A huge welcome to you all, particularly our new LS families joining us for 2023, we are grateful you are entrusting us with being part of your child’s learning journey!
Please make sure you are following us on Facebook for tips, articles and updates. You can find us HERE. Or alternatively search for 'Learning Support'. We look forward to having you as part of our online comminuty.
For many of our North Island families, it’s certainly not felt like a typical summer break, with far from ideal weather, it’s made us very envious of the South Island summer! Our thoughts go to those of you affected & impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. In some instances it’s meant tutors have offered zoom sessions and in some instances without power being available their session has been rescheduled, we really appreciate the active communication and flexibility when instances such as this arise!
The beginning of term one can be a super exciting time for some and an anxious time for both students and their families as they adjust to new teachers, classrooms, schools, routines & get back into normal bedtimes! We feel for you all as parents and know how challenging it can be to remain upbeat and positive, whilst you watch your child resettle and re-establish themselves. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your tutor if you need any support getting your concerns or messages across to your child’s new teacher.
Weighted Well-being supports are becoming more popular for those who suffer from anxiety. These can come in the form of weighted blankets and now also weighted toys. A Christchurch based Mother and Daughter team have established a company called Weighty Warriors, providing an alternative to the weight blanket. Nicky comes from a teaching background and holds a Masters in Education. She is now a Learning Support Coordinator in North Canterbury, supporting children, families and teachers who are struggling with the demands of school and home life. Jaz is also from a teaching background, now working through her Masters in Education. Jaz currently works in children's mental health in Christchurch, and from a psychology background, she hopes to become a registered psychologist one day. https://www.weightywarriors.co.nz/ They also generously donate $5 from every purchase to Gumboot Friday.
Term one can be a busy one for schools with lots of summer events, camps and activities occurring, so please keep an eye on these popping into the school calendars and let your tutor know if these are going to clash with your child’s tuition time.
Whilst we hope that COVID will be less of a factor than it has been for the past 3 years, we are aware it’s something we are all going to be living with. We will continue to aim to be as consistent as possible with your child’s tutoring but we all know that illnesses as well as COVID are still hanging around in our communities and will at times impact our ability to see your children face to face. We thank you for your support and understanding when face to face tutoring is impacted and we are so grateful that we can often move smoothly (with some prior notice) to online tutoring via Zoom.
Missed Lessons
Our tutors all appreciate you letting them know when your child is unwell and won’t be attending school and/or tutoring sessions. The more notice you give your child’s tutor the easier it is to reschedule, or switch to a Zoom session instead. A reminder that our LS policy states that all offered tutoring sessions are paid for but that tutors will offer one make-up session per term for missed sessions. If the tutor is unwell then you receive a refund or a credit for missed sessions.
APD (auditory processing disorder) children’s book
A local Porirua Mum decided to write a book, after her 10 yr old son was diagnosed with APD. JC the Bumble Bee with APD helps raise awareness about the condition and includes resources for families and teachers. The book can be purchased from here for $29 and allows you to purchase another for your children’s school too, to help raise the APD profile: https://www.jcthebumblebeewithapd.com/ Read this fabulous article from Stuff about the background and motivation for writing the book.
Sadly, How I Learn, two lovely educational psychologists, who many of our LS families have used the wonderful services of to seek diagnosis, have announced they are finishing up at the end of term one. Polly is going to work more in the mental health space and Emma is going to continue as an Educational Psychologist but under her own umbrella. We look forward to being able to send any of our students her way should families wish to seek formal cognitive profiles. For those of you who have previously used their service, they’ve said they’ll still be contactable should you require copies of previously written reports.
We thank you so much for all of the time and hard work you put into supporting your child with their homework. The more practice they do, the quicker we see results!
The Learning Support Team x