The importance of parents as partners

"Successful relationships become partnerships when there is two-way communication, and when parents and practitioners really listen to each other and value each other’s views and support in achieving the best outcomes for each child."
(Effective practice: Parents as Partners. The Early Years Foundation Stage, 2007)

Parents create a learning environment which starts before birth and continues for many formative years.

It’s important to remember that more than 70% of children’s lives are spent both with their family and the wider community, which means that the opportunities for learning within these environments are both significant and enduring.

Together, parents and practitioners are pivotal in shaping and directing children's learning, development and wellbeing. 

Parental engagement is effective in showing children that education is important, building their confidence and fostering connections between home and school environments, all of which contribute to improving student’s educational outcomes and wellbeing.

We know that successful parental engagement has a distinctly positive effect on improving social and educational outcomes. Because of this, we have compiled a variety of useful, very carefully considered, resources for parents and families. All of which have been selected from reliable agencies, organisations, professionals and research bodies.

We will continue to add additional content to this section of the website. If you have a suggestion for useful resources, newsletters or tools that would benefit parents, please contact the office here

Information Sheet: Checks for parent volunteers in schools

Information Sheet: Checks for child volunteers in schools

 

Cyber Safety

Beacon: Cyber Safety Educational App
The Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) Beacon cyber safety educational app provides parents with huge amount of resources relating to online safety. The app uses a tailor-made approach for providing parents with resources relevant to their families and delivers research and knowledge in an easy to understand way.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner
"The Office is committed to helping young people have safe, positive experiences online and encouraging behavioural change, where a generation of Australian children act responsibly online—just as they would offline.
We provide online safety education for Australian children and young people, a complaints service for young Australians who experience serious cyberbullying, and address illegal online content through the Online Content Scheme.
Our goal is to empower all Australians to explore the online world—safely."

iParent
There's lots of information available online when it comes to cyber safety. Let us introduce to you iParent—where parents can learn about the digital environment and keep updated on their children’s technology use.

Brought to you by the Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner, this resource gives you guidance for using safety settings on your family’s web-connected devicestips for talking with your children andresponding to cyber bullying.

Visit the website to get your hands on the latest facts and stats about Aussie kids, learn how to manage tech in the home and discover strategies used by parents to keep kids safe online - and lots more!

ThinkUKnow
"ThinkUKnow is a free, evidence-based cyber safety program that provides presentations to Australian parents, carers and teachers and students. It provides information on the technologies young people use, the challenges they may face, and importantly, how they can be overcome. Presentations are delivered face to face or digitally.

The program is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank, and is delivered in collaboration with New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police Service, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police and Victoria Police as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australia."

Parental Engagement

Parent - Teacher Meetings
Make the most of your opportunity to engage with your child’s teacher. This resource is a WACSSO guide to meeting with your child's teacher. 

Learning Potential
Want to help your child with their learning? If you’re looking for tips and ideas to help you nurture your child’s potential, this is a great tool. Everything on the Learning Potential website supports the Australian Curriculum, and is child (and parent) friendly.

Learning Potential has hundreds of articles on all aspects of your child’s learning and development, from the early years to the end of high school, with more articles added all the time!

Parental Engagement in High School - A Case Study
Belconnen High School: Re-branding and re-inventing the P&C to better fit the challenges of High School.

This case study is borrowed from the ACT Government's 'Progressing Parental Engagement, School Fact Sheet' and the ACT Council of P&C Associations’ ParentACTion quarterly magazine,
published in Term 3, 2015.

Raising Children 
The Raising Children Network is a resource for Australian parents - from pregnancy to newborns to teenagers. They offer evidence-based content you can trust on hundreds of topics about raising children and looking after yourself as a parent.

ARACY - Parent Engagement 
The ARACY Parent Engagement Blog features articles written by professionals with backgrounds in parental engagement. 

 

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Commissioner for Children and Young People
"The Commissioner is the independent person who works closely with children and young people, their families, community and government to make WA a better place for 0 to 18 year-olds." CCYP resources. 

Student Wellbeing Hub
"Feeling safe and supported is the right of everyone in the school community. The resources available on the Student Wellbeing Hub help to create learning communities that promote student wellbeing and the development of respectful relationships. The Hub is guided by the principles of the National Safe Schools Framework, which highlight the importance of educators, parents and students working together. We can make a difference, starting now.

Bullying. No Way!
"Children and young people need to know that they are being heard, that their feelings matter​ and that their issue will be investigated respectfully. Bullying should be taken seriously.
Bullying. No Way! provides information and ideas for students, parents and teachers. If you want to talk to someone in person or online click here to get contact details for helplines."

National Safe Schools Framework
The National Safe Schools Framework outlines the important role of educators, parents, carers and the wider community in working with schools to create and maintain safe and supportive learning and teaching communities that build respectful relationships. The Framework is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the individual national, state and territory initiatives, policies and legislative frameworks currently in place to support students’ safety and wellbeing.

Headspace
Raising sensitive issues and working to resolve problems that arise along the way can be challenging. It can also be hard as a parent to know the difference between normal behaviour, such as moodiness, irritability and withdrawal, and an emerging mental health problem. The 'Friends and Family' section of the headspace website is designed to help you.

Alcohol and Other Drugs

SDERA: Alcohol and other drug information for parents
"Parents can play an important role in building their children’s resilience, and supporting the key drug education messages that are delivered through our early childhood and school programs.  SDERA offers a number of different support options for parents of students in all year levels, including: 

 

Alcohol.Think Again
Managed by the Drug, Alcohol and Prevention Services Division, Mental Health Commission, the Alcohol.Think Again education campaign is part of a comprehensive approach in Western Australia that aims to reduce the level of alcohol-related harm and ill-health in Western Australia. 

Their website features information on the following topics:

  • What Parents Need to Know
  • Young People and Alcohol Laws
  • Your Child And Leavers
  • What Young People Need to Know
  • Alcohol and Young People
  • Alcohol and the Developing Brain

Parent and Family Drug Support Line
The Parent and Family Drug Support Line is a confidential, non-judgmental telephone counselling, information and referral service for families and carers concerned about a loved one’s alcohol or drug use. Professional counsellors are available via phone 24/7.

In addition to professional counsellors, the Parent and Family Drug Support Line has a network of trained parent volunteers  who have experienced their own child’s alcohol or drug use. Parent volunteers area available via phone between 8:00am and 10:00pm each day

Learning

Learning Potential
"If you’re looking for tips and ideas to help you nurture your child’s potential, you’ve come to the right place. Learning Potential has hundreds of articles on all aspects of your child’s learning and development, from the early years to the end of high school, with more articles added all the time!

Browse by the categories below, or enter a topic in the search box. All the content is also available on the free Learning Potential app - download it on the App Store or Google Play.

If your child is in primary school, the complementary Learning Potential Resources website has great ways you can reinforce the skills your child is developing in the classroom."

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
"It is parents, families and carers who have the most influence on their children. When families are actively involved in their children’s education, children usually enjoy school and achieve better results.

This section of the website provides information for families and carers about their children and the Australian Curriculum.

The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life – wherever they live in Australia and whichever school they attend.

Download The Australian Curriculum: an overview for parents to learn about how the Australian Curriculum is organised, including information about the learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities. There is also information about how schools can use the Australian Curriculum to support students' needs and interests, and links to further information."

Careers

My Future - Assist your child
The earliest and often the most powerful learning about careers is shaped by the adults in a child's life. For that reason, myfuture has developed an 'Assist your child' page, containing links to tips and advice for parents and carers to help support and encourage young people with their career making decisions.

Myfuture is the prime career exploration tool used in over 80% of Australian schools. With an annual audience of over 1.7 million users, myfuture has the broadest reach of any national career exploration service. The myfuture website is managed by Education Services Australia, a Ministerial not-for-profit company which is owned by all Australian education ministers.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA: 10 Ideas to Help Parents Talking Careers with their Teens - Career Coaching Information for Parents

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA: Start Work - A quick guide to starting a new job

Parenting in the Digital Age: Recorded Presentations from Telethon Kids' Institute & Constable Care Foundation

Primary Stream

Secondary Stream

  • SPARX-T presented by Yael Perry (Telethon Kids Institute)
    Due to final results being unpublished, we are unable to make this presentation public at this time. For more information, please contact yael.perry@telethonkids.org.au

  • UPLIFT: Wellbeing research in youth chronic illness presented by Amy Finlay-Jones (Telethon Kids Institute)
    Due to final results being unpublished, we are unable to make this presentation public at this time. For more information, please contact amy.finlay-jones@telethonkids.org.au