Inside Year 7: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Inside Year 7: What Every Parent Needs to Know is a practical, reassuring guide to what really happens when your child starts secondary school, from author, journalist and Year 7 form tutor Laura Jane Williams. Grazia magazine once said she is a ‘general all-round-speaker of what-is-in-our-heads’, Stylist said her honesty and voice are unique, and Marie Claire made Laura their #BreakFree from Fear ambassador. The Independent even called her ‘a happiness expert’. And now she's using her trademark candor and warmth to help parents whose children are embarking on the journey of a lifetime.

Across ten easy-to-read chapters, you’ll understand more about the things that matter during Year 7, from someone who has seen it all: friendships, confidence, independence, anxiety, behaviour, struggles, communication with school and the inevitable wobbles along the way.

It’s packed with practical advice, including useable scripts for those moments when you know what you want to say but can’t quite find the words, plus a Frequently Asked Questions section answering some of the most pressing queries parents worry about.

Designed to be read in one sitting, this isn’t a textbook or a parenting manual. It’s the comforting and level-headed guide you need read before September - and then keep safe to come back to again and again.

Think of Inside Year 7 as having someone from the the other side of the school gates sat across the coffee shop table from you, explaining what’s normal, what matters - and what you can actually do to help your child not only survive, but thrive.