Success At School!

I recently went to my son's parent's evening, and, for a change, came away elated. Why did I come away elated? Well, it was good news, and our hard work (both mine, my husband's, and my son's) has been proved not to have been in vain. After years of below-average achievement in most subjects, he has shown that he is capable of improving and getting satisfactory results. I believe he has done this, first of all because of his own recent commitment and fantastic effort, but also because of his parents' involvement. When he went to High School we felt we as parents did not have a great influence on what he was doing there. Not because of the school (they are great at keeping parents informed), but because we felt he'd reached the teenage stage of life and didn't want or need our involvement. Well, that proved false. OK, he did not want our involvement, but he certainly needed it. Not all kids are ready to take on some responsibilities - they all develop at a different pace. He was not doing well at school, and certainly wasn't showing any interest or commitment (he never has liked school).

But when we sat him down and spelt it out plain and strong - what you do at school each and every day matters - it matters to your results in exams - and to your future, and can make life a little easier when stepping onto the work ladder - this seemed to make a difference. We gave him some incentives too, like a reward if his results improved. We did lots of other things (see the link below).

Teachers have reported a vast improvement in his behaviour, attention during class, homework, and test results.

If you want to know what we did to support our son at school, go to http://www.chilledparent.com/help_school.html

Rita