And a new school year begins...

Two years old with rings on her neck already

Tomorrow over 700 children will come streaming through the gates of the school. Some will be bursting with excitement and others a little sad that the Summer holidays are over again.

I, for one, will be glad to get back to a regular routine and I'm really excited to see all our Little Springers again. The holidays are a wonderful time - time to relax, refresh and perhaps discover new horizons. I spent a month in Thailand with my family. We traveled from the Burmese border to south Koh Lanta - 2500kms in a month. We did and saw the most wonderful things - spent a day with elephants in Chiang Mai, met the long necked Karen people in a hill top village near Chiang Rai, was pushed up a hill by a little Yao boy trying to earn a few Baht (that's him in the hat below), shopped in Bangkok's glitzy streets and traditional markets, sped around the islands of Railay in long-tailed boats and dived with the under sea creatures at Koh Haa. And we met some wonderful new friends, too.

I always love the kids wherever we go

We didn't want to come home!

There will be some little ones this week who won't want to be at school - it's hard to get up in the morning at the same time every day and rush around packing a bag and a lunch. It's hard to be at school with all the routines of eating and playing at certain times of the day. And some will be so tired by 3.00pm they will need a nap (some teachers will too!)



Getting back into a regular routine as quickly as possible is the best thing parents can do - it's a 'right, let's get up and go approach' which will help your children (and yourselves) stop pining for the holidays. After a week or so we will all be in the swing of 2013 - and before you know it, the holidays will be here again!

Learning to struggle

There's a growing body of writing focusing on the importance of finding learning difficult in the overall development of children. And there is a plethora of examples comparing the difference between Eastern and Western classrooms and parenting.

A post by Alix Spiegel discusses the differences eloquently.

Over the years I've been an educator I've seen an interesting phenomena develop. We (parents and teachers) don't like to see our children find things hard. We don't like them to have to struggle for too long. We don't like them becoming distressed if they can't do something, and over time we have rescued and rescued and now we have many many children who simply don't make the link between hard work, struggling with a problem, perseverance and achievement. The net result is that children give up too quickly, and perhaps, are not learning to live with a feeling of 'uncomfortableness' for any amount of time.

I recently witnessed my own daughter struggling with studying for an end of year exam in anatomy. The procrastination, the complaints about the teacher, the whining about not being smart enough and 'everyone else is so clever; I'm not' and the claims that 'we haven't even been taught this' were extraordinarily creative. It really took me by surprise. And it took her more by surprise when I said, 'Yes, anatomy is hard, and no, it's not good enough to be able to give a detailed description of the digestive system when the exam requires one about the eye! Clearly you haven't studied enough and you're going to have to work at it harder now'. And I couldn't resist adding 'I hope you've learned your lesson'. (I probably could have done without that last comment!)

I often hear teachers comment that the children in their classes that find learning more difficult (eg. have to try harder to get the same result another has achieved effortlessly) are the ones who seem to be able to work away at a problem and who have developed a tolerance to having to struggle a bit - as opposed to the ones who have been rescued, and have learned they can just give up.

The problems of our future require people who can struggle away at something very hard and not find that uncomfortable feeling so distressing they don't want to continue. As parents we need to let our children struggle and encourage them to view the struggle positively. We need to let them find things hard and not rush in to rescue them, worrying that their 'distress' is going to cause some unimaginable harm.  In the end the harm it may cause is a generation of children not willing to persist and not willing to struggle to achieve something great.

There's a time and a place

Photo credit: Coldplay Live 2012

I went to see Coldplay in Brisbane last Wednesday night - what an amazing show! There were lights, fireworks, enormous balloons bouncing over the audience, somewhere in the vicinity of 52 000 people, laser beams, and of course, an incredible band on stage. In the first 10 minutes the enigmatic Chris Martin had managed to say what kids tell me is the 'f-word' about six times.

Did I mind? Hell, no! It was entirely appropriate given the spectacle, the noise, the excitement, the sheer awesomeness (another word we love using these days) of it all.

Swearing appears to be such a part of our vernacular these days. We hear it everywhere - at the movies, on TV, in newspapers, at the shops, and dare I say it - in our own homes. It seems everyone swears these days. I even do my own fair share of swearing! So it makes it quite difficult when we want to stop children swearing at school. We tell them it's wrong and even discipline the continual offenders. Is school the only place where swearing is not allowed? No, of course not! There are many situations in which swearing is completely out of place, and may even be offensive.

Kids swear for many reasons - for effect, to impress their peers, to try out an 'adult' vernacular, as a habit, to assert themselves in the peer group - and while I don't mind listening to Chris Martin swear in between songs, I hate hearing kids swear. I hate hearing my own child swear (even though she insists that now she is 18 she can say what she likes!). Perhaps that's the key - they feel grown up when they can legitimately let fly with a few 'f-words'.

Our roles as parents and educators is to teach about time and place so that swearing becomes a mature choice between expressing yourself intelligently and respectfully or taking a shortcut with a few offensive words. Choosing to swear isn't about a rite of passage - it's about choosing behaviour that demonstrates how you want to seen. This is a useful skill for our children to learn - and maturity is demonstrated through its use.

The Art of Persuasion ... Letters from 2B

For the past two years the writing task in the National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy (otherwise known as NAPLAN) has assessed the ability of students in Years 3, 5 and 7 to write persuasively. And so it is, that at this time of the year our Year 2 students turn their sights towards learning and consolidating this important life skill.

During the week I received a package of beautifully presented (handwritten) letters from 2B. On top was a sticky note, 'Hi Gwen, 2B feel quite strongly about an issue and thought the best thing to do would be to persuade you to their point of view. It is our first go at persuasion and they had a bit of guidance. I know you're busy so thanks for reading them. The kids are looking forward to your response. Bec'

Hmmmmm... Well, firstly, I'm NEVER too busy to read a child's work, to listen to them read or see one (or more) that present to my office full of pride with a job well done. Secondly, I had a pretty good idea they were going to try and persuade me to say 'yes' to something I'd want to say 'no' to!

And so - what did they want? I read 24 letters imploring me to allow them to bring toy cars to school. They demonstrated true generic style by stating upfront what they wanted and then presenting all the reasons why I should say yes, and finishing off with a summary. It was priceless.

I was informed that playing with cars was better than fighting; that kids were allowed to bring a ball to school and didn't I know that a ball was a toy?; that playing with cars was cooler than running around in the hot sun; that they had lost their privileges to borrow equipment from the sports shed and had nothing to do (???); that they could play in the shade if they had cars; that small cars are a lot of fun; that being able to play with them would encourage them to play 'friendly' and share; that teachers 'needed to get over it' - this, I found somewhat less persuasive; that the adventure playground was too small for everyone; and so it went on.

The fact is, we prefer children don't bring toys to school, as a rule. Losses and breakages cause much angst, and parents and children are rarely happy with the outcome of an investigation which has usually taken up far too much of the teacher's time. But I've never been very good at saying 'no' to kids! Especially when they ask for what they want responsibly and through using a tool that is well recognised as purposeful in achieving social action. 'Yes, if..' can be a far more useful response for building responsibility and teaching important life skills without the interference of the resentfulness an outright 'no' often brings.

So, my reply to them was:
Thank you very much for your letters regarding being able to bring toy cars to school to play with at play time. They were very well written and I enjoyed reading them.

The fact is that we have a rule at school about not allowing toys because often toys get broken or taken and the time it takes to sort out the problem means students are missing out on learning – and most times people can't agree on how the toy was lost or taken.

I agree that we have let children bring the balls they won at the Lap-a-thon to school. This was on the understanding that if they went missing, then it's sad but the teachers are not going to chase around looking for it. Other sorts of toys must be left at home.

So, as your letters were very good at persuading me to think about this more I have decided that if you would like to bring your cars to school you must have a plan that describes things like who can bring cars, how many, where you will play, what happens if one is lost or broken. The plan must have agreement from Ms Brian and all the other staff who do duty in the area where you play. The other teachers need to agree because their children will want to bring cars too.

Let me know what you decide and thank you for being so respectful in asking for what you want. If you can learn to do this well then you will have learned a very useful skill for life.

I remembered belatedly I hadn't included that the plan must state how they will play with the cars without digging up the grass and gardens! I ventured into the playground shortly after pressing send (my reply was an email) and was besieged by students from 2B excitedly informing me they were writing me another letter. I'm assuming it will be the plan and I'm expecting it to be VERY persuasive!

Meanwhile, that evening I was watching Better Homes and Gardens and the handy presenter built a gorgeous sandpit seat - is there a Dad out there who would like to build us one of these? Seemed like the perfect solution to me!

End of Year Reports...It's that time of the year again

Some time ago when I was Principal at Chancellor SS the Year 1 classes hosted a grandparents' picnic. Grandparents were encouraged to share their memories and stories of when they were at school. One of the student's Grandad proudly brought along his own father's Report Card written in the early 1920s. It was handwritten in ink on thick creamy paper and gave a snapshot on attendance and punctuality; grades for Arithmetic, English, French, Science and History; and listed some Desirable Traits, for example, completes work, is generally careful, practices good health habits, and works and plays well with others. The teacher had written a brief comment on the bottom of the page 'Would do well to listen more carefully and desist from talking in the classroom.'


So perhaps not much has changed over the last 90 years! Teachers today still provide a snapshot to parents of these things in what is known as the Report Card. These days it is produced by photocopier on light card and the only handwriting you will see will be the teacher's signature - and in our school, my signature too.

At this time of the year teachers from Prep to Year 7 at Peregian Springs State School are spending many hours carefully assessing the work children have produced searching for the evidence of their learning throughout the semester, and considering the best way to describe to parents the growth a child has demonstrated over the year. They write detailed commentary on each subject area and on each child's social and work habits. They spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to record the child's achievements, they proof read them, their partner's proof read them, they rewrite many of them ... and then I read them - all 604 of them this year!

I personally make the time to read and sign every child's Report Card as I love to see their growth over time. Each child's Report Card is a testament to the wonderful work children and teachers are doing in classrooms every day. By reading each report I can ensure the quality of the information parents receive and I also want to affirm each teacher's effort in creating the most informative reports they can.

I, also, want to ensure that when your child's Report Card is read by grandchildren in a few generations it will stand the test of time in terms of the value your child's teachers have added to their life at school and beyond.

Contrary to opinion in the media and fictional accounts of book characters at school, teachers would not write a comment like this one!