“My legacy to the world is my children”. What powerful words our first guest speaker from the Tenison Parenting Series, Sylvia Habel left us with, after her workshop “The Parenting Effect”. Two sessions of this course were run throughout week 7 and I am pleased to say it was a great success! All up we had over 32 parents attend the two sessions offered. I thank all of the parents who came to the night and shared their personal stories and questions as a parent in the year 2021. I know for myself as a parent of 4 children spanning from 3 years to 13 years old, Sylvia was thought provoking, insightful, inspiring and challenging in asking the question of us, as parents “what is driving our children’s behaviour” and more importantly, “how are we as parents connecting in with our children”? Or as Sylvia put it “what is it that our children really want”?
Sylvia’s work comes from the William Glasser pedagogy Choice Theory and in particular she focussed on the 5 basic needs: They are Survival, Love and Belonging, Fun and Learning, Freedom and Power. The diagram above is an explanation of each of the behaviours which Glasser says are innate to us all, as well as, being influenced by the environment in which we grow up in. At different stages throughout our life the intensity of these needs will differ.
If this information on the night you found useful or if you wish to consolidate this information further, I will be running a community coffee catch up Wednesday, week 2 of term 3. We will discuss further the 5 basic needs, and the pictures in our children’s head which are driving their behaviour and more importantly why do they differ so much from ours?? Further information will come in week 1 of term 3.
On Thursday we were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity for the Carly Ryan Foundation to attend our school and facilitate two workshops. An understanding of the implications of Cyber Safety is essential to each and every one of us and has an impact positively and negatively on our, and our children’s, Well-Being. The more knowledge we have in regards to the intricacies of the internet, the more understanding and power we have over the choices we make for ourselves and our children. These workshops are highly informational, emotive and relevant to each and every one of us as we navigate through the world of the internet and cyber safety.
This week reports were sent home. Report time can bring up a lot of emotions for some students. As a family, it is your decision in terms of what emphasis you put on the school report with your child. Report time and curriculum grades are a guide of how our children are tracking academically. As a parent and an educator, I believe that a focus on the ‘effort’ and ‘teacher comment’ is much more useful than a focus on the ‘achievement grade’ within the report. These elements can be discussed with your child and unpacked in terms of ‘future goal setting’. I have always held the belief that ‘grade counting’ is neither useful or productive for a child’s growth and development.
I am only here at TWCS on a part-time basis but my door is always open to support your child and your family as we navigate the remainder of the year together. It has been exciting to be back at TWCS and a part of the community. I have enjoyed getting to know you and your children. I look forward to working with the community for the rest of the year. I wish you all a happy, safe and well deserved mid semester break.