Head of Junior School
Maggie Dent
Tomorrow the College welcomes Maggie Dent. We are very fortunate to have such a renowned champion of children and adolescence speak to our school community. Maggie is a passionate advocate for the healthy, common-sense raising of children in order to strengthen families and communities. She has a broad perspective and range of experience that shapes her work, a slightly irreverent sense of humour, and a depth of knowledge based on modern research and ancient wisdom that she shares passionately in a common-sense way.
| Maggie's talk is entitled "Boys, Boys, Boys: Understanding, Nurturing and Connecting to Today's Boys" |
She believes if we can better understand the differences between boys' and girls' development, the way boys communicate, and what our boys' need, we can turn these statistics around. With a major focus on early years (0-5), the seminar also focuses on boys in adolescence. Maggie is a self-confessed 'boy champion' and her mission is to make a profound difference in the lives of our boys. If you are a parent, carer or educator of sons, you will gain practical tips, insights, information and inspiration to help shape our boys so that they grow into happy, healthy men.
We currently have 600 people attending the presentation with room for many more. I encourage parents and guests to attend. Tickets can be purchased for this inspiring event through Trybookings or at the door.
iLearn, youLearn, theylearn
On Wednesday morning of last week the Junior School hosted 30 parents for a Parent Engagement Workshop on iPads.
Parents were taken through the key features of the iPad to support them in managing the device at home. Some of the ideas for helping parents set up a positive working environment at home included:
- Communicating any concerns with their son's teacher
- Setting ground rules and limits for iPad use with their son
- Putting supporting structures in place at home now to help with future technology organisation
Rebecca Tapscott shared how the use of Edmodo is helping the Year 2 boys collect, sort and share information safely whilst working on their 'Sharing the Planet' unit.
There was also time to explore the features of the iPad, looking at guided access and keeping the boys safe when searching online. Parents were informed about the current apps the boys had been working on.
Parents were pleased to learn that they could replicate many of the same functions of the iPhone on the iPad.
This session is one in a series on technology that has and will run throughout the school year. Our next session will teach parent how to use iMovie to make home films. The boys are learning these skills and will showcase their creations in our first Scotch College Film Festival in the Winter Term.
I want to thank all parents who take the opportunity to join us for our Parent Engagement Workshops.
John Stewart
Head of Junior School
