Experts offer back to school tips
As the new school year gets underway, Western Sydney University experts have shared their top tips and helpful advice on a range of back-to-school topics. These include improving child and family wellbeing, managing back to school costs, packing a healthy lunchbox, and supporting multilingual children in the classroom.
Dr Fran Doyle, School of Psychology; MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development
Dr Fran Doyle (PhD) is a researcher, educator, and clinical psychologist focused on improving child and family wellbeing. Her research has examined the early detection, prevention, and treatment of mental health problems in young people with the aim to promote wellbeing across the lifespan.
“There’s a lot of change that happens at the start of the school year. Whilst some kids and parents might be excited to be starting or going back to school, others might be feeling apprehensive and overwhelmed. All these reactions are normal. When children are starting school for the first time, it’s important to talk to them about what to expect, who is picking them up, and be excited for them.”
Dr Michelle Cull, School of Business
Associate Professor Michelle Cull is a leading academic in financial planning, with her research focusing on financial planning education, ethics in financial advice and financial inclusion. Michelle is co-editor of the Financial Planning Research Journal, Executive Vice President of the Academy of Financial Services in the United States, and member of Australia’s Financial Planning Education Council. Michelle led the development of the WalletSmart App, which aims to build the financial capability of university students and is co-founder of the Western Sydney University Tax Clinic.
“ With the current cost-of-living pressures, many parents are struggling to make ends meet. Back to school items can be costly and stretch budgets. While it can help to compare prices online before visiting stores for new purchases, there has also been a considerable uptick in the formation of social media community groups that facilitate the swapping of good-quality second-hand uniforms or allow them to be purchased for a fraction of the price, or even free.”
“Collaboration with other parents to share resources can also reduce the burden of back-to-school costs. For example, sharing sports and music equipment, or buying items in bulk. Sharing resources and sourcing uniforms and other back to school items from the second-hand market is not only good for the hip-pocket, but it is also good for the environment as it reduces waste and the amount of items going to landfill. An added bonus is the social capital that this generates which can have positive longer-term impacts for everyone involved.”
Professor Paola Escudero, MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development
As a professor in linguistics, Professor Paola Escudero offers her advice to culturally and linguistically diverse families of multilingual children starting at monolingual day care centres, pre-schools and primary school settings. She also has tips on how monolingual children can increase exposure to new languages and take advantage of the benefits of multilingualism.
“More than 300 languages are spoken in Australia, however more community support is needed for children to speak their home language or to learn a language other than English from early childhood education. By nurturing Australia’s little multilingual minds with increased opportunities to practice native languages, and learning a second language other than English, we can boost all children’s wellbeing, cognitive and social development during the early education years.”
Dr Catharine Fleming, School of Health Sciences
Dr Catharine Fleming is a Lecturer in Public Health, and is experienced in paediatric nutrition, paediatric food allergy and childhood obesity. Dr Fleming is passionate about ensuring a sustainable nutritional change occurs for children and adolescents through co-designed and development of interventions by young people for young people
“Lunchbox shaming by labelling foods ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ is not helpful. Fundamentally, it is important that a child’s lunchbox helps them grow by including food groups for brain and body growth and sustain energy throughout the day such as whole grains, proteins, dairy and a range of colourful fruit and vegetables.”
Dr Fleming shares her top tips on how to frame positive lunchbox discussions and nutrition within the school environment:
- No labelling of food as ‘good and bad’. Instead of shaming foods as ‘bad’ which can bring stigma and isolation around lunchtime routines. Rather discuss with children the benefits for their growing bodies or for adolescents as they transition into adulthood the need for nutrients provided in whole foods that are not found in processed foods e.g. iron
- Support children to explore and try new foods. Avoid focusing on what is ‘bad’ food support children to explore and learn about vegetables through programs such as the VegKIT program https://www.vegkit.com.au/oshc-schools/ . By expanding a child’s knowledge by providing opportunities to taste and explore new vegetables. This approach has been shown to increase their vegetable consumption (Laureati et al 2014).
- Provide supportive and inclusive environments for children with food allergies and sensory food considerations. All children who have medical restive food requirements need to be supported by the school with a food and nutrition policy that supports their inclusion during events when food is served such as fundraisers.
- Provide enabling environments where nutrition is not just a focus of the lunch box. Nutrition needs to have a whole of school approach that is discussed in the classroom along with opportunities to learn about food systems, and sustainable food futures. Where and how do we get the food, we eat? An important part of this is school vegetable gardens and locally sourced foods for children to enjoy.
- School canteens need to be health promoting not just food providing. A critical component of the NSW Healthy School Canteen policy is promotion not only provision of healthy foods. School canteens have the opportunity to be active partners in promoting fresh fruit and vegetable options for children through price and engaging promotion of healthy foods.
ENDS
29 January 2024
Photo credit: Sally Tsoutas
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