Full article from the Term 1 No 1 2007 Newsletter 

Vital Journey, First Steps

I've been bracing myself for this week - a fingernail chewing, sad-happy occasion when my little boy has his first day at prep in primary school. I've bought the uniform, scrutinised the school information pack, even attended a school council meeting late last year - all with a view to setting him off on the right path. My partner and I have read the various materials about making the transition from kindergarten to primary, and what to expect. We've attended orientation day, and glanced at the prospective teachers with a mixture of nervousness and hope.

And of course, isn't this what many parents do? Wanting to ensure that their child/ren's first steps in education will be good, happy ones - sufficiently stimulating, empathetic to their needs, realistically paced, not too many harsh surprises.... My friends tell me that I worry too much, that I'm being a "helicopter" (hovering over one's child). What will be will be. And after all, didn't we all have to go through this once - the baptism of one's first day at school. We survived it - why will this be any different?

They're right, of course. And there's much to be said for the recent emphasis on resilience; the quality that enables kids to bounce back from their experiences and to develop a kind of pragmatic optimism about each day's encounters and expectations.

But there's more research these days on the importance of the early years, the way brains develop, the social skills requisite for coping with a huge range of people and situations, and above all, the importance played by parents and the home environment as stabilising factors. Policymakers are beginning to attest to this, vis-à-vis Victoria's Office for Children, not to mention the findings by specialists such as economist Dr James Heckman, demonstrating just why governments need to invest more in early learning communities and the widespread beneficial outcomes when they do.

There is a great deal of lip-service paid to children's needs, but the realities are not reflected in our achievement-conscious media and society. Being "the best you can be" sits sometimes at variance with allowing children to develop at their own pace. Schools are required to use clumsy, ill-conceived benchmarks to rate children's progress, fuelling parental and student anxiety, and to what end? So that some schools can appear "better" than others? So that children can be programmed to achieve "perfect scores" one day in the VCE? Are these accurate indicators of a child's abilities and potential? Most of us would agree, having long since completed that particular rite of passage, that it's meant very little in terms of what we went on to do.

This is not to denigrate the importance of literacy, numeracy and the many other skills children must acquire. They are essential. As a parent of young children about to set foot in their first major institution, however, I am keen (and prepared) to work with the system to ensure that children develop other social, intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual skills, and to be cognisant of an ever-changing world. These skills will matter just as much. And I don't see that throwing money at private schools should have to be the only form of insurance for children's education and life skills.

It seems a long, perhaps arduous road ahead. Too many people are already telling me the pitfalls of adolescence, prospects of bullies, indifferent teachers, and god knows what else. But the daily sight of my children's bright, cheerful faces - so new to everything, so receptive and interested - this strengthens my determination to make their education worth every step of the way.

Article written by Juliette Brodsky (Mother)