The most effective and positive parenting tip we have for preparing for secondary school is – listen, listen and listen! Listening is an act of love, being present not judging or evaluating just being there for your child in their hard moments. When your teenager is having a hard time try to remain in the being state not the doing or the fixing state.
Our 6 week Discovery Programme dives deeper into the ‘being’ rather than the ‘doing’ and helps you as a parent to reflect on why you might be caught up in the reverse.
List of things I might need – add to it as you need
| School bag with at least 2 compartments | |
| Wall Planner of academic year | |
| Large hession folder for each subject | |
| Pencils, pens (red and blue) pencil parer, rubber, highlighter for each subject that goes in the hession bag. The pens with 4 different colours on them can be helpful – one in each bag | |
| Hardback A4 or A3 for each subject that goes in each subject bag. Some subjects have specific copies / paper e.g maths, music, teach graph | |
| Maths set, scientific calculator graph paper for your maths folder | |
| Sticky notes / flash cards for making notes or mindmaps at the end of each chapter | |
| Label all books and equipment | |
| Morning Routine | Afternoon Routine |
Things your child might need to do to get ready for the school day.
Your child may need support with doing some of these tasks but also will need the time and space to be allowed to try to organise themselves on their own, at their own pace. This may be a little slower than you would like!!….. but having a go at it themselves is so important. Some of the items on this list may not be applicable to your child and add to it where appropriate!
- Charge their mobile phone and have it switched off.
- Check their time-table and see what homework and materials they need for the following school day.
- Do the homework/study they need to do that night. They can be strategic about this, not all homework needs to be done on the day they are given it. Their timetable will determine when they do their homework.
- Take all the things they don’t need for the next day out of their bag.
- File any notes they got in school in the appropriate folder (don’t leave them at the end of the bag as they’ll get ruined).
- Get all the materials they need for the next day and pack them.
- Check if they have PE or a subject like Tech Graph that they need extra equipment for and make sure they pack this – they might like to have a separate list of the equipment needed so they can check it.
- Make sure they have their uniform ready.
- Pack their lunch and drink.
- Check that they have enough pens and pencils and pack their pencil case, ruler and calculator.
- If they use an I-Pad or laptop they need to make sure that it’s charged and that they have packed the chargers. Pack the I-pad / laptop if they use one
- Make sure they have given any relevant notes to their parents.
Time-table and Locker
Hopefully your child will get the chance to go into your new school and practice locking and opening one of the lockers there and making a plan for how to organise it.
Your child will most likely only be allowed go to their locker at the following times:
Before classes
During mid-morning break
During lunch break
After school
Your child will need to learn to quickly change the books for the classes that follow these periods and your child may need to practice this with a mock time-table when they get their books.
Recommended system for your child for organising their books
All books and copies for each subject should be placed in a sturdy see- through zipped folder – A3 should suffice. These can be bought in Easons or similar stationary shops. Label the folders so that the students can see the labels when they’re in the locker. Alternatively you could colour code them with a small dot if you are going for this system. Folders can break so have a good supply of them at home and replace them when necessary. The student will bring a folder with their time-table, pencil case and journal with them to each class.
Prepared to Parent
If you feel you need support on your parenting journey, our Discovery Programme may be what you need. For 6 weeks we will walk alongside you and together we find that ‘missing piece’ for you, that aha moment where you find connection in your role as a parent and then that beautiful new lens through which to see your child. Join our next Discovery programme here.
