King's Blog

I started giving my eldest child pocket money each week when he was in Year 1.  He was learning about coins and notes in school  and I thought it would be a good time to give him some of the real thing to practice with. I decided on an (arbitrary) amount of $2, which I made up in coins of one dollar, 50 cents, 20 cents, two 10 cents and two 5 cents to give him plenty of denominations to play with.

Hurray!  It's the school holidays!  Time to play, rest and reconnect with friends and family.  An opportunity to recharge and rejuvenate. The chance to dream, explore and catch up on all those hobbies that demand more time.

After a term of school work and routine, students deserve a break ... as do their parents! But how do we prevent their academic skills from slipping and ensure they don't forget what they've learnt -

There are so many benefits to learning to play an instrument - it relieves stress, builds confidence, develops reasoning skills and more. But for parents who have never played an instrument themselves, deciding on a first instrument for their child can be a daunting experience.

Conversely, parents who are proficient at music often put their child on the same musical journey, starting their child on the instrument they first learnt to play.

My cousin applied for a position as Head of Drama at a prestigious British private school.  During the interview, she was asked to define the primary role of drama in education.  Her answer?  "Therapy".  She got the job.

Many people see drama as a 'touchy, feely' subject that allows kids to express themselves, while having some laughs along the way.

My daughter has to present a speech at school today.  As I waved her off, with a few encouraging words, I took a little time to reflect on how happy and confident she appeared.  I too was happy and confident – happy she had worked hard on preparing her speech and confident she was going to do very well in her presentation.

Yes, I still read to my ten-year-old.  He can read perfectly well by himself and will happily immerse himself in Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and a wide range of non-fiction but I will still read a chapter or two of a cracking good novel to him most nights.