A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Girl Mag Watch October 2012 Reading the October issue (yes, I know, just scraping this review in in time) of Girlfriend, I found myself checking the front cover to make sure I’d picked up Girlfriend and not Dolly. I’m wondering if perhaps Girlfriend is moving in on Dolly’s readership. And, if so, could this see [...]
Every few months, this old argument crops up again: Homework – Good or Bad? Last week the ABC reported on research that suggested that homework was of little use to students of primary school age when it came to improving academic outcomes. The research also suggested that homework was only had “very limited” and [...]
For the most part, I believe that kids tend to rise or fall based on the expectations of the adults in their life. Last year, I was reminded of the book, 'Pygmalion in the Classroom' when I attended a workshop by James Nottingham. The book describes an experiment carried out in a US elementary school to test this [...]
In last week’s newsletter I wrote about the sense of relief that students feel upon the completion of their studies and how the media exacerbates this by reporting on the HSC every day. You can set your watch by it can’t you? Seriously. Well, twenty-four hours before NSW student sat for their first [...]
One of the big 'buzz' terms in education today is 'parent engagement'; one of the most misunderstood terms in education today is 'parent engagement'! So, what is 'parent engagement' and how does it affect our children's learning and wellbeing? Harris and Goodall (2007) concluded that many schools 'involve' parents in the day to day running [...]
As Year 12 students across Australia prepare for their final school examinations, it will be interesting to note how the media reports the reaction of the students after each subject exam. In NSW, the Sydney Morning Herald reports daily on the exams of the previous day, citing teachers, students and parents as to whether [...]
Dan Haesler asks which should come first, wellbeing or education? This is a no brainer - and possibly the wrong question altogether! The national and international evidence is quite clear: though we have yet to persuade all school principals across Australia - and probably most politicians - to believe the evidence. It is unequivocal that [...]
Another week, another call for social media to be part of the Australian schooling curriculum. For what it’s worth I wholeheartedly endorse any approach that is more proactive and meaningful to the way we currently address social media in schools. Imagine for a second if we taught our teenagers to drive a car in the [...]
Assuming you and your school place student welfare/wellbeing high on your list of priorities, here are three questions to consider. Who is the significant adult in the life of a 21st Century student? How and where do they spend most of their time? With whom do they converse most? Is it their parents? Is it fair [...]
Not sure if I’m getting too relaxed with the soon arrival of a desperately needed break, but I am about to surprise you and commend Dolly on a few things this issue, primarily features on anxiety and cyber dangers. A two page article on anxiety, ‘Anxiety Anonymous’, covers one of the major issues for tweens [...]
