RJHS Newsletter - Term 1, Issue 1

KORERO FROM FRASER

Welcome to Week 2 of Term 1, 2023 everyone. We have had a very positive start to the school year with staff and students enjoying getting to know each other or reconnecting.

By the end of the three weeks with advisors and Hapū, we expect all learners to be well prepared to launch into their modules. We do take time over these first few weeks to ensure students are feeling confident about being in a new year group and can access all the online tools to support their learning.

For whānau who are new to our school it will take you all some time to understand how things work here. Please take some time to talk through the learning that is happening and explore the learning through our online learning management system, Schoology. Have you got the Schoology App yet? If not it is worth getting onto it.

JHS or middle schooling is also a really special time for us as educators to share with your child/ren and also a great time to be a parent/caregiver. As a school we want to actively support our young people as they move through the physical and emotional changes they will experience as adolescents by encouraging them to be able to accept responsibility for all aspects of their own lives. As emerging adolescents we will see a significant shift from parents and other adults being the most important people in our young people’s lives to friends and social groups having a significant influence on their day to day lives. This is of course just one of the many changes we will all see as our young people move through this period from childhood to adulthood.

While this increasing independence and focus on social groups may suggest your job as parents/caregivers is nearly done, we know it isn’t. The success of our young people is contingent on your active involvement and support and we certainly value it as a school. Clear expectations, open lines of communication and boundaries are even more important for young people as they move through adolescence. As a school we work very hard to communicate expectations, build meaningful relationships with our young people and on being consistent with our boundaries and how our young people can learn from situations where these boundaries are challenged.

What can you do to prepare yourself as a parent/caregiver of a young person going through adolescence? In the first instance, learn what you can and be informed. Here is a link to some helpful 2-4 minute video clips related to all sorts of challenges that can be experienced through adolescence. Please check them out:

Understanding Adolescence

From a purely practical school perspective we see our young people thrive when the adults in their lives stay connected, set boundaries, know what they are up to and support their involvement in a wide range of activities and opportunities outside of the school day. Keeping our young people busy, letting them experience a range of different social groups (sports, clubs and cultural activities) and staying in communication with us are factors that we observe to contribute to success. Know their friends and communicate with their friends' parents/caregivers wherever possible. We have heaps on offer here at school so make sure your young people are signing up and staying involved.