Early days back at school

The good news is that school is finally back in action. We need to understand that children will still be feeling slightly uneasy given the recent past and the current news and the discussions about vaccinations. Questions are still being asked about the suitability of the injection for different age groups, its effectiveness, new strains of the pandemic etc. Recently, I have heard parents concerned about their children talking about dying. I wonder if all the vulnerable scenarios that have occurred and background news of deaths from coronavirus have made some children anxious about the fragility of life.

Is your child nervous about returning to school post covid?

Here are some suggestions to keep the dialogue going with your child:

• If you listen to the news check in with your child that they understand details accurately and the information is suitable for their age.

• Talk about the positives such as the injection, scientists’ skills in combatting the virus, the wonderful support of people looking after the sick etc. There is definitely the element of hope in all that is being done to combat the virus. Children need to understand the wonderful endurance and science that leads to cures.

• Tap in with what the school is doing to educate the children in managing the virus at school. This is a great topic for all to discuss in the family. This is where home and school can support each other so well.

• There are some wonderful books on scientists who have developed cures in medicine over the years. This is a great time to read life-giving stories of scientists such as Madam Curie etc. These people are real heroes in finding cures and creating medicines that are so effective in reducing pain and suffering. The more our children think about the great stamina and intellect that such people showed, the more we highlight the determination of the human spirit.

• The routine of school will be an excellent way to bring normality and stability into the child’s life. Are there family disruptions that destabilise this routine?  If possible, keep life consistent and predictable throughout the school term. Ensure you inform your child well about any changes.

Remember that your child is living through the pandemic. Their longer-term memories will be very much about how we felt and how we managed ourselves. I am sure they will be looking back and reflecting on how the family operated throughout this time. Keep life a little simpler. Let school be a positive part of your life as it can be such a powerful influence at this time for your child. Schools are stable environments where reliable and trusting people deliver learning. It is a place of friendship and comfort for your child. Embrace it with them.

Keep the start of the year on a positive note

What a busy time for all as you prepare to pack away the Summer fun holiday items and get ready for the regularity of school. We can all get a little overwhelmed and irritable about getting back to routine especially given the unease of last year.

Your child will be mentally getting ready for school challenges and of course, will have in mind the journey of 2020. My advice here is to not get caught up in making the start of the school year too perfect. Let the child gently ease into the school and discover along the way what their new environment will offer. There may be school rules and discussion about hygiene etc. Your child needs to understand what the new norm is in the school and they will begin to adopt to changes and shifts in how the school may be operating.

Here are some thoughts about how to keep the beginning of the school year upbeat and optimistic.

• Talk positively about the new year. Discuss as a family something that you are all looking forward to in the near future. This could be some event that wasn’t possible last year.

• Listen well to what the child tells you about school and if there are changes talk about how you applaud the school’s effort to keep everyone safe and healthy.

• Check in with your child to make sure anxious gossip about health matters regarding CO-VID 19 is accurate and that your child is not anxious about what they hear around the schoolyard.

• If your child is not in prep and you are not in the habit of dropping them off, I recommend being with them before school a few times. This gives them extra reassurance and that reassurance helps at this stage of the year. Remember that there are still some residual anxieties around from last year.

• If your child is a little anxious about full-time school and missing you, show them on a calendar the school holidays and that there will be plenty of occasions to just be family once again. 

• For some children being home for so long last year was a comfort and they will need time to adjust to a regular school schedule. A day working online at home does not equate to a full active day at school.

• Talk positively about their friendships and encourage your child to be friendly to all class members. Take an in inclusive approach to the matter of friends. Often at the beginning of the year it can be divide and conquer with regard to establishing friendships in the class. The less confident child may take more time to establish friends or perhaps lose confidence in re-establishing themselves with friends.

• A great tool at this stage of the year is to set up a chat box in your child’s room. If they have anything, they want to talk about they can include this in the box. At special times probably bedtime together you can talk about these issues.

• If you are busy working, school can slip easily from your thoughts. Check their bags each night for notes and of course emails from teachers. An occasional email to the teacher to check-in is also a good idea.

 Above all, keep the term optimistic and affirm your child’s steady progress into the life of the school in 2021.

“Optimism. It’s not just a mind-set. It is behaviour.”

— Larry Elder

Schools are all about problem solving

Do you like problem-solving?  Schools are all about problem-solving. Children are invited to pose questions and go through a process of exploring optional ways of learning about the matter. You could say that it is quite open-ended and some people who are more closed in the way they work feel that inviting questions is not the best way to learn. Whatever your thoughts, education is all about making inquiries and investigating and probing into issues. We are encouraging our children to be problem solvers, to accept that there are various ways to look at a problem and various ways to explore options.

As parents, this is an opportunity to support the child’s learning by being someone who doesn’t put all the answers in front of the child. Your role is to explore questions with your child. Asking questions and together reflecting on different ways to look at a problem. You have many opportunities as a parent to share in this method of teaching children.

Consider:

Schools, problem solving in The Primary Years

• When you are together in the car this is a great time to explore ideas together perhaps about what you see outside.

• Read some content of the newspaper to your child. Discuss some topic that lends itself to being seen from many angles.

• Plan to have a weekly family discussion on some controversial matter. Remember to give your child ample opportunity to respond with ideas. If you watch some news together there is plenty of content there for discussion and general inquiry.

• Tune into some of the work the child is doing at school that may involve a project on some topic. Notice how there are many questions being posed about that topic. Here you can join in with some ideas of your own.

• In engaging with your child through an inquiry approach to ensure that you value their opinions and ask about their sources of information. After all, questioning leads to quite a lot of researching.

• When you see the research that your child is doing on a set topic, tune in with some question’s about the nature of the research and how it fits into the whole topic.

• With younger children, you can still explore with them many of the questions that they ask on a regular basis. They love the question…

“Why?”

This is a chance to explore different answers together.

These thoughts are simply to help parents tune into the nature of the inquiry approach which is all about showing an investigative attitude to all areas of learning. The more we question, the more we explore optional ways of looking at situations and problems.

“Questions are the engines of intellect. The cerebral machines which convert energy to motion, to curiosity, to controlled inquiry.”

— David Hackett Fischer

Thirteen myths about schools

1. Schools are very closed in the way they operate

No! When your child starts school, the environment needs to be welcoming, friendly and inclusive. Schools recognise that without the support and encouragement of parents their work will not be effective. Schools understand that for a child to feel connected and in a safe learning environment they need to be working in partnership with the parents. Children become very unsettled if there is no harmony between school and home.

2. Schools all work in the same way with the learning process

No! It is true that schools are required to follow the National Curriculum. However, how they interpret the curriculum and how they work in teams planning can be quite different from school to school. Also, there may be set policies in schools on how certain curriculum areas are taught. Generally, most schools try to be consistent in how they teach and much professional development goes into their work and planning techniques. If you need clarification, ask the school about what pedagogy they use and how they follow the curriculum. Of course, schools will offer curriculum nights for you to learn about what happens in the classroom. These are highly valuable to attend

Myths v’s Facts about Schools

3. Teachers only invite parents into the classroom when necessary

Really? Parents are generally invited into the classroom on most occasions. They sometimes set up classes for parents to visit. However, you should feel welcome to sit into a class at any time.

4. Only certain parents are chosen to be part of excursions

This is not the case. Teachers recognise the importance of being inclusive and try to balance the presence of parents on excursions etc. You play such an important role in the life of the child and should be included when you feel you want to learn more about the process of learning for your child.

5. Changing schools is damaging for your child’s emotional development.

This is not generally the case. However, when you need to change schools for whatever reason ensure that your child gets involved in meeting the teachers and being active in learning about the school. Of course, there is some adjustment time in meeting new friends, feeling welcomed and adjusting to a new teacher and school culture. However, in my experience if it is handled well by the new school and family the child grows emotionally and recognises their capacity to form new friends in a new setting. This teaches resilience and reinforces to the child that they can be flexible.

6. The child’s teacher for the year is solely responsible for their learning.  

This is definitely not the case. Children learn in different ways and from different people and experiences.

The parent is actually the first educator followed by all the influences of the school, various specialist teachers and life activities. No one aspect is responsible for their growth intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically.

7. If my child does not like the teachers, it is a wasted school year.

As the above myth says learning happens in many forms. When the relationship with the teacher is a not a strong one, the child is still capable of learning and if they learn to value the qualities of the teacher, the child grows in working with different types of people. This is such a valuable skill to work and appreciate differences in teachers.

8.  It is the school’s responsibility to ensure my child has friends.

This is not the case. It is true that teachers will work on social skills and negotiate with children about matters where poor behaviour interrupts their friendships. Ultimately, it is the child who must work though the emotional journey of finding and establishing friends. The school will and can deal with inappropriate behaviour linked to breakdowns in friendships but ultimately through trial and error, success and failure, a child learns to negotiate their way through the social web of relationship with other children.

9.  If a child is finding school difficult it is the total responsibility of the school to fix the problem.

This is not the case. It certainly is the responsibility of the school to work with the child in improving their learning. Some schools offer more in this area with remedial support. Each school is different in how this issue is handled. However, encouragement from the parents, working in collaboration with the school and support at home are all necessary for the child to feel that learning is a success for them. It is best to keep in frequent touch with the teacher to learn how best your child learns and what support you can offer at home. This is a delicate area and needs both school and home working together in trust to ensure that the child’s self-esteem is intact.

10. When a school rings the parent, it is always bad news.

This is definitely not the case. Schools often ring parents about a range of matters and sometimes the teachers love to talk to the parent about how the child has improved. It is common practice for Principals to be in contact with parents for many reasons and to discuss matters that are not peculiar to their child.

I would keep a journal of parents I contacted to ensure that the school was keeping in touch with families.

Of course, calls may come to discuss school issues but they are done with understanding and genuine support for the child. They believe the more communication,the better for the child

11. If my child repeats a class they will suffer socially and the child will feel unsuccessful.

This is a delicate issue and is very much about the specific needs of the child. In my experience, children who repeat have shown considerable improvement in their capacity to learn and engage socially with their classmates. They start to gain success and feel that they are a capable learner. This is a topic very debatable in educational circles, I simply operate out of my own experiences here as an educator and school Principal of twenty-nine years.  I also appreciate that many would disagree with me in this matter. Of course, repeating a child requires careful planning and collaboration between the parents, the child and school.

12. A child in a composite class is disadvantaged in learning compared to straight class.

This is definitely not true. The quality of a child’s learning rests heavily with the skill of the teaching. A composite environment provides a broad climate of learning for the child. What happens in the classroom is the key to the learning and not the age distribution of the children. I have seen this over many years and test results prove the case.

13. There are some schools that have no bullying at all.

Bullying occurs in all schools. What is the key component to managing bullying is how the school handles situations and what programs they have in place to educate children on the issue?  Some schools have a major focus in their social and emotional learning and teachers are given considerable professional learning on how to teach children about managing bullying.

Bullying occurs as children are at various stages of emotional growth and some need assistance to understand how to socially engage with each other. Parents should monitor how their child is coping with this issue and feel comfortable to approach the school as soon as there is evidence of your child feeling unsafe. Read the schools’ anti bullying policies to gauge how they manage the issue.