Helping Your Child Excel at School and Beyond
All students should have a Resume right from their first year in secondary school. Students in the primary years can also have a special folder where they keep copies of certificates and awards. Some primary students also have an e-copy of achievements. Once students see that they have little to add to a Resume, this can be a wakeup call. Suddenly they realise that they should consider becoming more involved in sport, school events and activities outside school.
If your child hasn’t taken to secondary school like a duck to water, don’t stress too much. There will be many others in the same boat (choppy water). And keep in mind that no transition issue is unsolvable.
Students and parents need to keep up with the constantly changing tertiary landscape. It really is true that knowledge is power. The right knowledge can help students gain entry to very popular courses and even avoid being one of the many tertiary students who don’t make it past the first four or five weeks at university or TAFE.
To develop almost all of the skills required to thrive in a world that is rapidly and constantly changing, (resilience, leadership ability, team-work skills, initiative, persistence, emotional intelligence, optimism, determination and courage) young people need to be prepared and eager to step outside their comfort zone. They need to try new activities and seize opportunities. They need to be doing this as early as possible rather than waiting until they complete secondary school or post-secondary studies.