At Harrow Bangkok, our commitment to student wellbeing goes beyond the classroom, recognising the crucial role that parental involvement plays in creating a supportive and nurturing environment for our students. To enhance this commitment, an initiative to introduce a Parenting Group Programme designed to strengthen parenting practices and, consequently, improve student outcomes has been implemented.
The programme is a response to the growing awareness that effective parenting significantly impacts children’s emotional and psychological development. In today’s fast-paced world, where academic pressures and social challenges are increasingly prevalent, a strong partnership between schools and parents is more vital than ever. By equipping parents with advanced communication strategies, tools for emotion regulation, and practical techniques for building stronger family relationships, we aim to create a cohesive support system that extends from home to school.
The programme was purposefully designed to address key areas of parenting that are known to influence student wellbeing. These areas include understanding different parenting styles, developing effective communication skills, and applying emotion regulation strategies. Each session is designed to provide parents with actionable insights and practical tools, empowering them to better support their children’s emotional and psychological needs.
Our goal with the programme is to bridge the gap between school and home, ensuring that students receive consistent and comprehensive support in both environments. By focusing on enhancing parenting practices, we aim to foster a positive and nurturing atmosphere that promotes students’ emotional resilience and academic success. This initiative seeks to create a more integrated approach to student support, where the combined efforts of parents and educators lead to a more holistic and effective nurturing of our students.
The Parenting Group Programme at Harrow Bangkok represents a proactive measure to enhance parental involvement and support, with the ultimate objective of improving student wellbeing. In this article, I will outline the programme’s structure, significance, and anticipated impact, providing a comprehensive overview of how this initiative will contribute to fostering a supportive and thriving educational environment.
OUR BACKGROUND
The Parenting Group Programme is designed to improve parenting techniques and their influence on children’s emotional and psychological development. By equipping parents with communication strategies and tools for emotion regulation, the programme aims to create a supportive home environment that fosters students’ wellbeing. This initiative will provide valuable insights into how effective parenting practices can contribute to improved student outcomes.
PARENTING STYLES AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
The Parenting Group Programme consists of three interactive sessions, each with a specific focus and intended impact on student wellbeing. The session commences with an introduction and outline of the programme’s objectives. It is crucial as it introduces parents to different parenting styles and their impacts on child development. Understanding whether a parenting style is authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or neglectful helps parents reflect on their approaches and their effects on their children’s behaviour and emotional health. Authoritative parenting, for example, is associated with positive outcomes such as higher self-esteem and better academic performance in children.
By exploring principles of positive discipline and effective boundary-setting, parents can create a more stable and supportive environment at home. Effective communication techniques, including active listening and assertive communication, help parents address conflicts constructively and foster a stronger parent-child bond. This improved communication can reduce misunderstandings and emotional stress, leading to a more secure and balanced emotional state in children.
BUILDING STRONG PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS AND EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES
This session focuses on enhancing the quality of parent-child relationships and teaching strategies for emotion regulation. Building a strong, supportive relationship between parents and children is essential for a child’s emotional security and resilience. Emotional intelligence and resilience are critical components of overall wellbeing, influencing how children cope with stress and challenges.
Teaching parents how to foster emotional intelligence and resilience equips children with the skills to manage their emotions effectively. Mindfulness exercises and relaxation techniques introduced in this session help both parents and children manage stress and promote a calm, supportive family atmosphere. This contributes to better emotional regulation, reducing anxiety and behavioural issues, and improving overall mental health.
PROMOTING POSITIVE PARENTING PRACTICES
The final session focuses on reinforcing positive parenting practices and creating actionable strategies for implementation at home. This includes the use of praise and encouragement, fostering autonomy, and independence. These elements are crucial for developing a child’s self-confidence and sense of responsibility.
Positive reinforcement and encouragement enhance children’s self-esteem and motivation. By promoting independence and autonomy, parents help children develop a sense of control and confidence in their abilities. Developing a family action plan ensures that the strategies learned are effectively integrated into daily life, promoting consistent and positive changes in the home environment that benefit the child’s overall development and wellbeing.
EVALUATION METHODS
To gauge the effectiveness of the Parenting Group Programme, we will conduct evaluations before and after. Parents will complete questionnaires, including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), to assess changes in their children’s wellbeing before and after participation in the programme. This quantitative data will provide a clear measure of the programme’s impact. Alongside these assessments, the programme will include interactive sessions designed to offer practical tools and strategies for improving parenting practices as shown above and qualitative insights will be gathered through detailed feedback from parents through interviews and from students and/or focus group discussions. This combination of quantitative and qualitative methods will ensure a comprehensive evaluation that can provide valuable insights into how enhanced parenting practices contribute to student wellbeing.
The implementation of the Parenting Group Programme represents a significant step in enhancing parenting practices and supporting student wellbeing at Harrow Bangkok. As we prepare to launch this initiative, we anticipate that it will provide valuable insights into how improved parenting practices can benefit student development. By utilising both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, we aim to comprehensively assess the programme’s effectiveness and how it can be used in assessing student well-being at Harrow Bangkok. This initiative underscores our commitment to creating a nurturing and supportive educational environment, and we look forward to the positive impact it will have on our school community.
BUILDING STRONG PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS
“Either we spend time meeting children’s emotional needs by filling up their cup with love, or we spend time dealing with behavious caused from their unmet needs, either way we spend time.”
– Pam Leo
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