Category: School Days

1. Reflecting on the 2016 SATS Results

   Posted on 9:42am Friday 29th Jul 2016

   School is out for the summer and the relief of the end of term is felt by both parents and children (and I am sure a few teachers too!) This year has been especially emotional as the Year 6 children are not only leaving the comfort of their junior schools but have had to deal with the new SATS grading. The children and teachers put in a lot of effort when it comes to their SATs, and not achieving the scores they’d hoped for can be heart-breaking. Fortunately, there are a number of steps parents can take that ensure SATs result don’t spell the end of your child’s goals.

   Ensure SATs Are Kept in Perspective

   It’s easy for children to base their entire future on the SATs results, but it’s up to us as parents to ensure our children are able to have a realistic viewpoint on their results. Reassure your child that there is no such thing as a pass or fail, and the pressure that children sometimes feel can also make an impact. Helping your child realise what they’ve accomplished in preparation for their SATs can do wonders for their confidence moving forward.

   Don’t Compare Children’s SATs Results with That of Others

   It’s not only children who can be disappointed with SAT results, as parents can also worry that SAT results that fall below expectations will have a huge impact on their child’s life. Children have many different strengths, just like adults, so it’s important to focus on where improvement is needed, rather than try an assess why one child achieved something another didn’t.

   Similarly, those who attained a high SATs result should understand that on-one is inferior to them, and that everyone learns in a different way. Many children who were unsure of the impacts SATs results would have in high school have gone to become a success, simply by working on their weaker areas.

   

   Focus on The Benefits

   Like many adults, a lot of children have become a success simply be learning from their mistakes. As such, not reaching the desired SAT level shouldn’t be all doom-and-gloom. Of course, it’s natural to feel disappointed, but the reality is that a lot can be done to ensure your child’s future is a bright one. Working harder moving forward also ensures that school life is rarely passive, meaning that not only are they gaining vital knowledge, but actually enjoying doing so.

   Ensure Your Children Are Prepared for Senior School

   While SAT results can mean that a school will streamline a pupil, many don’t base a child’s ability on this alone. Some schools may place children based on cognitive ability tests and SAT results, whereas others may have a different internal system altogether. If you do have any questions, it can be useful to contact the school in question and ask them what measures they have in place.

   It’s also important for children to understand that there’s no reason as to why they can’t progress, even if they didn’t get the results they wanted. How a child is placed within a school will allow them to work on areas that need improvement. This in turn will instil confidence, meaning that a more solid foundation is in place when it comes to a child succeeding.

   Many children may fear falling behind as a result of their SATs, but all that will occur is that extra support will be put in place to help your child prosper moving forward. Sure, it may take longer to reach the destination, but everyone ends up at the same place. 

   And finally ...... let them enjoy the summer, free of timetables (and times tables).

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2. The Parenting Colour Wheel

   Posted on 9:47am Sunday 24th Jul 2016

   Childbirth is like the Land of Oz. You leave in black and white and arrive in a world saturated with glorious Technicolour. Being a parent has made me feel more vividly than I ever imagined could be possible, colouring my days with an emotional rainbow so bright I can’t remember what it was like to live without.

   Red

   My kids make me see red far more often than I am comfortable admitting. Sometimes it is because they are pushing all my buttons, other times it is because I don’t have the patience I need to deal with things calmly. I hate getting angry with them even if they have misbehaved, because the guilt which follows is terrible.

   Orange

   School mornings are frequently a simmering pot of anxiety we will be late because small people move at their own tempo and have a timetable that is completely unpredictable.

   Yellow

   Thankfully for my  sanity, yellow flashes through my days with delightful frequency. The spontaneous displays of love and affection, the joy when my girls develop a new skill or sleep through the night, and the fits of laughter over nothing in particular shine brightly to dilute the darker hues.

   Green

   Adults can be jaded. We forget the excitement and wonder that comes from exploring and discovering something new. Green represents how I have learned to see their surroundings through the eyes of my child, and the warm happiness I feel when I see how excited they are about things I have taken for granted.

   Blue

   Calm, serene days when there is no arguing, bickering, or nagging, and everyone is happy in each other’s company, are an oasis. I can never predict when it will happen but find myself taking quiet pleasure in the fact that, for now anyway, everything is perfect.

   Indigo

   When my  children are sad it is as if the umbilical cord was never cut. Their experience helps me remember with clarity how much life can hurt. One of the hardest tasks I have found as a parent helping my children to develop the resilience to deal with disappointments, friendship rifts, or the simple fact that not everyone you like will like you back.

   Violet

   Hormones, exhaustion, and guilt can throw a shadow over my life, sucking the colour from my days and leaving me feeling bruised and vulnerable. These are the times  when I question my ability to be a parent, a partner, or a valuable member society, and when I rely on my family and close friends to help me through until the spectrum begins to lighten.

   Every parent - every parent - runs this spectrum of emotion - often several times a day! Just like a real rainbow it is something I am happy to witness without questioning basking in its beauty with open-mouthed wonder that something so indescribably amazing happened in my life.

3. Keep Playing #likeagirl

   Posted on 11:34am Friday 1st Jul 2016

   Like A Girl. It has always been seen as a little bit of an insult hasn't it that phrase? But being "like a girl" is something to be celebrated and the new Always campaign is looking to challenge perspectives and the impact that negatives can have on young women. I have two girls and it is important to me that they grow up believing that they can do anything they want to do from academic excellence to sporting achievements but what is saddening to learn is that over half of girls (64%) give up sport by the end of puberty, with a whopping 80% not believing that they belong in sport!

    

   

    

   Sporting acheivements seem historically linked to male sporting figures and how many times have we heard comments like “girls shouldn’t play that sport” or seen girls’ teams playing in half-filled arenas? What impact does this have on girls and their desire to play sport throughout puberty? These are critical questions that Always, leader in global feminine care and the brand committed to championing girls’ confidence, is asking – an activity recognised for its profound and long-term impact in helping girls build and maintain confidence. As the world prepares for the 2016 Olympic Games, Always wants to urge, encourage and inspire girls everywhere to Keep Playing #LikeAGirl.

    

   Key ‘Always Puberty & Confidence Wave IV’ Study Findings

   • By the time girls reach the age when they finished puberty (16-17 years old), 64% will have quit sports
   • 8 out of 10 girls who quit sport during puberty felt they did not belong in sport
   • Only 1/3 of girls feel that society encourages girls to play sport
   • The top challenges for girls continuing to play sport are that most people believe girls become more self-conscious about/dislike their body (50%), most believe girls are worse at sport than boys (34%) and the lack of respect for girls in sport (32%)
   • 61% wish there were more female role models in sport
   • If there were more female role models in sport then girls aged 16-24 believe that more girls would continue playing sport (47%), there would be more interest in female sport (46%) and female sport would be more popular (42%)

    

   

    

   So the team at Always are inviting everybody to join in to rewrite the rules and keep girls in sport. Pledge that you’ll Keep Playing #LikeAGirl and encourage others to do the same. Upload a picture, shoot a video or tweet using #LikeAGirl to show your support and inspire young girls everywhere to Keep Playing.

    

    

    

   My girls are swimmers, they are both gymnasts and I want them to keep swimming and I want them to keep bending themselves into unimaginable positions for as long as they want to! I want them to feel positive about their abilities and their possibilities ....... so maybe one day they can be a role model for a future generation!

    

    

    

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4. How much does free education really cost?

   Posted on 12:59pm Thursday 16th Jun 2016

   I have to be honest, sending my girls to a government funded school is a lot more expensive than I expected, and that’s just with one child in full time education at the moment! With my oldest moving on to year 7 in September, and her little sister starting in Reception, I am already looking at our budget and working out where we can cover the costs of their free education. 

   Actually, my gripe is unfair because it isn't the cost of the education that is increasing, but the expense of everything that goes along with it. And, yes, I know it's a first world problem to moan about the fact that my children have both an education and a social life, but that doesn't make it any less of an issue when it comes time to pay for school trips, uniforms, meals, and various sundries. 

   A Children’s Commission on Poverty report found the average cost of uniforms was £108 for primary schools, and £126 for secondary pupils, and I am faced with buying both this summer. That report doesn’t take into account replacing outgrown shoes, lost jumpers, lunch boxes and drink bottles (which are ludicrously expensive, in my opinion) and school bags which just weren’t up to the task. Buying some items of uniform from supermarkets items can reduce this cost, but that’s no good if a school has embroidered badges on their jumpers, or specially printed sports kit. Some hand-me-downs will help cut the cost of uniform buying this year but I still expect to pay £200 to kit both my daughters out for their new schools.

   Other financial treats in store for my overdraft include school trips (averaging over £50 per year for secondary school, and £25 for primary); and stationary, which thankfully isn’t much as both schools provide most items, but which will still end up costing around £20. Include music lessons at £45 per child per term, and I am glad I am sitting down because that’s already over £800, or £2,185 if the children decide they want school dinners! 

   I am not ranting because I know that all parents want to provide the very best for their children and as parents we budget for these things accordingly but what happens when you get an unexpected cost. Many children work on computers for their homework but what happens when the laptop breaks and you have tears at bedtime because they don’t have access to powerpoint that apparently they absolutely need to use for a presentation on the Vikings(!!). As parents it is easy to panic but thinking about responsible lending with a payday loan company such as Vivus could help to ease this pain for the short term. They offer short term loans of £100-£300 which is enough to cover a decent laptop and to prevent the melt down in a pre-treen.

   

   We are fortunate to be in a position to provide everything our children need (though not everything they want!) but an alarming number of school children go without. 1.2 million pupils in England alone do not have access to a nutritious meal during the day - 700,000 of them live in low-income families whose parents are not entitled to claim benefits, while another 500,000 of them are entitled to free school meals, but their parents have not applied for them either because they don't know how, or because of potential stigma associated with claiming benefits. 

   We might complain about various education ministers and SATs, about the perceived deterioration in the standards of teaching, and about not being able to take our kids on holiday during term time, but with Pearson ranking Britain’s education system as the sixth best in the world as recently as 2014 (the last PISA ranking was in 2012) I can’t really gripe about having to spend £900 a year on my children’s school life when they get an education children in some parts of the world could never even dream of.

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