APA News
Dear Parents
Mid-term is upon us, and the cooler weather is setting in! As predictable as the change of seasons is the general shift in attitude in the school community. The halfway point marks a continuous stretch of learning and impending assessment to gauge where students are in their learning journey. The excitement of a new term is fading, and holidays seem like a mirage. It is a often a time when the routines of school can begin to feel more challenging for many students, yet the wonderful thing about schools made up of messy humans is that there are many positives to be found!
I often speak to students who have had a bad moment, a bad day or sometimes a bad week. During these conversations, that at times require the student to accept accountability for their actions and determine how they are going to repair what has been broken, I am always mindful of a child’s wellbeing. More often than not, once a student accepts and understands the role they have played and how their actions have impacted those around them, they are in a vulnerable place in terms of how they feel about themselves. Many students will fall into the trap of thinking that they are ‘bad’ or everything in their life is ‘bad’ because of single incidents that happen. This unhelpful thinking is an example of ‘all or nothing’ thinking or black and white thoughts where there are no shades of grey. I assume that many parents may face the same difficulties when speaking with their own children around things that happen to them during the day. The real danger with these thought patterns is that they then can lead to negative feelings that overshadow any potential positive experiences the child is having and an inability to shift their frame of mind. A cue that your children maybe engaging in this type of thinking is when they speak in absolutes such as, everything goes wrong all the time, school is ‘terrible’, no one ever likes me, the teacher always picks on me, what’s the point!?
A great conversation prompt for conversations that could help a child attend to all aspects of their day could be a ‘roses and thorns’ reflection. Asking children to identify and describe a rose from their day ( something that was good) and a thorn (something that didn’t go well or was upsetting) is a great way to encourage students to look for positives rather than just magnify things that were challenging.
When a child shares their feelings with you, it is always an indicator of their level of trust and connection with you. Parents’ role is to support their child and be their advocate when they are experiencing distress or in a distressing situation, however it is also important to help build children’s resilience in the everyday ups and downs of childhood. The idea that we can focus on both aspects of a day is a great way to display that things are normally not all bad or all good. For older students adding a bud (a challenge) is another great way to normalise the spectrum of experiences that all humans navigate daily.
We are fortunate at SSPS to have Mrs Anne Woodcroft-Brown as our school counsellor. She works in the wellbeing space to support students who need more focused and individualised interventions. Anne is also a qualified Triple P Positive Parenting Program presenter. Anne will be presenting a seminar on Thursday the 12th of June from 2-3pm titled ‘Helping Children Build Resilience’. This will be a valuable and informative session for all parents who want to know more about how they can support their children in this space. Please follow the link below to register your attendance. You can also choose on the form to elect to join the session virtually in real time. We will also be recording the session for later viewing.
Wishing you a relaxing weekend where the positives are easily spotted!
Mrs Katie Hauser