Organisation

1. Organisation • The Key to Maximising Your Daughter’s Learning Experience at PLC

2. Organisation What do you do and why? In small groups take 5 minutes to discuss this scenario and decide on a course of action. • Scenario • You are at the gym, in the middle of lunch down at Napoleon Street or at work. You receive a call from your daughter saying she has left her sports gear, lunch or some other item of clothing at home. You can tell your daughter is quite distressed about it and pleads with you to bring up the required items as soon as possible.

3. Organisation • Beliefs about Organisation at PLC • 1. Organisation is a key part of success at PLC. Managing things through organisation reduces stress and maximises opportunity! • 2. As a parent, one of the key ways you deal with everyday life is to be organised. Without it the family would not function! Organisation makes life easier and parents can be role models. • 3. Organisational skills seem to come naturally to some of us and some students and adults have the personality that finds it easy to structure their life and work commitments. Organisation however can be a learned skill – just like Maths and English you can work and practice to improve and be successful. Key strategies and tips can help all us to have an easier life both at school and home. • 4. Organisation is one of the key life long skills we all need to develop irrespective of whatever job we take on. • Organisation is a three-way partnership between your daughter, yourselfand theSchool.It works best when things are clearlycommunicatedand negotiated. The other keydeterminant for organisation to work is a routine.

4. Organisation • PLC structures to help with organisation: • 1. DIARY • Students are issued with a diary at the commencement of the year. This contains all important School dates, events, times... • The diary should be used for: • * Recording all homework, the time allocated to the set tasks and the time spent on the tasks. Homework should be ticked off by students once it is completed. • * Recording important dates, equipment needed, assessment times... • * Communication - you can write a note to the teacher in the diary, e.g., for your daughter not being able to participate in PE. • * Signing - PLC Tutors sign diaries once a week / fortnight and parents should sign also to encourage the organisation from students.

5. Organisation • PLC structures to help with organisation: • 2. TIMETABLE • Students are all given multiple copies of their timetable. They should put one of these in their diary, one in their locker and one up at home to use as a reference. Colour coding can help here to identify different subjects and requirements. (See example) • From their timetable it can be helpful to create an equipment checklist to tick off each day prior when packing for School. (See example) • On this grid it is helpful to see before and after School also as a reference point.

6. Organisation • PLC structures to help with organisation: • 3. ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE • Assessment schedules are created at the commencement of each term and outline when assessments occur in various subject areas. These should be placed in a prominent area around your home. The students are sent these and should have a copy in their diary, at home and in their locker. They can use colour coding here again. (See example) • This assessment schedule can assist your daughter to create a ‘study / homework plan’. This can also be displayed in their room and ticked off when completed. (See example) This plan enables them to ‘justify’ their leisure time and monitors the amount of time spent on homework.

7. Tips for at home! Organisation Room has to be set up at home for study and devoid of television and other distractions. Some students find it better to study in the living room around people. ( Red people ) Be careful if your daughter is ‘studying’ on her laptop. Have the computer in a prominent place so that you can monitor what they are doing on the computer. Copy of timetable for school needs to be displayed prominently in room. Include the equipment checklist, study plan... Establish a routine – pack your bag for the next day soon as you get home, before dinner but not before they are due to go to bed! Diary signing happens at a set time and day. Look not just at what has to be done in the next few days but a week or more ahead. Pack your laptop and charger!

8. Tips for at home! Organisation Once the assessment schedule is emailed to you then make a time to go through it with your daughter and fill out the diary. Keep your copy in a prominent place (fridge door) Map out the co curricula as well as the academic programme for your daughter. Be careful that she doesn’t over commit. This can be mapped using the equipment checklist or study planner. Help your daughter to know what works best for her, e.g., if she is mainly ‘yellow’ have a study environment with lots of coloured pens, big pieces of paper, talk to her to remind her of what is coming up, if she is mainly red, help her to create checklists of what things she needs to bring / remember, help her to set up stickies or reminders on her laptop...

9. Tips for at home! Colour Coding - - Using coloured highlighters, e.g., Timetable for different subjects - Using Coloured stickies – post it notes for different activities – eg green for homework, yellow for co-curricula, orange for social activities – also good for reviewing a week – to see where the emphasis is. Colour code study schedule to see different focus areas. Colour coded ‘stickies’ can also be put onto their computer as reminders. - A white board at home? - A pin up board at home? - Reminder notes in prominent places, e.g., where they would leave the House, on the bedroom door, on the mirror... (Works for visual learners – even kinaesthetic learners) - Putting a sticky note on the front door the night before so that she sees it on the way out in the morning. Organisation

10. Organisation On the way to school: Gently set her mind thinking about what lies ahead for the day. Try “What’s your day like today, what do you have for the first few periods?” ”Remind me on what is happening after school today.” Positively reinforce the organization that they are engaged with. “I know you have a lot of things on and it is great you are really organised to get it done. Your day should be easier …” Be at school by 8.15 to give your daughter time to set up correctly for the day. If they have activities before School aim to get there 15 minutes prior to the start time so that they can organise themselves for the day ahead. • Communication! • In the car or walking to School

11. Organisation On the way home from school: If you can, gently de construct the day and acknowledge those really positive experiences where organisation played a significant part. If things have gone badly during the day due to organisational issues, then choose your time re visit the experience and deconstruct it to highlight where a lack of organisation might have played a part. “Things didn’t go well by your own admission because of… Why do you think this was so... Which of the things discussed you had control (often organisational ones) over and could make a change to… • Communication! • In the car or walking to School

12. Organisation Needs to be on time to class so she must have a watch. There are no bells at PLC, so she needs to keep time herself. Has 10 minutes in between each class to organise herself for the next class. Store everything in her locker and have it locked at all times. Lockers have been specially designed in order to fit in sports equipment, bags (sports and School), lapop... Students need to organise their lockers for the day - i.e., have equipment ready to get out of their locker. Store musical instruments in the storage room provided. This is next to Middle School Student Services. Diary in laptop bag always. Take diary, laptop and pencil case to every class. • During the School day: • ⎫

13. Organisation Middle School Student Services has sticky notes (for lost name badges), nail polish remover, ribbons, stockings etc available, which can be simply added to the student’s accounts. MOBILE PHONES - In order to encourage independence in our students and to protect students from the use of technology on their mobile phones, phones are to be put on silent and locked in student’s lockers for the entire School Day (8.30 - 3.30). There is a phone available for student use at Middle School Student Services. If students are caught with their mobile phone (even if they are on the phone to you) they will be given to the Year Co-ordinator and a parent / guardian will have to come in and collect the phone. • During the School day: • ⎫

14. Organisation • Miscellaneous! • Red Slips - Students are given red slips (lunch or after School duty) for uniform infringements (Beret), money owed ... These are completed and then signed off. • Lost Property - Ensure all items of clothing are named, there are often 1000 of the same items. If your daughter has lost something encourage her to look for it - go to Student Services (both Middle and Senior), check all their classrooms / learning spaces from the day when the item was lost, ask the teacher from the class it was lost to ask the class... Lost property usually turns up. PE and Dance/Drama have their own lost property boxes. Ensure your daughter always locks their locker in order to ensure things are not ‘borrowed’ by other students. • v

15. Organisation • Parent Suggestions / Helpful Hints • What have you found works for you at home with your daughter? • Discuss in small groups and then we will share as an entire cohort.

16. Organisation • Question Time • QUESTIONS? • CONTACT DETAILS: • YEAR 7 - Gary Green 9424 6490 • YEAR 8 - Sarah Kelley 9424 6434 • YEAR 9 - Kristin Keighery 9424 6526