Parents guide to
Exams
Passing an exam requires knowledge, but it also requires skills such as the ability to revise efficiently, to manage time under pressure and to concentrate for long periods.
You might not have the knowledge to help your child to revise for an exam, but you will be able to help them to gain the skills they need to maximise their success. You can also help to build their confidence, ease their stress and support them if things don’t go quite to plan.
This guide will give you advice on how to help children between the age of 11 and 18 to prepare for the various exam challenges that they will face during their school years.
Parents guide to
Bullying
Bullying can have a profound effect on a child’s mental health. It can lead to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. It, therefore, needs to be tackled quickly and decisively. This guide will give you advice on how bullying happens, how to recognise that your child is being bullied and how to work with a school to tackle it. It will also give you advice on what to do if your child has been accused of bullying.
If your child’s mental health is suffering as a result of bullying you should talk to your GP and ask for a referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
Parents guide to
Building Confidence
Confidence is a complex, fragile thing. It isn’t a concrete skill that you can teach to children. Rather, it is built up over time, through little pieces of encouragement, support and experience.
The key to building a child’s confidence is to give them the sense that even if things go wrong, they will have support and they will cope. A vital ingredient to this sense of security is building a strong, respectful relationship with your child, so that they know that even if they don’t always succeed, you will always be kind and supportive.
This guide will give you practical tips to help build that strong relationship and nurture confidence in two different age groups — 4-11 year olds and 12-18 year olds.
Parents guide to
Social Media
This guide will give an overview of the major social media platforms to help you understand the risks and offer some useful tips.
Social media is always changing. We will endeavour to review and update this guide, and articles on emerging social media platforms are regularly posted on the SchoolOnline website – do subscribe for updates.
The key thing to remember is that you don’t have to become a social media ninja to protect your child. Most of the experts in this field are clear that it is too demanding a challenge for parents to keep on top of every social media platform their child might use – Wikipedia lists 211 of them!