Starting Secondary School can be fraught with worry for many children. Will I make friends? Will I cope with loads of homework? Will older children bully me? 

Often, children take to new experiences like a duck to water. Others, however, seem to sink under the weight of it all. But what are the tell-tale signs that your child is struggling?

• Refusal to discuss school/changes the topic
• An attitude shift from positive to negative
• Spends far too long on homework
• Detentions or messages from the teacher
• Sleep disturbance, eats less or more

The truth is, because our kids don’t always share things that bother them, a situation can escalate quickly. Troubles don’t always blow over after a few weeks. There could be a real issue brewing.

How to support your child at secondary school

1. First of all, stay calm and approachable. Anxiety around new situations is common for everyone – not just children. Conflict is part of life. Showing empathy during these rocky times can help to show your child that it can take a while to settle in a new environment.
2. Ask open-ended questions: Asking, ‘what did you do today?’ will probably return a, ‘nothing!’ reply. Asking, ‘What was the best thing about today?‘ followed by, ‘And the worst?’ your child is more likely to open up. You might even share a tricky experience you had at school at first which was later resolved.
3. Get them organised and stick to it: If your child is badly organised, telling them off solves nothing. Instead, get practical. Know their timetable and homework timetable – stick it to the fridge. Help them pack their bags the night before. Keep to do lists on mini white boards for each of your kids. Rub off when done!

Still having learning issues? Approaching your child’s form tutor can be a useful first step to see if they have noticed any problems too.

Finally, if your child is still struggling with a key subject and they just can’t get a handle on it, one to one tuition can make a huge difference. Get in touch with us here at 121 Home Tutors.

We’ve a wonderfully supportive private tuition team across Manchester and Cheshire ready to step in and be there…

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 28th, 2017 at 9:07 am and is filed under high school, Student stress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.