Director of Studies News - Week 6, Term 1 2020

Parent teacher meetings – what next?

By now most parents would have had the chance to meet their child’s teacher/s this year. (Year 9 and 10 PTNs will be in weeks 7 and 9). So, what comes next?

We know that education and learning is most effective when there is strong communication and consistency of expectations between school and home. Our parent teacher interview schedule is one element of this link and is timed to allow two-way feedback with home.

When parents have questions or concerns about any of the following, please feel free to contact the relevant teacher with an email:

• how their child is learning
• what topics they are covering or
• welfare matters that might arise

If there are some complexities, it might be better to arrange an appointment.

When there are more than one subject/class involved, it might be best to contact the stage or year coordinator.

In any case, our wonderful Junior, Middle or Senior School secretaries can point you in the right direction.

How memory works – 1. Encoding

In my next few newsletter items I will present some ideas about how to help your child to improve their memory.

Memory is important for effective learning. Remembering long lists of things and random facts is not so important (except for trivia competitions) but being able to recall ideas and concepts that we have read or encountered in the past helps us to make sense of new ideas.

More details here – if prompted username: spcc password: 43achieve

Because short term memory can only handle 5-7 new items of information, a new idea should make enough of an impact so the brain sends it off to be stored. It will be designated “important” if it is unusual, funny, emotional or otherwise significant.

• Concentration and focus – it seems obvious, but be alert when reading or discussing new information. Fresh air, exercise, breathing, biorhythms
• Organise or re-organise information to enable your brain to process it more easily – make lists, highlight the key words, group information, create mind maps
• Associations or links – aim to actively create links between new information and the old ideas

Next week: How memory works – 2. Storing

Blessings,
Peter Freeman
Director of Studies