We provide a range of resources to support parents at our school.
Weekly newsletter
A link to our weekly newsletter will be emailed on a Wednesday with notices that may be of interest to parents. Please ensure that we always have your current email address.
Parent information sessions
Within the first few weeks of each new school year, class teachers offer information sessions for parents about their child’s class, the routines, expectations and organisation of learning initiatives relative to the year level. These gatherings are most important as they provide valuable information about our learning programs, ambitions, behavioural expectations, class rules, homework, routines, communication and more, for each class. Parents are also encouraged to continue keeping in touch with their child’s teachers as we work together to offer all children the best possible learning opportunities, encouragement and support. During the year, other workshops and information sessions for parents and carers are organised. Information about these will be advertised in our school newsletter.
Transition to secondary education
Newtown State School maintains a strong relationship with the nearest State High schools that our students attend to ensure our students are well placed for a successful transition to secondary school. Whilst it is parent’s responsibility to facilitate enrolment, we endeavour to keep parents informed of information sessions and transition activities as advised by the secondary schools in our weekly newsletter. A range of opportunities are created including site visits from secondary school staff as well as opportunities for our students to participate in activities at the high schools they are attending, if we have been advised.
Prep information sessions and 'come and try’ days
Early in term 4, our Newtown State School will host a BBQ and information session for parents intending to enrol their child in our Prep Year programs. There will also be a ‘Come and Try’ morning where you can learn more about our school. These sessions in term 4 are followed shortly thereafter by a series of ‘Open Mornings’ mornings for intending prep children. Prep students who have applied for enrolment in the following year are invited to come to school for a few hours to experience life as a prep year student. Beyond these special information and ‘come and try’ sessions, parents of enrolled prep children will be invited to participate in individual ‘parent prep chats’ with our prep year teachers, allowing us to gain an informed understanding of your child’s learning needs, development and interests.
Parenting websites
Parenting can be equally rewarding and challenging on any given day and we can all use some support and ideas sometimes. The weekly newsletter will often have links to websites with parenting ideas or notices of upcoming parenting programs on offer either online or face-to-face through various service providers. For example:
Michael Grose – Parenting ideas
Michael Grose is the author of eight parenting books, including his new release ‘Thriving!’ and the best-selling ‘Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change it.’ His popular parenting columns appear in newspapers and magazines across Australia. He has appeared regularly on television including channel 10’s' The Circle', and is a popular and entertaining speaker as well as a frequent columnist for a variety of written media. He also has a regular fortnightly half hour parenting segment on ABC radio. Michael Grose presents the ‘Seven significant strategies for bringing out the best in our kids’. These are summarised as follows.
Avoid your impulsive reaction when kids are less than perfect. Generally, the first parental reaction to children’s uncooperative or poor behaviour can actually encourage more of the same. Sounds bizarre, but children often keep repeating the behaviours that work in achieving a result. Whinging, for example, is a brilliant way for a child to get his or her own way. Like ancient ‘water torture’ it effectively makes us lose our cool and give in for some peace and quiet.
each kids manners. Old fashioned good manners such as making eye contact, addressing people by name and using please and thank you’s are basic social skills that many of our current generation don’t possess. Manners are respect in action and very empowering so don’t leave it up to schools and pre schools to teach. Insist on it yourself.
Cure parent deafness by acting rather than talking. Often when kids ignore our requests for cooperation we simply repeat ourselves or raise the volume of our voice. Forget it. Cure parent-deafness by acting rather than talking. For instance, put the meal on the table and let it get cold rather than repeatedly tell kids to come to the meal-table. Kids learn from our actions as much as from our words.
Set consequences like a good cop. Behavioural consequences are all the rage in schools and childcare centres. I love them as a way of shifting the responsibility onto kids to behave well. Consequences have their own set of rules if they are to be effective. But the key to their success is to set them like a good cop, as opposed to a rude cop, so the kids are mad at themselves rather than at you.
Use the language of cooperation to get…er…cooperation. Some parents use the wrong language to get what they want. They use the language of coercion (‘do this now!’) to get cooperation, however all they get is confrontation and conflict. For some hard-to-shift kids you need to use the right language to win their cooperation. They are puppy dogs really if you use the right words. The language of cooperation is about choices, not backing kids into a corner and focusing on yourself rather than the child.
Use behavioural rehearsal with kids. If you want kids to behave in certain ways then it is useful to get kids to practise in fun, low or no stress ways. For instance, if you want to bring out your children’s best behaviour when eating out then set up the meal-table at home like a restaurant and have some fun serving them the meals and using their ‘best going out’ manners.
Put yourself in timeout – tactical withdrawal. Most parents have heard of timeout for kids but timeout for parents is effective too. If that sounds bizarre then consider a child with ‘last wordedness’ or a child who keeps nagging or arguing with you to get his or her own way. You need to tactically withdraw from these kids to save your sanity or stop yourself from giving in. If you can’t move away from your child then disappear psychologically – that is, imagine your child is not there and refuse to respond while your child behaves poorly.