Last Updated on 9 February 2023 by Colette
I can hardly believe that we have made it to the end of Ben’s first year at high school.
Year 7 was definitely not what we had hoped – it was a year of lockdowns and online learning, contact tracing days and more periods of isolation than I care to count. A year in which Ben should have been relishing in the independence of secondary school and all the exciting opportunities that should bring but actually ended up spending a lot of it sat in front of his computer. (I can’t tell you how glad I am that Father Christmas decided to invest in a chromebook for him!!)
After a miserable end to primary school with no transition day, no residential, no parties and no leaving assemblies, Ben put his best foot forward and marched into Secondary school with nothing but excitement and enthusiasm. He had seen the school when we went on an open day the year before and we had done a trial run of the bus route but essentially he was going into high school blind with no real clue what to expect!
It seems crazy to me that my boy gets a public bus up into town on his own each day and then walks through town to get to school – I still want to be holding his hand and keeping him in my sight! (Google Family Link definitely helps to calm my nerves with that though as I can spot him on the map at any time so I know if he’s made it to school, or is on the bus home – which he’s not very good at letting us know!)
Because of the impact of Covid, social distancing, bubbles and isolation – the secondary school experience has had to be very different this year. Instead of the pupils at Ben’s school moving around the various departments and buildings, each year group has stayed in one building and the teachers have moved around instead. Aside from the time this takes up for staff having to move from classroom to classroom, I think the biggest issue has been the lack of access to subject specific resources – Art lessons are being taught in Science labs, Science lessons in the sports hall etc. For some subjects I suppose this doesn’t matter all that much but for others the impact is huge – no exciting science experiments with Bunsen burners, no cooking in food tech, no clay or paint in art lessons. All the things which should have made these new subjects so exciting and accessible were taken away. The school have absolutely done the best they can to alter the curriculum accordingly but there is only so much that can be done.
Alongside the changes which have had to be made to the lessons themselves, there’s been no extra-curricular clubs – no engineering club, no sports teams, no socialising with anyone outside of your own class or choosing to sit with someone different if you’ve realised you don’t work well with the person next to you (strict seating plans have remained in place all year). The chances to make new friends and find out who you are in this new setting have been really limited – which for a child like Ben who started secondary school knowing about six other pupils, is really tough going.
Being in year group bubbles means the Year 7s have yet to experience that “little fish in a big pond” feeling that comes with starting high school – it has felt more like an extension of Year 6 in that sense.
All of this means that making new friends, getting to know new teachers, settling into new routines, new ways of working, new expectations and new responsibilities have all been far more challenging than would have typically been the case. I’m hopeful that with an end to bubbles and isolation for close contacts, school will feel much more normal in September – I know Ben’s school are planning a return to working in subject specific departments, staggered start and finish times will be a thing of the past and lunch time will once more be a more social event with access to the canteen and a longer break.
Despite all of this… despite more online learning, contact tracing days and isolation periods than we would have ever imagined possible, this boy of ours has settled well. He has made new friends – friends who make him laugh so much that Capri Sun comes out of his nose and he has to ask a dinner lady for a cloth to clean up the mess he has made. He loves his form tutor, he loves getting the bus to school on his own and he loves a trip to Home Bargains for sweets on the way home again.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing – there’s been issues with homework, with organisation, with meeting the new, higher expectations that being at secondary school brings and yet, after all my stress and worry this academic year, he absolutely smashed his first parents’ evening at secondary school. He scored what he calls “a classic Ben” and which basically means lots of lovely comments about what a good kid he is – how polite, funny and sharp he is – (I cried) coupled with ‘talks too much’ and ‘needs to make more effort in his written work’… This has been the case since Reception so comes as no surprise to me but is increasingly frustrating as the years go by!
Fingers crossed September sees more conventional secondary school experience for our children!
I would have liked to have included an “end of the year” photo of Ben in his school uniform but as he ended the year in isolation for the third time in about six weeks you can have a picture of his first taste of freedom instead . . .
Why not read these posts next:
Things to teach your child now to help them be ready for secondary school
World War II books for Key Stage 2 children
If you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful, here are a few ways you can say thanks and support We’re going on an adventure:
Click here to buy me a virtual coffee – it’s like a little tip jar but with caffeine!
Click here to leave We’re going on an adventure a Google Review
Share this post with your friends – you’ll be helping me and them!
Follow We’re going on an adventure on Facebook or Instagram
