On Wednesday 29 August we had the immense pleasure to have Colleen Hirst come and speak to us regarding a matter that is close to all parents, resilience. Resilience is described as the ability to stick with it despite hardships setbacks. We have a genuine desire to look after and help our students but the information session looked at how we can help children to deal with adversity, how we cope with the day to day challenges of becoming resilient?
Colleen identified what it means to be resilient she stated that resilience is wisdom the ability to cope with a range of circumstances both good and bad. Three areas greatly affected the capacity to cope;
Cohesion – How much family time are we spending together and is this time where we can relate to each other as a family
Flexibility – How does your family approach a change in routine or circumstances?
Communication – Does your family spend time with each other and help children practice basic social skills.
We were also warned of the dangers of helicopter parenting this is where we are living our lives through our children being overly protective of hardship when it comes our children’s way. How can we do this? The first step is to understand that as a parent we model it ourselves 90 per cent of the message that our children receive comes from their observed responses.
What can we do about it? There are three things to think of as we head towards
Have we given hope, meaning and purpose to our children are they able to see the bigger picture not just the ability to pass the test but a deeper sense of meaning
Do our students have someone to believe in us?
Do students have genuine challenges to overcome?
In the end our challenge as parents is become more aware of how events and circumstances affect us and once we come into that awareness.
In upcoming news we look forward next week on Friday September 7 to welcoming grandparents to our community. Classes are busy with preparing presentations that I am sure will wow and amaze people and the opportunity will be given to Grandparents to buy a book at the bookfare in the Junior School Library.
Mr Luke Sale
Deputy Head of Junior School - Operations