Education matters

It’s a tradition in my family to take a photograph of our children on the first day of a new school year and the last day. 

It marks a moment in our children’s lives and helps them to recognise the enormity of what they have achieved. Not only have they grown physically, but also in ways that we sometimes don’t realise such as maturity, social skills and, of course, intelligence.

When I sit and discuss the changes with my children, it is always an interesting conversation because when I ask them to think about the things that were important back in September (worries, fears and trends) and ask if they are still as important now after an entire educational year has come and gone, the answer is always ‘no’.

The lesson for children here is that what actually is important are the things that remain important throughout life; honesty, integrity, self-belief and effort and not who is friends with who or whether your school bag is the right make and colour. 

Obviously to a developing mind, small things like this do become overly important, but it is a parent’s job to instill the more important values in their children since by doing so you will help them to overcome any barrier they face, no matter how small.

Preparing children for adult life is a long process that can’t be handed over to schools alone. 

Over the years I have seen many parents with an attitude to supporting their child’s learning that borders on neglect, so wrapped up in their own little ‘adult’ worlds are they.

Parents like these presume that it is the school’s responsibility alone to guide their children and only seem to take an interest when they are sat in the head teacher’s office discussing why their child isn’t making progress or worse, discussing their child’s inappropriate behaviour. 

Again, such parents seem to be shocked to hear these things yet if they had taken the interest, they would have been in a position to intervene and guide their children when things seemed to be going wrong.

For example, I never cease to be amazed at the amount of parents who claim to have no idea when they are told that their children are bullying others. 

Bullying is usually the biggest cry for help from neglected children who are desperate for guidance or simple recognition from their parents and, therefore, transfer their pain on to others and will go out of their way to get any kind of attention at all be it good or bad.  Ultimately, the blame for this always lies firmly at the feet of the parents.

Schools teach children much more than a curriculum, they teach values and the importance of rules and systems so they can function as adults and contribute to the world positively.

The way that children cope with the structure of school, however, is directly down to the lessons they are taught by their parents at home. 

Every single child is different from the last but they can always be split up into two clearly obvious categories, those who have been guided by responsible parents and those who haven’t … and the difference between the two is very clear for all to see