Events, Events, Events!
Last week was certainly the busiest thus far in our Term 4 calendar! Congratulations to all award recipients and performers at the 123rd Speech Night, held at QPAC on Thursday evening. It was a wonderful celebration of achievements and music, and certainly a privilege to enjoy the impressive standard of Choirs, Ensembles and Bands. Thank you to our student performers, led by Conductors, Mr Will Eager, Mr Bob Schultz, Mr Shannon Leonard, Ms Raquel Bastos, Dr Debra Shearer-Dirie, Mrs Sylvia Cody and Mr Christian Gante. Many staff and parents commented on the exquisite music showcased throughout Speech Night. Thank you to all who attended in person and online and we do hope that you also enjoyed the evening. Appreciation and thanks are extended to Deputy Principal, Mrs Jo Matherson, Mrs Annette Zabala and Mrs Bronwyn Raymond for their organizational attention to detail in preparation for this special occasion in our school calendar.
Friday heralded an Academic Green Day and our Year 12s celebrated with a Jumping Jive on the Fewings Lawn. It was a day of high emotion for the Seniors, who also had House Farewells on Wednesday and a very special Year 12 Chapel Service on Friday afternoon, marking the end of Year 12 formal schooling, before embarking on the study period prior to External Exams.
On behalf of all staff, I wish our Year 12 cohort the very best with their forthcoming study period prior to commencement of External Exams. Their teachers have prepared them well and it is now up to students to implement the study routines that will help them perform at their very best. Go well!
We welcomed our Year 5s who returned from their camp on Friday and I thank all staff who attended the camp to ensure a good time was had by all.
Parents – I do hope you are checking SomerLink once a day to catch up on the news and events that are happening on our school calendar. It is our only way of communicating with you and we rely heavily on the SomerLink platform, (as well as this newsletter) to let you know what is happening at Somerville House.
Teacher-Student-Parent Collaboration
Throughout this year, I have been privileged to observe the benefits derived from teacher-student interactions and parental involvement in our Junior and Senior Schools. A Norwegian study has found that a flexible and dynamic relationship between teachers, students and parents is crucial to promoting student wellbeing at school. A positive relationship between all three parties “may promote student achievement, and mental health, helping them to thrive in school”. Researchers Vibeke Krane and Trude Klevan conclude that their findings “emphasize the importance of developing collaboration between home and school contexts, especially when students are struggling” (Krane & Klevan, 2018).
Krane and Klevan note that most young people aged 16 to 19 now attend upper secondary school and live with their parents. Furthermore, upper secondary schools “demand an increased effort in academic complexity and achievement. As a result: “Many upper secondary school students struggle with these demands as well as [with] motivation, achievement, and mental health issues.” As noted in previous studies, including a 2009 meta-analysis by Australian Professor John Hattie, the teacher-student relationship “is a pivotal factor in students’ achievement, motivation, and learning”, while international meta-studies have found that “parental involvement and collaboration between schools and parents are significant factors in upper secondary school students’ achievement”.
Krane and Klevan write that this study demonstrates that the teacher-student relationship is not just between individual teachers and students, but that parents are also involved and, in fact, they are “particularly aware of their own responsibility” in developing the teacher-student relationship. Parents can contribute through promoting positive attitudes to learning, interacting with their children, and collaborating with teachers.
As children get older, parents should encourage them to take on more responsibility for their own education and teacher-student relationships. However, when students have mental health issues or are at risk of dropout, it is crucial that parents increase their involvement in their child’s education and act to support and negotiate their child’s teacher-student relationships. When students are at risk of dropout or have mental health problems, it is particularly vital to involve parents to develop collaboration between the home and school context. School management can assist through facilitation and implementation of structures that promote parental involvement. This will help develop positive teacher-student relationships at an early stage. Teacher educational programs should emphasise the importance of the teacher-student-parent relationship, as well as developing skills and strategies to involve parents in the senior schooling years.
Students in Years 11 and 12 are transitioning between childhood and the independency of adulthood but still need support and guidance from both parents and teachers. Krane and Klevan conclude that:
To manage the delicate balance between demands and care, parents, teachers, and students must interact and collaborate closely. These interactions and collaborations are not fixed but must be negotiated and developed constantly in pace with the students’ development and everyday challenges. A flexible, dynamic and tripartite relationship between teachers, students and parents “is crucial to promote students’ well-being in school”.
Queensland Mental Health Week was held from 8 to 16 October and it is vital that we all look out for the mental health of students (and all people) in our daily interactions.
Mrs Kim Kiepe
Principal
Reference: Krane, V., & Klevan, T. (2018). There are three of us: Parents’ experiences of the importance of teacher-student relationships and parental involvement in upper secondary school. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, published online 26 April 2018, 1-11. DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2018.1464482