Issue # 17.2009two
Primary Division News
Many parents do not realise that in additionto learning to read and write and developacademically and cognitively, a vital part of the role of the primary school is to teach thechild to be a social being; a confident memberof the community. This involves fosteringsocial competencies and behaviourmanagement.Social skills are learned and many youngpeople need to be taught explicit social skills.Many people refer to this as the hidden curriculum. This occursthrough observation, modelling, role playing and demonstration of skills in the context of the home, classroom and school yard.Children sometimes need explicit teaching to develop socialcompetencies. The following skills may need to be addressed:
How to initiate friendships
– role play is particularly effective formodelling positive skills. Acting out roles, helps to reinforce skillsand is useful for helping shy, withdrawn and belligerent young peopleto become one step removed from themselves. It is then hopedthat through actively engaging in role playing social scenarios theywill begin to transfer these role-plays into real life situations.
How to deal with rejection -
when others say ‘no’ (eg. try someoneelse, ask again, play on equipment, watch others).
How to say ‘no’ to others.How to give compliments
– this is a sophisticated skill and occursat a higher developmental level, but modelling and teaching thisskill is important.
How to join in the play/ game
Teachers often notice that some children do not know how to playand then teachers have to actually teach children how to play agame. This may involve teaching individual skills required so thatthey can be included in games (eg. playing handball, football,skipping). We also try to ensure that we have plenty of playequipment available on the field so that the children can use this asa means of initiating play.Teachers continually revisit previously taught skills in assertivenesstraining and protective behaviours (eg. “stop, I don’t like it”). Wetry to encourage and teach children the skills of dealing with theirown problems.Of course we all know that social skills are developmental and thatchildren gain greater capacity for empathy, for compromise andkindness to others as they mature cognitively and emotionally ANDwhen they see these skills modelled by others.
Normal
peer conflict is an
inevitable
part of social interaction. Itis all about the way this is handled and how the children manage.When there is an imbalance we have to intervene and protect thechild and of course reinforce appropriate behavior. These are thelessons of school!To encourage the development of positive social skills, it is importantto establish boundaries for whole school codes of behaviour – whatis acceptable and what is unacceptable. Positive reinforcement of acceptable behaviour assists in promoting these behaviours, thenyoung people are encouraged to observe and imitate acceptablebehaviours. With the support of parents and teachers workingtogether this becomes a much simpler task.
Mrs Leonie Drew Principal Primary
At this time of the year parents andstudents in the Secondary Division meetwith teaching staff to discuss subjectselection options for the following year,and a meeting of this nature was heldonly last week.Not uncommonly some parents takeopportunities such as these, when I amable to speak directly with them, to askwhy Physical Education is a compulsory subject for all ourstudents until they complete Year 10.Clearly this a topic of interest to a number of our communityand so I will outline the reasons behind this decision in today’snewsletter.From a legal perspective AISHK offers Physical Education (PE)classes because our school is required to provide lessons inthis Key Learning Area as part of maintaining our schoolsregistration i.e. to be able to offer the Board of Studiescurriculum at AISHK we must offer PE up to Year 10. But evenif this legal condition did not exist there are many soundeducational reasons why students need to access physicalactivity, in some form, on a daily basis, both inside and outsidethe classroom. These reasons are based on a number of University studies, including some to which I refer to today.In the most recent research, investigations undertaken at theUniversity of Illinois in the USA, evidence suggests a positivelink between physical activity and attention span and physicalactivity and academic achievement in children. Their findingsindicated children were better able to pay attention andperformed better on academic tests after periods of physicalexercise. Particularly in reading comprehension, the studentstested performed a full grade level better after exercise. Thestudy has prompted some interesting curricularrecommendations in the US: integrating physical activity intolessons/the curriculum on offer and ensuring schools offer dailyoutdoor recess and lunchbreaks, being two. These findingsseem to support previous studies, which have foundprogrammed outdoor
recess and lunch breaks promote betterstudent behavior
and improve each individual student’scapacity to work effectively with others in the classroom.Outside the educational rationale provided in these studies,doctors and teachers across the globe have for some time nowhighlighted the importance of providing students with physicalactivity so as to counteract the limited physical activityassociated with computer based social pastimes, that studentstend to allow to dominate their waking hours these days. Theconcern with childhood obesity, in particular, is yet anotherargument in favour of ensuring all schools provide physicalactivity in their daily routine.It is little wonder therefore that students and teachers whovisit AISHK are often somewhat envious of the facilities andprograms, related to outdoor education and physical activity,that AISHK is able to offer its students here in Hong Kong.
As always if you have any questions or concerns regardingthese or any other matters relating to the Secondary Division, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at the school.Mr Phillip WaughPrincipal Secondary
Secondary Division News
A wise teacher was educating his students about human nature.He told them, ‘A battle is going on within me. It is a dreadful battle and it is between two great lions. One lion is wicked:he is fear, rage, jealousy, sadness, greed, pride, self-pity, shame, hatred, weakness, lies, laziness and superiority.The other lion is good: he is happiness, harmony, love, trust, sharing, peace, compassion, friendship, understanding,generosity, truth, kindness and loyalty. This same battle is going on inside you and inside every other person as well.’They considered his words and then one of the students asked the teacher, ‘Which lion will win?’The teacher replied thoughtfully, ‘The one you feed the most.’
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