WHY IS A POSITIVE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IMPORTANT?

The Parent-Child Relationship is one that nurtures the physical, emotional and social development of the child. It is a unique bond that every child and parent can enjoy and nurture. This relationship lays the foundation for the child’s personality, life choices and overall behaviour. It can also affect the strength of their social, physical, mental and emotional health.

 Some of the benefits include: 

• Young children who grow with a secure and healthy attachment to their parents stand a better chance of developing happy and content relationships with others in their life.
• A child who has a secure relationship with parent learns to regulate emotions under stress and in difficult situations.
• Promotes the child’s mental, linguistic and emotional development.
• Helps the child exhibit optimistic and confident social behaviours.
• Healthy parent involvement and intervention in the child’s day-to-day life lay the foundation for better social and academic skills.
• A secure attachment leads to a healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and motivational development. Children also gain strong problem-solving skills when they have a positive relationship with their parents.  

PARENTING STYLE – POSITIVE PARENTING                           

There is no such thing as “one-size fits all” when it comes to parenting, we change and adapt as our children grow. However, following some simple positive parenting tips can help when it comes to your relationship with your child.

WARM, LOVING INTERACTIONS

Treat every interaction as an opportunity to connect with your child. Be warm in your expressions, give eye connect, smile and encourage interaction. 

HAVE BOUNDARIES, RULES & CONSEQUENCES

Children need structure and guidance. Talk to your children about what you expect of them and make sure they understand. 

LISTEN AND EMPATHISE WITH YOUR CHILD

Acknowledge your child’s feelings, show them you understand, and reassure that you are there to help them whenever they have problems.

PROBLEM SOLVING

Help your child to problem solve. Be a good role model and show them how to behave through your own actions. When you work with your children to find solutions they learn how to deal with difficulties in an appropriate way.

STRENGTHENING THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

Forming a connection with your child is important to developing a strong parent-child relationship. Here are some tips to help with strengthening your relationship with your children.

TELL YOUR CHILD YOU LOVE THEM

Of course you love your children but tell them every day, no matter what age they are. Even on difficult days let your child know you didn’t like the behaviour but you love them unconditionally. A simple “I love you” can do a lot to strengthen a relationship.

PLAY TOGETHER

Play is so important to children’s development. Young children can develop many skills through the power of play. As well as it being fun and helping you develop your relationship with your child, it can help children’s language skills, emotions, creativity and social skills. 

BE AVAILABLE

Make time to talk to your child without any distractions, even 10 minutes a day can make a big difference in establishing good communication habits. Turn off the TV, put away technology and spend some quality time together. Eat meals together. Eating together as a family sets the stage for conversation. Encourage no technology at the table and enjoy each other’s company.

LISTEN AND EMPATHISE

Connection starts with listening. Try and see things from your child’s perspective and foster mutual respect.

SPEND ONE ON ONE TIME WITH CHILDREN

If you have more than one child try and make a point of spending individual time with each of them. Quality, individual time with your child can strengthen your bond, builds their self-esteem and lets them know they are valued.

INSIGHT SRC PARENT SURVEYS

Today we will be sending home INSIGHT SRC School Improvement Surveys to random parents in our school community via students. We will alert students from each grade that the surveys are to be taken home to parents.

These surveys are designed to obtain feedback about our school in relation to the things we do well and things we can do better.

Although we strongly encourage you to do the surveys, your participation is voluntary. It is important to remember, however, that the success of this project is dependent on St Ita’s parents’ involvement in giving us important information via the surveys.

The survey takes approx. 20 minutes to work through and once completed the surveys can be sent to Insight SRC online or returned to school in the confidential envelope provided via St Ita’s admin, where they will be returned to Insight SRC for analysis. The results of the survey are usually delivered to schools within 8-10 weeks.

We thank you for your ongoing support of our teaching and learning community.

RIDING BIKES AND SCOOTERS TO SCHOOL

If your child is riding their bike or scooter to school they are required by law to wear a helmet. We have several children arriving at school without them. In the interest of child safety please ensure your child has a helmet on when they leave for school and arrive home from school.

ANZAC DAY SERVICE

Thanks to all our families who represented St Ita's in the annual Drouin Anzac Day march. The children presented themselves both respectfully and reverently on the day and our school captains and vice captains did a wonderful job during the laying of the wreath ceremony. We also had many other students attend services in their towns with their local communities and it was moving to see local families honour & remember their families & others that have served for us in the past & in more recent times. 

CORRECT SCHOOL SHOES & UNIFORM

Just a reminder that all children should be wearing the correct winter school uniform to school during Term 2. Great to see that several of our senior students have found their school shoes or are wearing an all black runner to school which is outlined in our school uniform policy. If you are replacing school shoes and children need to wear runners for a few days please send a note to your child’s teacher.
We thank you for your ongoing support to ensure all our students are in correct school uniform.

GASTRO IN OUR SCHOOL

We have had several children presenting to school with Gastro / Cold like symptoms. We have also noticed a significant increase in children coming to sickbay distressed and unwell.

If your child is displaying any of the symptoms associated with Gastro or Cold and Flu please do not send them to school until all symptoms have cleared.