BACK TO SCHOOL

The summer holidays are well advanced and school uniforms are appearing in the shops. The last weeks of the holidays will fly in and September will be here before we know it.

As parents we will soon be starting to think about new shoes, schoolbags, pencil cases, lunch boxes and all the other paraphernalia which needs to be bought for the new school year. This is also a good time to think about whether our children are ready and well prepared to take on the challenges of the next class in school.

After two months of holidays, teachers inevitably need to do some revision to get their classes back into the swing of school and to remind them of the maths and English they were doing in the previous year. They build on this foundation throughout the year as they progress through the curriculum. If this foundation of knowledge, learned in previous years, is not sound because a child has not fully understood some aspects of a topic, they will not have a good base to build on and the child may fall behind and become demoralised. Low self esteem may follow, coupled with a loss of interest.

If you know that your child has had difficulties with a particular subject or subjects, or certain aspects of them, now is the time to help them to overcome these problems so that they can start the new school year confident in their abilities to cope with more demanding work. This applies to both primary and secondary age pupils and particularly those who will be preparing for, or sitting, exams in the coming school year.

It is difficult to ask children to work in the summer holidays especially when the weather is good so timing is all important. There is no point in expecting enthusiasm for revision at a time when a favourite TV programme is coming on or a friend is likely to call. However, an hour or two a week can make a vast difference to a child’s understanding and ability to deal with a topic. If you are unsure of how to help them in a subject, get them some professional help.

Many people think that tutoring is only for exams and often leave it too late to get their child some help: the child may already be so far behind that they cannot catch up in time to perform their very best for the exam. We need to remind ourselves that education is for life and that we have a responsibility to help our children to become educated to as high a standard as possible to enable them to play a full, active, satisfying and useful role in society.

If you feel that your child has had difficulties with their English, maths, spelling or reading last year and you would care to get them some professional help, Kip McGrath Education Centre in Bangor is open to provide tutoring for pupils aged 6 to 16. For a free assessment or further information call Alan Morrison on 02891 859312.