Education pages

EDUCATION

Unleash the magic in your child

If you were about to meet an author, what would you wear? That’s an easy question for the Reception class at Russell House - a magic hat of course!

The children had read how a magic hat helped a rabbit realise he could do anything if he tried. When the class met the author, that’s what they wore.

Do you know what they learnt? It really was true – they could do anything. But the magic doesn’t come from the hat - it is inside them.

Discover how Russell House helps children realise their own magic.

Call Anne Irvine on 01959 522352 and arrange a visit.

Does your child need help with Maths?

"I can already see her confidence growing in just one month"

Get a FREE trial pack today

MathsClubByPost.co.uk

Ban Cars from Idling Near Schools

Cars should not be allowed to idle with engines on when parked near schools, a report has proposed.

Public Health England has recommended local authorities “consider a range of interventions” to protect children from the harmful impacts of air pollution.

The report says air pollution was the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK.

Air pollution is linked to up to 36,000 premature deaths in the UK each year and

Helping your child overcome Maths Anxiety

Brain scans show that a quarter of the population suffer from Maths anxiety, responding to sums in the same way that arachnaphobes respond to spiders.

If your child panics over Maths lessons and homework, helping them now will prevent problems in the future. There are loads of ways to include Maths learning in every day tasks without it becoming a big issue (see facebook.com/mathsclubbypost). Find gentle ways to practise Maths. Start with things that are easy for your child until they have developed more resilience. Try Maths Club by Post for some fun puzzles and games,

Learning Life-Saving Skills to Become Compulsory

Beginning in 2020, all state schools in England will be required to teach “life-saving skills”under new plans for health education announced by the Government.

According to draft guidelines released by the Department of Education, primary school children are set to learn basic first aid, as well as steps they can take to protect and support the health and wellbeing of others, including calling emergency services. Children age 5 years will learn basic first aid and children

more than 2,000 schools and nurseries are near to roads with damaging levels of motor emissions.

This report has been followed by a survey of teachers by YouGov which found that nearly two-thirds would support a ban on cars outside school gates during school drop off and pick up times.

More than half (59%) of the teachers surveyed want the Government to take urgent action to improve air quality near schools.

selected for your child’s ability and confidence level. Last, but most importantly – don’t look for mistakes – that’s the teacher’s job – just give them lots and lots of PRAISE!

as young as 11 years will be shown CPR at school.

“Learning the basic skills of first aid and techniques like CPR will give young people the confidence to know that they can step in to help someone else in need and in the most extreme cases - it could potentially save a life” announced Education Secretary, Damian Hinds.

More info visit: www.gov.uk/government/news

Love Opportunity Love Success

Love Russell House

01959 522352

An independent prep school for boys and girls aged 2-11

www.russellhouseschool.co.uk

Children with Better Co-Ordination More Likely To Achieve

Young children with better eyeto-hand co-ordination are more likely to achieve higher scores for reading, writing and maths according to new research by the University of Leeds. More than 300 children ages 4 to 11 took part in various computer tasks designed to measure eye-to-hand coordination, such as steering, taking aim and tracking objects on a computer screen.

The results revealed that the children who did better in the eye-to-hand co-ordination tasks tended to have higher academic attainment in reading, writing and maths. In particular, those with the best performance

in the ‘steering task’ were on average 9 months ahead of classmates who struggled. The findings raise the question of whether schools should be doing more to give support to children who are less well co-ordinated.

More info at www.leeds.ac.uk

6 Families West Kent May/June 2019 www.familiesonline.co.uk

EDUCATION

Summer-born children ‘too young’?

Parents who have children born in late spring and summer often don’t know this but they can ask to delay their child’s entry to reception for a year.

Children usually start school in the September after they turn four but parents of children born between 1 April and 31 August, also known as “summer-born” children, can request to start school later.

While the government requires school admission authorities to arrange for the entry of all children in the September following their fourth birthday, a child does not reach compulsory school age until the “prescribed day” following their fifth birthday (or on their fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day).

The prescribed days are 31 December, 31 March and 31 August. So a parent cannot be required to send their child to school before this point.

Some parents do apply to delay school if they feel their child is just too young to start school. But there are a couple of issues to consider: firstly, if starting school

is delayed, typically this means their child will start school in Year One, skipping the reception year completely.

And requests also may be refused by the education authority. A government report has found that although it appears the number of requests for delayed admissions is currently small, there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest such requests have often been refused.

Where a request is refused, and unless the parent agrees to send their child to school before compulsory school age, the child will miss the reception year.

For the full government guidance on delaying starting school, visit www. gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission

Tutoring tailor-made with care for your child

Centre owner Zoe Trodd writes: “If you suspect that your child might need additional tuition in maths or English, Sevenoaks Tutoring’s fully qualified teachers can offer you all the advice you need.”

Offering expert tuition to both primary and secondary school aged students, the centre can help ensure your child’s academic success.

The bespoke tuition programmes are devised using multi-sensory resources specifically designed to target areas of need identified in the original assessment.

The Tutoring Centre and education programmes are designed to enable your child to make progress fast, utilising a positive, warm and friendly learning environment to ensure previously unrealised success. Zoe, like all her staff, is a qualified and experienced teacher. She is also a trainee L5 Dyslexia specialist teacher and is a Youth Mental Health First Aider. At Sevenoaks Tutoring Centre, caring and

supporting the whole child is part of the ethos.

The Centre offers tailor-made individual tuition programmes for 6-16 year olds in maths, English, reading, writing, spelling and comprehension. Exam preparation for 11+ and GCSEs is also offered. At Sevenoaks Tutoring we:

• believe that all children can succeed, if given the right support

• help your children in a way that builds confidence and selfesteem.

• pave the way to exam passes and success

Phone 01732 453657 to arrange your free assessment/taster lesson or visit the website for more details: www.sevenoaks-tutoring.co.uk

where everyone is unique

Join us for our OPEN MORNING

Wednesday 1st May : 9.30am-11.30am

12 Pembury Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3QD T: 01892 532747 E: registrar@beechwood.org.uk www.beechwood.org.uk