Category: Classroom planning
Teacher wellbeing is essential in an age of life-threatening events
Currently, Australian teachers are working with children in classrooms shaped by an unprecedented number of local, national and global life-threatening events. These include climate change, bushfires, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, drought, wars, shootings, terrorism and pandemics—both now and into the future. Such events can challenge a child’s sense of safety, predictability and control. Excessive worry can
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Help avoid escalation to school can’t (school refusal)
School attendance in Australia has been declining over the last decade.[1] [2] As many as 5% of school-age children are believed to feel they can’t attend school. [3] Higher levels are evident amongst children with unmet learning and/or social-emotional needs and those experiencing anxiety and depression. In Australia, many people describe school refusal as ‘school
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Supporting children of divorced or separated parents
In classrooms across Australia, many children are navigating one of life’s most challenging transitions, the separation or divorce of their parents. With over 40% of Australian marriages ending in divorce – and half of these involving children [1] – this experience is not uncommon, with some children also experiencing other family relationship separations. Divorce and
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Helping young children return to school after remote learning
In some Australian states and territories children will return to school progressively over the next few weeks following lockdown periods. What can parents/carers and teachers do to help with this transition? The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne recently presented a videoconference with an expert panel on helping Year F-2 children return to school. The panel
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Summer reading from Psych4Schools
We wish you well as you work tirelessly to close off the school year and 2020. During this summer break, we invite you to read our two new Psych4schools ebooklets to help enhance your school’s capacity to manage some of the potential challenges 2021 may present. Working with children who fear life-threatening events (revised) provides
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Supporting parents with at-home learning
Psych4Schools thanks our nation’s teachers and school support staff who have spent weeks preparing and delivering teaching and learning packages for students and families to support at-home learning. Carefully selected physical materials will help cater for the diverse needs of learners and those without access to remote learning tools. For many there will be some
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We hope you enjoyed the break and are feeling excited and confident to meet your new students? Our previous blogs regarding the start of school have talked about building student engagement from the very first days. Here are some ideas to help you get off to a great start. Greet each student as they enter
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Build engagement from the first day of school
As the first day of school approaches many teachers will be planning how to maximise student engagement in the classroom. One of the best strategies is to build strong student-teacher relationships. Teacher-student relationships play an essential role in a child’s motivation and engagement.[1] Maulana R., Opdenakker M. C., Stroet K., Bosker R. ‘Changes in teachers’
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The importance of taking a break
When students engage in a task involving high concentration for an extended period of time, the brain’s messenger chemicals or neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, are depleted and they can experience ‘burnout’. As a result, new memories are unlikely to be stored effectively. Observe your students whilst they are engaged in an activity for a
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Feel more prepared and confident for teaching this year
You’re probably already thinking about what 2016 might bring for you and your students, and planning your term 1 program. It can be helpful to review your successes from last year, and those things that didn’t go so well. This information can help you to plan, prepare and be confident about the year ahead, particularly
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Exams to mark? Reports to finalise? Students tired and irritable? Social events and school functions to attend? The end of the year in schools is often a busy and trying time for both staff and students. The last thing you probably feel like doing is thinking about next year. Making some time in the next few weeks,
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Are you preparing for the school year ahead?
Yes, you are busy but a little bit of time and effort preparing for the year ahead can reduce a lot of hassles and stress in the new year. Spend some time in your end of year staff, or department meeting discussing, in small groups, the main student and parent issues that occurred this year
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Keeping students engaged in the last few weeks of school
The final weeks of the school year are a time for celebration and reflection, however they can also be some of the most challenging weeks for both students and teachers. School fetes, end of year social events and awards nights and associated late nights, on top of final assessments and report writing, bring additional stress and
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Teachers: Looking after yourself
Dealing with the everyday demands of working in a school can be very stressful. By this term you may be feeling tired and ready for the summer holidays. Now is a good time to look back on the school year to see what has worked well and what hasn’t worked so well. Take the time
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