're at
grammar school too', in a kind of sarcastic way).
I think if you build this up into a great big deal then it is likely to become one. The curriculum at GS is going to be pretty identical to that at any other school frankly, and my kids' friends at local non selective schools certainly got more homework than they did in the early years. It may just be me being peculiar (this I accept is very possible) but I would drop the whole grammar school rhetoric, stop worrying about whether he will be top of the class or not, and talk instead about secondary school, new friends, new subjects etc. As children get older they have to learn they are not going to get 'lots of praise' all the time, nor do well all the time - it is part of growing up. I imagine that as your child has got into the school he will be just fine, and while some parents are under the impression that pupils in GS spend all day every day studying intensely at high level, engaging in learned conversations, practising their calculus in their lunch breaks, etc, I think you might be in for a bit of a surprise when you see what really happens. Try to relax.
