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3COMPONENT Working with parents and carersCOMPONENT
Acknowledgement of Country
I would like to acknowledge the traditional
custodians of this land and pay my respects to
Elders past, present and future, for they hold the
memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
To better understand: – the KidsMatter Primary framework and the importance of working with parents and carers
– how to build effective collaborative working relationships with parents and carers
– how school staff can provide appropriate support for parents and carers
– how school staff can provide parents and carers
opportunities for increased connection. To critically assess our school’s practices in
working with parents and carers and begin planning for improvement.
Professional learning goals 3COMPONENT
What is KidsMatter Primary?
A national whole-school approach to mental
health and wellbeing that aims to contribute to:
Encourage ALL staff to have a voice in contributing to planning for each component
KidsMatter Primary professional learning
Increase awareness and
understanding of eachof the four components
The KidsMatter Primary framework
The best interests of children are paramount.
Respectful relationships are foundational.
Diversity is respected and valued.
Parents and carers are recognised as the most important people in children’s lives.
Parents and teachers support children best by working together.
Students need to be active participants.
Schools, health and community agencies work together with families.
The guiding principles
The four components of KidsMatter Primary
KidsMatter model for mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention (PPEI) in schools
Whole-school community, staff, students, parents and carers, health and community agencies
All students (and their parents and carers)
Students experiencingmental healthdifficulties (20-30% of students) and the 3-12% of students with mental health disorders, and their parents and carers
Adapted from World Health Organization (1994)
Works with the whole community and provides
support and information to staff, parents and carers
Through the curriculum,creates opportunities to practise skills and
engages parents and carers
Supports children in school and develops clear
processes and referral pathways (by working
with parents and carers and health and
community agencies)
Risk and protective factors for children’s mental health
Risk factors – increase the chances of children developing mental health difficulties (for example, childhood adversities).
Protective factors – are associated with good outcomes for children and can protect them in circumstances where they are exposed to risk.
(adapted from Commonwealth Dept of Health and Aged Care, 2000 and Spence, 1996)
Risk and protective factors for children’s mental health
Key outcomes for pilot schools
% increase in school staff and/or parents and carers who ‘strongly agreed’ with questionnaire statements from the start to the end of pilot.
Session 1: Collaborative working relationships with parents and carers
Session 2: Support for parenting
Session 3: Parent and carer support networks
An outline of what’s to come
3COMPONENT Session 1
Collaborative working relationships with parents and carers
Parent and carer perspectives
Activity
Form small groups. Select a volunteer who has a close,
personal relationship with a child. They tell the others in the group
about the child.
Working together with parents
Building positive relationships between parents and carers and school staff benefits children’s mental health and their learning capacity.
Making parenting information more accessible helps families care for their children and promotes effective parenting practices.
Schools + families + communities
Working with parents and carers
Discussion
Fear?
Relief?
Excitement?
Resistance?
When you see that ‘Working with parents and carers’ is a component of KidsMatter Primary, what comes to mind?
Working with parents and carers
Discussion
KidsMatter Primary schools aim to:
encourage staff to establish cooperative, collaborative relationships with families
actively promote parenting information and support
provide opportunities for families to develop support networks witheach other.
What is your school already doingin these areas?
Collaborate with parents and carers?
MacDonald, 2005, pp. 2-3
MacDonald, 2005, pp. 2-3
Collaborate with parents and carers?
Relationship bank
Relationships are built by small, regular deposits.
Deposits are an investment in the relationship
(they can also help manage future difficulties).
Regular contact is best built and maintained systematically.
Investing in the relationship
Activity
1. Positive connections
What sort of things do parents and carers like hearing from school staff?
How can these be communicated?
Activity
2. Regular connections
How can school staff connect regularly with parents and carers?
Investing in the relationship
Relationship building: An example
A systematic approach
(I) interpreter needed(L) literacy difficulties of adults(E) responds best to email contact(F2F) responds best face-to-face contact
Reflection Action
How might these practices make a difference for…
families and students?school staff?
Choose one strategy and plan how you can use it with parents and carersIdeas generated in the activities will be
taken to the Action Team for consideration for school-wide implementation
A collaborative approach between school staff and parents and carers is more likely to yield sustained improvements in children’s mental health and academic achievement.
Clarifying roles – this component builds upon what schools are already doing.
Relationships are best built by small, regular investments and maintained in a systematic way throughout the school.
Summary
3COMPONENT
Support for parenting
Session 2
Key messages from last session
A collaborative approach between school staff and parents and carers is more likely to yield sustained improvements in children’s mental health and academic achievement.
Clarifying roles – this component builds upon what schools are already doing.
Relationships are best built by small, regular investments and maintained in a systematic way throughout the school.
Common concerns
Discussion
What are some common concerns that parents and carers bring to school staff?
Two approaches
After GPs, teachers are the professionals most frequently consulted by parents and carers regarding children’s emotional or behavioural problems
Parenting resources
Parenting resources spectrum
Activity
1. What’s available?
Parenting resources
Component 3 information sheets, including topics:
– Children’s social development
– Children’s development: understanding emotions
– Children’s development: thinking and learning
– Effective discipline
– Family relationships
Enewsletters
www.kidsmatter.edu.au
Kidsmatter Primary supporting resources
Activity
2. How can we distribute the resources?
Parenting resources
How other KidsMatter Primary schools have provided access to parenting information
School newsletters
Pamphlet holders/mobile trolley
A resource library
Display boards
Leaflets in enrolment packs
In-transition programs
Through designated staff, parent or carer representatives
Responding to parent and carer requests for information
Discussion
You are asked for advice about family issues and/or the child’s behaviour at home.
How do you currently respond?
Responding to requests for information
The SIB model in action: A role-play activity
Activity
Summary
Teachers are the second most consulted profession by parents and carers about their children’s mental health (GPs are number one).
By helping parents and carers access information, schools can assist parenting practices and enhance the mental health of children.
The S-I-B model provides a framework for communicating with parents and carers.
3COMPONENT
Parent and carer support networks
Session 3
Key messages from last session
Teachers are the second most consulted profession by parents and carers about their children’s mental health (GPs are number one).
By helping parents and carers access information, schools can assist parenting practices and enhance the mental health of children.
The SIB model provides a framework for communicating with parents and carers.
Schools can provide a community hub for parents and carers by:
providing opportunities to build supportive relationships
promoting community resources.
Family and community support networks
What the research tells us
One in four parents and carers reports low levels of social support.
Feeling connected to a community helps parents and carers to cope better.
Schools are a community hub – connecting parents together can increase their social support which is a protective factor for children’s mental health.
Data from Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
Connecting parents and carers with each other
Activity
Community resources
Schools can help parents and carers to link with relevant services in the community.
Community agencies can support families to address risk factors which will benefit children’s mental health.
Community agencies sometimes have stronger connections with families the school is finding hard to engage.
Community resources
Activity
Summary
Providing opportunities for parents and carers to develop support networks enhances social connection – a protective factor for mental health.
It is important that networking opportunities meet the different needs of parents and carers.
Where to from here?
Discussion
What’s in the pipeline?
What more do we need to find out?
What local organisations do we need to make contact with?
How can we involve them with our planning?
Is there further professional development available for staff?
Schools working together with parents and carers is beneficial for children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Relationships are best built by regular investments and maintained systematically.
By linking parents to information, schools can assist parenting practices and enhance the mental health of children.
Schools can assist parents and carers by helping them to connect with each other and resources in the community.
A quick review of Component 3professional learning
Improvements to student mental health:
– Increased positive mental health.
– Reduced mental health difficulties.
– Students experiencing mental health difficulties showed significant improvements in their mental health.
14% more teachers strongly agreed that KidsMatter Primary led to improvements in students’ schoolwork.
Evaluation outcomes
Component 3: Evaluation outcomes
KidsMatter Primary:– facilitated placement of mental health as an issue onto school’s agenda
– provided a common language for school communities
– had an impact on school culture, facilitating the raising of issues relating to mental health and child development
– assisted parents’ understanding of their child.