Pastoral Care

I hope that students and families are well, are resettling in to RLP2.0 and are beginning to establish routines over this period. An area of focus for this week’s newsletter is in regards to communication, and how best to communicate with young people, especially now that they are at home a lot more. Many parents have been asking me, ‘How do I talk about life in 2020 with my child or adolescent? How can I open up the channels of communication and have authentic conversations that are not related to school and COVID-19?’ 

In my experience, children and teens are craving someone to listen to them in a non-judgemental and active way. They simply want to be heard and their thoughts validated or normalised. The infographic below offers some great tips about how to listen to children and young people. Finding a safe space for the conversation is an important first step, sometimes this may mean the car or exercising, particularly for boys. Equally vital is making sure that you are ready for the conversation, that you don’t have to answer the phone or deal with other tasks at the same time, that there are no distractions. Make time every day, every week for some active listening with your children, this is not only rewarding, but also builds trust and the parent-child relationship. 

Kate Couchman

Student Counsellor