Dear Parents
We are nearing the end of the year and all the exciting events that come with this time of year. Each and every classroom is buzzing with activity as they work through the planned and thought out lessons designed by their teachers. It was lovely to hear of so many parents in the school building for our parent open day on the 23.11.2022 which gave insight into your child’s day to day life with us which you may not have been aware of before.
I am sure that, ‘How was school?’ is a very common question in your house. And it is a very big question for children to answer at the end of the school day. To answer this, your child has to consider all of the elements of their day, the ups and downs, the funs things that happened, the maths question that was hard and they needed help with, the discussions before lunch, after lunch, the games played during the break time, the topic they were writing about… and so it is much easier for them to say ‘ok’ rather than go into all the details of the day. We do this ourselves when asked ‘How was work?’.
As you will be aware, it is important for parents to talk about school with their children and to show an interest in what is going on in their school life. It gives parents an insight into their child’s behaviour, interests and achievements and demonstrates the importance of school which can in turn encourage them to value their education more as well.
To help with developing the culture around talking about school at the end of the school day, it is important that time is given for this to happen and that the attention is placed on who is sharing about their day. When talking about school and the teachers, as with most topics, it is important to use respectful language to maintain a positive relationship between school, a place they spend a lot of their time, and home. To help develop the culture of talking about the school day and to hopefully allow for more detailed answers, here are some simple, positive and specific questions that can be asked to prompt a conversation.
Who did you hang out with today?
What did you like best at school today?
What was your favourite subject today?
What topic are you working on in Science at the moment?
What does your classroom look like at the moment?
Did someone say something that made you laugh today? What was it?
Some children may feel that their experiences at school are private and they might not want to share them and this is a normal part of their development as they develop their own identity. Modelling talking about your day at the dinner table or in the car ride home can be a good way to take the pressure off the conversation and make it feel fun rather than an interrogation.
Happy reading and we wish you a lovely Christmas break and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Katrina Cameron, principal