Settling into secondary school
The move to secondary school can come as a shock to both parents and children. They will usually have more books and equipment to carry around and may find it difficult to stay organised. At secondary school, your child will be expected to take greater responsibility for their own organisation. You can help to encourage this at home with the following tips:
- Encourage your child to get organised for school the evening before. This can save them (and you!) a lot of undue stress in the morning. Remind them to check their timetable for the following day, pack their bag and lay out their uniform if necessary
- Try and resist the temptation to do everything. Your child needs to learn to manage their time efficiently and they won’t do it if you get everything ready for them
- At this age, children start to want more privacy when they're getting ready. Consider organising a schedule for the bathroom in the mornings so no-one is made late by waiting
- Your child will probably have several homework tasks to complete each night. Make a note to yourself to read and sign their school journal or diary at least once a week to make sure your child is keeping up with their assignments
- Have a calendar on display at home clearly marked with different equipment needed for different days (sports kit, music, projects etc.) Encourage the habit of looking at the schedule the night before and organising schoolbags there and then
- If your child is getting to school on public transport for the first time, find out if any friends live nearby so they can travel together
- Use every opportunity to keep in contact with the school - this may be more difficult now that classes are bigger, and your child has many different subject teachers. However, if the school has a website, be sure to check regularly for information updates and news
Once your child has started school, make time to talk and listen to your child each day to check how things are going. Just giving attention in this way can help your child feel supported and more confident. However, resist the temptation to ask too many questions, especially when a child first gets home from school and is likely to be tired, hungry and short-tempered from coping with many new people and things. If your child is attending boarding school, make arrangements for him or her to be able to contact you or other members of the family on agreed days and times.