Especean

Junior School

Parental Expectations

As we officially enter the second half of Term 3, students are reminded of the need to strike an appropriate balance at home between completing set work, participating in Co-curricular activities, and most importantly, spending time connecting with family and friends.

 

Educational consultant, Dr Prue Salter, highlights a series of tips for parents/carers to realistically manage and communicate expectations about schoolwork and results.  

 

If parental expectations are too low, students may not strive to achieve their personal best. However, if parental expectations are too high, this can contribute to increased levels of student stress. So, how can parents/carers find the right balance? Some areas to consider are: 

  1. Understand your own motivations: Why do you want your child to achieve particular marks in their studies? Is it because you have pressure from family/friends/society about what your child will achieve? Do you want them to follow in your career footsteps? Do you want them to have opportunities you never had as a young person? Understanding your own motivations will help you to find balance in the expectations for your children.
     
  2. Help your children to set realistic goals: Keep talking to your children about what they want to achieve, in individual subjects, at school overall and in other aspects of their life. Their long-term goals may mean they want to focus intensively on something such as art or music, rather than mathematics or science. Helping them to identify their goals will enable them to concentrate on the areas which will ultimately assist them in reaching their targets. 
     
  3. Be involved in your children’s learning: Throughout the term, talk to your children about what they are learning in class. Ask them to show you their bookwork and homework. The more you understand what they are doing and how they are going along the way, the better you will be able to set and manage your expectations.
     
  4. Make sure you really communicate what you expect: Many students feel like they are not meeting their parents’ expectations. Often this is a result of lacklustre communication about expectations by both parties. Reflect on your motivations and think about how you communicate your expectations to your children. Remember to praise them for the effort they make, rather than the results they achieve. In this way, they are motivated to keep on trying, even when learning is difficult.
     
  5. Develop an understanding of the school’s assessment and reporting structures: Assessment and reporting systems change over time and are different across various schools. Make sure you really understand what your children’s reports mean as this might help you to understand what they are actually achieving. Sometimes students are excelling in certain skills or areas but reporting structures may not always be able to specifically highlight these.
     
  6. Remember that nobody is perfect: Even the brightest, most highly motivated child will struggle at times. They may find it difficult to understand a particular topic or concept, or they may struggle with motivation, particularly in a subject they don’t necessarily enjoy. Problems with teachers or peers can also contribute. It is unrealistic to expect that anyone can work with 100% effort all of the time.
     
  7. Provide practical homework and assessment support: Provide practical help to your children with things like proofreading and reviewing drafts, checking work and listening to speeches. Remember though, it is not your work, so rather than make changes, offer suggestions and provide guidance.
     
  8. Spend time together doing something fun: Make sure your relationship with your child is about more than homework. Allocate some time to doing fun things together. This is the time in which your child is most likely to open up to you about the things they are struggling with, and you can then work out how best to help them. Ideas include going for a walk or run together, having a ‘dinner date’ or asking them to show you the latest funny videos they like.
     
  9. Support your child to do their best: You can do this by providing healthy, nutrient rich food; as well as opportunities for exercise, rest and relaxation and an environment which is supportive of and conducive to realistic academic performance. 
     
  10. Keep alert for the physical and mental signs of stress: Familiarise yourself with how your child responds to stress. Do they withdraw? Act out? Work harder or stop working? When you notice that your child is stressed, provide opportunities to discuss what is worrying them and then work with them to identify how you can help.           

As always, if you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (glenn.stephenson@spc.nsw.edu.au) or phone (8705 9247) and I will endeavour to assist you in any way that I can.

 

May God bless you,

 

Mr Glenn Stephenson

Director of Junior School

Year 5 Morning Mass: Friday 26 August - 8:10 AM

As Year 5 will be leading the Mass this Friday, parents and carers are particularly encouraged to attend if possible and join this celebration of the Eucharist with the College community. 

 

All Junior School parents/carers are warmly invited to attend morning Mass in the chapel each Friday at 8:10 AM along with your sons. 

 

We look forward to welcoming you here.

 

Stephen Cooper

Junior School Religious Education Coordinator