Resources and Tools
for School Years Health Program

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Halton Region has produced and collected a range of resources to help educators and school communities promote, establish and sustain healthy schools.

School Health Newsletter Inserts

Halton Region has assembled a collection of great tips and advice that may be used in school newsletters or on school websites. We address a range of common topics related to promoting healthy schools.

Asthma

Asthma triggers don’t take a holiday in the winter season; in fact many winter activities can cause problems for those with asthma.

Helpful tips for parents:

Ensure your child wears a scarf or neck warmer to cover their mouth and nose. This will help to warm cold dry air.
Avoid smoke from a candle or wood-burning fires. Opt for a gas fireplace or heater when possible.
Natural evergreen Christmas trees can leave some children coughing and wheezing. Artificial trees are a great alternative.
Be aware of strong smells from candles, pot pourri and other decorations.
When entertaining use serving utensils for bowls of candy or other food to help prevent the spread of cold and flu bugs.
And of course as always, wash hands frequently!

If your child has asthma please inform the school.

For Asthma information call the Lung Association’s Asthma Action Helpline 1-888-344-5864

If your child has asthma, meet with your child’s teacher as early as possible in the school year to review important information and complete school asthma forms.

Helpful tips for parents:

Provide a copy of your child’s Asthma Management Plan.
Identify your child’s asthma triggers (e.g. dust, mould, strong scents etc.).
Show the teacher your child’s asthma medications and how to use them.
School Board protocol is for students to carry their own inhalers or have them easily accessible. A number of variables may need to be taken into consideration (age of the student, maturity, etc.). Agree on a plan with your child’s teacher.
Review field trip forms and ensure asthma medication is with your child on the trip.
Talk to your child’s class about asthma and the importance of hand washing.

Let’s work together to successfully manage your child’s asthma at school.

Body Image & Self Esteem

Children with healthy self-esteem are more likely to:

be happy
get along with others
make new friends easily
be willing to try new things
cope with stress

As a parent you play the biggest role in influencing your child’s confidence and self-esteem. How can you build positive self-esteem in your child?

Show your child love and affection.
Praise your child’s strengths, efforts and achievements.
Encourage your child to express their opinions and make decisions.
Encourage your child to set goals, do things for themselves and evaluate their own achievements.
Help your child to name and manage their feelings.
Teach your child how to solve problems for themselves.

Check out our HaltonParents Blogs: Pretty in Pink and Boys will be Boys!

Bullying

Instant messaging, social media, text messaging, e-mail, gaming and more are all ways the Internet has made it easy for young people to stay in touch with each other.

Most interactions are fun and positive, but problems arise when the technology that is supposed to bring people together is used instead to harass, humiliate, intimidate and threaten others. This is otherwise known as cyberbullying.

Set family guidelines and rules for online behaviour. Here are a few tips:

Talk to your child about internet safety. Discuss online high-risk behaviour and create “what if” scenarios together to help your child recognize dangerous situations and practice responses.
Set up online accounts with your child and ensure no personal information is used. Know your child’s screen names and passwords.
Participate with your child online. Let your child teach you what they know.
Monitor your child’s computer use by keeping the computer in a busy area of your home.
Regularly check your child’s “followers” for new and unknown names.
Encourage your child to think how they would feel if they were the target of cyber bullying.

Children, who learn to listen, share their thoughts and understand how their words and actions affect others, are more likely to develop healthy and meaningful friendships.

The way parents connect and build meaningful relationships with their children influences how children make and maintain friendships. Role modeling positive friendship qualities, talking to your child about the qualities of a good friend and supporting your child as they navigate building and maintaining friendships will help your child foster positive friendships and be a good friend themselves.

Qualities of a healthy friendship:

Spend time together but not all the time. Time alone or with others is good too!
Respect each other’s differences.
Share ideas, thoughts and opinions in a tactful, truthful way.
Talk to each other about your feelings.
Do not pass along private information shared by your friend.
Defend your friend, stick up for them.
Smile, have fun - that is what friends do!

Role model friendly behaviours for your child by:

Giving compliments
Celebrating important events
Supporting them through challenges
Being respectful when sharing ideas and thoughts
Listening
Being reliable
Being dependable
Not using put downs
Not bragging

To have friends means you must also be a friend.

Growth & Development

Many parents find it uncomfortable to answer their child’s questions about sexuality, especially if this was a topic that they did not discuss with their own parents.

The good news is that most children want to talk with their parents about sexuality. It is a good opportunity to teach your child the values that are important to you and your family and clarify any incorrect information.

Tips for talking to your children about sexuality:

Try to be casual and relaxed. Discuss sexuality as you would any other subject. Remember that children are curious and questions about sexuality are normal.
Use teachable moments to start a conversation about sexual health. For example, if a family member is pregnant or an older sibling starts going through puberty, these are great opportunities to start to talk with your child.
Speak to your child’s teacher and find out what is being taught in the classroom. Continue the discussion at home.
You may not always have an answer to your child’s question. If you are unsure about an answer, tell your child that you will get back to them or go and research the question together.
Keep the conversations going. Repeated discussions will help you both feel more comfortable discussing sexuality and improve your relationship with your child.

Oral health is a key part of your child’s overall health and well-being.

Here are some tips to help you ensure your child has healthy, strong teeth to last a lifetime:

Brush your teeth at least twice a day
Floss your teeth daily
Eat healthy foods
Have regular dental checkups

In addition, a healthy diet is very important for good oral health.
Eating healthy foods will help reduce tooth decay and gum disease. To ensure a healthy mouth:

Follow Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
Limit eating snacks high in sugar or starch
Limit drinks that contain sugar
Drink water
Eat sugary foods only when you are able to brush your teeth

Did you know that Halton Region Health Department provides financial assistance for dental treatment for families that qualify?

If your family has trouble paying for dental treatment, we have financial assistance programs to help your children (under 18 years of age) get dental check-ups, X-rays and solve an urgent dental need. Please call the Halton Region Health Department to find out if you qualify. Dial 311 or 905-825-6000.

Home-School Connections

Parents have an important role in helping their child develop good study habits and routines. Homework time should not be a time of stress and pressure, but rather a time for parents to offer encouragement and provide assistance as needed.

Helpful tips:

Let your child relax after school. Allow time to unwind and have a snack.
Ask your child about their homework (e.g. are supplies needed and when it is due).
Set a regular time and arrange a place to do homework. Have clear expectations as to when and where homework will be done. This will reduce conflicts around homework completion.
Help your child get started. Be prepared to sit at the table with younger children, but do not do their homework for them.
Offer praise and encouragement while your child is working. Praise can help motivate your child to persist with their homework. For example, “Great! That’s five questions you’ve done already.”
Prompt your child to solve problems themselves. For example, if your child asks you how to spell a word, you could say: “How do you think it is spelled?” Offer praise with each attempt. If after one or two prompts, your child does not get the right answer, tell them what it is. This will avoid your child becoming frustrated.
Show an interest and say something positive about your child’s work. When checking work, say something positive about your child’s effort. If you must make corrections only point out one or two mistakes. Do not feel you have to make sure your child’s work is perfect before they hand it in.

Mental Health & Emotional Well-Being

There is a lot of talk about emotional well-being. But what is emotional well-being? Emotional well-being refers to having good mental health.

Parents play a major role in their child’s emotional well-being. Emotionally healthy children can:

Identify and manage their feelings
Make and keep friends
Care for others
Set goals
Deal with daily stressors in a healthy way

Current research shows that 1 in 5 children will suffer from poor mental health. For most, these problems will be brief. Experiences with stress, sadness or low self-esteem are a part of growing up. However, when it begins to interfere with school, family or everyday living, it is time to ask for help.

Every child is different. Some need a lot of sleep while others need much less.

Here are some general recommendations:

Preschoolers (3-5 years) generally require 11-13 hours.
School-aged children (5-10 years) generally require 10-11 hours.
Adolescents (10-17 years) generally require 8.5-9.25 hours.

Here are some ways that you can help your children get enough sleep:

Have a regular bedtime. It doesn’t have to be set in stone but try to go to bed at the same time every night, including on the weekends.
Create a calming bedtime routine. Establish bedtime rituals that help your child slow down and get ready for sleep.
Limit screen time. Turn off electronics an hour before your child tucks in for the evening. The flickering light from computers, TV screens and cell phone screens signals to the brain to remain awake.
Get help if you need it. Being continually short of sleep is not good for children. If you think your child has a problem in this area, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for a referral to someone who can help.

Check out our HaltonParents blogs:

Take a moment from your day and just breathe...

Mindfulness is a life skill to help improve one’s overall health and well-being. It is training the muscle of attention; learning to be present in the moment and directing our attention with an open mind.

The benefits of mindfulness include:

Improved memory
Increased attention
Better academic skills
Emotional regulation
Self-esteem
Improved moods
Decreased anxiety, stress and fatigue
Meditation and deep-breathing are some simple examples of mindfulness exercises and self-care techniques

As a parent, try to role model and practice mindfulness with your child. With practice, you and your child can learn to maintain attention, making way for a calmer approach to all aspects of life.

Resiliency is commonly thought of as the ability to ‘bounce back’ when faced with a challenge. It helps us to cope with our feelings so we can learn from an experience and move forward. For a child this could mean; having a disagreement with a friend, failing a test or not making a team.

Tips for raising resilient children:

Build and maintain relationships. Children need to feel that they belong and have people who support them.
Be a positive role model. Children learn by watching.
Teach optimistic thinking. Children with a positive outlook have more confidence and self-esteem.
Use positive discipline practices. Help children learn and understand the impact of their behaviours, actions and choices. Set clear, reasonable limits. Tell and show what behaviour is expected (not just what children shouldn’t do) and use fair consequences.
Give children choices. Helps build decision making skills.
Encourage creative problem solving. Helps children think about alternate solutions.
Teach children how to be assertive. Show children how to confidently and respectfully communicate their thoughts, feelings and needs to others in a way that is not hurtful.
Help your child identify and develop strengths. Encourage them to try new things. Praise their efforts.
Help your child identify and name their feelings. Learning to recognize and label their emotions is the first step in teaching ways to effectively express emotions.
Build parenting resiliency. Ask for help. Read parenting books or attend parenting workshops.

All of us experience negative events in our lives. Pets die, best friends move away or we don’t make the team we tried out for. We can’t always prevent these things from happening, but resiliency will help us to cope positively.

While there are many definitions of resiliency, it is commonly thought of as the ability to ‘bounce back’ when faced with adversity. Rather than being overcome by sadness, anger or other negative thoughts, resiliency helps us to cope with our feelings so we can learn from the experience and move forward.

How do children develop resilience?

Children need to feel that they belong; having strong relationships is a good place to start.
Children need to have people who support them. They need to know how to reach out to these people and ask for help. This feeling of support and connection starts at home.
Children need to be able to rely on you; this lays the foundation for building trust in future relationships. For example: if you see your child struggling with their homework, help them break the problem down into something more manageable. Not only does this give you a chance to connect with your child, it builds resiliency so that they are able to cope with bigger issues later in life.
Children need to have assets. Help them build on the 40 Developmental Assets.

Check out our HaltonParents Blog: Are Parents Helping or Hindering Resiliency in their Kids?

Research is starting to show that self-regulation is important for school and life success.

Self-regulation skills develop gradually throughout the lifespan and parents play a huge role in helping their children build them.

Here are some examples of how you can help your child develop the skills of self-regulation:

Ensure your child has enough physical activity, sleep and healthy food.
Help your child learn to express emotions(external link) through the use of words.
Play games and activities that help strengthen thinking skills like painting and card games.
Teach your child about communication skills such as tone of voice, facial expressions and the importance of listening.
Give your child opportunities to develop the skill of empathy by pointing out examples in stories or in real life situations.

There is never an age at which it’s too late to work on self-regulation with your child; and never an age at which you can stop working on these goals.

–Dr. Stuart Shanker

Starting kindergarten is a big step. During times of change or starting new routines, children may show more intense reactions to separation. Common signs of separation anxiety are crying and clinging when you leave. This is normal. Being sensitive to your child’s feelings and working to provide reassurances for them will help the transition.

Helpful tips to deal with separation anxiety:

Develop a regular morning routine. Wake your child up early so the morning does not feel rushed. Make time for a healthy breakfast and drop your child off at a consistent time each day.
Always say goodbye. Let your child know you are leaving and you will always return. Tell your child when you will return in concrete ways he or she can understand. “Mommy is going now; I will pick you up after school.”
Develop a regular goodbye ritual. Choose something that is comforting for your child. Blowing kisses, a hug, or waving good-bye can be reassuring for your child during separation.
Show confidence. Tell your child he or she will be okay, he or she can handle this and he or she will have fun. Link to the next time you will be together “When we get home tonight, we will play at the park before dinner”
Exit quickly and without hesitation. Goodbyes are easier if the parent is decisive and calm.

As your child gets more comfortable with his or her new school environment he or she will find it easier to settle into the day and adjust to a new routine. The Kissing Hand is a heartwarming story you and your child might find helpful.

As parents, we want to give our children opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. However finding a balance between scheduled and free time is also important.

The constant rushing to activities can increase stress levels for both parents and children. Overscheduled children can be tired and miss opportunities for creative play and making friends. Children and parents deserve to have empty spaces on their calendars. This balance will allow everyone to slow down, feel less hurried, and enjoy life at their own speed.

How do we slow down?

Limit your activities. Make guidelines on how many activities you will do a week. If you say yes to too many, the whole family pays the price.
Leave empty spaces in your calendar. This will provide you with the chance to spend quality time with each of your children. Free play helps children learn, manage stress and build healthy coping skills.
Make family a priority. Family time should be as important as school, sports, and social activities. Have fun together and embrace this time.
Be active and eat healthy. Exercise is a known stress-buster. Go for walks or bike rides as a family. This will help build a positive relationship and make you both feel good. Also, families who eat together have better nutrition and talk more to each other.
Get enough sleep and rest. Being well rested gives both you and your child the energy to deal with whatever your busy day brings.

Mental health shows in how you think, feel and act in life. It affects how you see the world, handle challenges, relate to others and make choices. Mental health is about having a balance in your life between your social, physical, spiritual, emotional and economic needs. Every day we face challenges to our mental health. However, we can take steps to lessen stress and find our balance again.

Tips for positive mental health:

Build a healthy self-esteem
Eat well and keep fit
Create positive family relationships
Make friends who count
Create a meaningful budget
Get involved or volunteer
Manage stress effectively
Learn to cope with changes
Identify and deal with your moods
Find a spirituality to call your own

Nutrition

Family meals are a great place for children to learn how to eat healthy and feel loved and connected.

Children who eat family meals together are more likely to eat breakfast as well as more fruits and vegetables.

Check out these great tips on planning family meals:

Make a plan. Meals should be quick and nutritious. Plan your busy weeknight meals ahead of time and buy the food you need early in advance. Having a plan and the food on hand when needed can reduce mealtime stress and last minute trips to the store.
Be flexible with meal timing. When children are involved in sports or programs during mealtimes, plan to eat your meals when most of the family can be there. You can also take a breakfast, lunch or dinner as a “meal-to-go” and eat at the park, arena, pool or gym.
Involve children in meal preparation. Children who help make a meal are more likely to enjoy and eat it too!
Be a good role model. Plan to serve healthy foods and have your children see you eat them too. The more times your child sees you eating healthy foods, the more likely they will accept them.
Turn the TV off. Enjoy eating and talking with your family at mealtimes.

Including a healthy snack in your child’s lunch bag can provide a nutritious boost of energy!

When preparing snacks, choose from the four food groups that make up Canada’s Food Guide:

Vegetables and fruits: broccoli, carrots and peppers
Grain products: whole grain bread, pita or crackers
Milk and alternatives: a serving of milk
Meat and alternatives: egg, legumes, lean meat and tofu

Try these yummy child-friendly ideas:

Yogurt topped with granola and berries
Fruits and vegetables such as carrots and broccoli
Grilled vegetables such as red peppers or eggplant
Whole grain crackers topped with slices of pear and cheese
Fruit cup with cottage cheese

Parenting & Schools

Did you know that just like reading and writing, children need to learn to move? Basic movement skills include; skipping, jumping, kicking, throwing, running and catching. When children learn basic movement skills they feel confident trying a variety of physical activities because they have the skills to succeed and have fun.

Finding opportunities to help children develop basic movement skills will give them the tools they need to make healthy choices and grow into happy, healthy, and active adults.

Helpful tips for parents:

Make being active a family value – play as a family, enjoy new activities and games together.
Let children do physical activities that they enjoy.
Have children participate in sport programs/activities that are appropriate for their age and skill level.
Help children see physical activity as a normal part of their daily routine.
Set time aside for “unstructured play”- get outside and explore nature.
Challenge them to try new activities.

Parent engagement in school activities can foster a sense of community within the school.

Research shows that parent engagement is directly linked to many benefits for children including:

Better behaviour
Improved social skills
Staying in school longer
Better academic achievement

As a parent, you can impact your child(ren) and school culture by building positive relationships and understanding the responsibilities of teachers, principals, school structure, curriculum, and community issues.

Here are a few tips to becoming engaged in your child’s school:

Keep informed and be connected! Read about school updates and activities in the school newsletter, website or social media.
Get involved and be a role model! Volunteer at your child’s school, participate in school council, parent events, parent-teacher interviews, or parent coffee chats.

Share your voice! Give your feedback about important school issues, participate in school surveys and/or school parent focus groups.

Parents who play an active role in their child’s learning and development enhance their child’s overall success and well-being.

Attending a school concert, cheering on a school team, or participating in community events and meetings planned by your school council are a few ways parents can build strong relationships with school staff, other parents and students.

Follow the tips below and explore other ideas to support your children in school:

Build assets and talk with your child about school, activities, programs, and what they are learning.
Help your child develop a positive attitude toward learning and good work habits.
Read together.
Be a good role model and get involved in school activities, volunteer, and attend parent-teacher interviews.

Safety & Injury Prevention

Cycling is a fun and healthy activity, it's a low-cost way to get around, and it's good for the planet. Cyclists have to share the road with cars, pedestrians and other cyclists.

Before you head out on a bike, learn the rules of the road, helmet information and safety tips for cyclists of all ages.

As recommended by Parachute Canada:

Always wear a helmet. Properly worn, it can reduce the risk of serious head injury by up to 80%. Know and follow the 2V1 Rule.
Be prepared. Know the rules of the road.
Check your ride. A fun and safe cycling experience starts with a properly equipped bicycle.
Be a role model. Set a good example and practice safety together.

The Ministry of Transportation’s Young Cyclist Guide has additional information on riding tips to keep you safe while cycling.

According to Parachute Canada(external link), head injuries are the leading cause of serious injury and death to children on wheels. A helmet could save your child’s life! Be sure they wear a helmet every time they ride.

Here are some tips for helmets:

Get the right kind of helmet for the right activity.
Make sure the helmet fits properly. Know and follow the 2V1 Rule.
Ensure a bike helmet is replaced after five years or a crash where the cyclist has hit their head. After five years the plastics dry out and could become brittle. As well, the helmet may not meet current safety standards.
Praise children for wearing helmets, especially if they do so without being asked.
Remember: You are your child’s best role model. Everyone should wear a helmet when they ride or skate.

It is a milestone – both you and your child are comfortable with the thought of him or her being at home alone, no babysitter required. Setting rules or guidelines can help make this transition a positive one. However, setting rules can sometimes be difficult as youth in this age group begin to test limits and strive for independence.

‘Family decision making’ is a great place to start. Hold a family meeting and ask for your child’s opinion:

Speak politely. It encourages mutual respect.
Decide on two or three simple rules stated in a positive way. “Lock the door when you come home,” instead of “don’t leave the house unlocked.”
Keep a positive attitude and reward good behaviour. This will help ensure the good behaviour will happen again.
Change the rules as he or she becomes more responsible or if more direction is required.
Spend time with your child; take interest in their day. This will help to evaluate your child’s home alone experience.

Halton Children’s Aid Society strongly recommends that a child under the age of 10 should not be left home alone.

Check out local Safety Courses for Youth and resources like the

A concussion is a brain injury that causes changes in the way the brain functions. This can lead to symptoms that can be physical (e.g. headache, dizziness), cognitive (e.g. difficulty in concentrating or remembering), emotional/behavioural (e.g. depression, irritability), and/or related to sleep (e.g. drowsiness, difficulty in falling asleep).

A concussion may be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, or neck or by a blow to the body that transmits a force to the head that causes the brain to move rapidly within the skull.

Tips to help your child prevent a concussion:

Encourage your child to play fair and engage in fair play, within the rules, and within his or her abilities.
Encourage your child to practice good sportsmanship at all times.
Reinforce wearing the right gear for the right sport, and ensure that equipment fits well and is in good condition.
Helmets are important and very effective in preventing skull fractures, brain contusions, lacerations, and blood clots in and around the brain.

Walking to school is a great way for children to be active.

As a parent you can help your child learn about walking to school safely:

Be a good role model. Demonstrate road safety rules with your child (e.g. looking both ways when crossing the street).
Plan a walking route. Assess potential hazards with your child. Encourage your child to stick to the route.
Remind your child about personal safety. Point out the houses of people you know where they can go for help if needed.
Adopt a buddy system. Walk with a “walking buddy” – a sibling or a friend.
Hold the phone. Pedestrian safety is compromised by texting, earphones and cellphone conversation. Electronics like iPods and cellphones should stay in their bag while walking to school.
Talk about the rules of the road and pedestrian safety.
Check out Active and Safe Routes to School(external link). A provincial initiative that strives to create an environment that is conducive to, and supportive of, safe, walkable communities.

Stress

While the holiday season can be a fun and happy time of year it can also be a stressful time for families. With all of the preparation, shopping, parties, social events, and family gatherings it can easily become overwhelming. Some families may also find this time of year difficult due to change, loss, or uncertainty about the future. Knowing how to minimize stress can help make this holiday season more enjoyable.

Tips to help you deal with holiday stress:

Remember to pace yourself. Set realistic goals about what you can achieve. We all have ideas of what would make the “perfect” holiday season but remember – change can be good. Every holiday will inevitably be different, so remember to be flexible.
When you are feeling stressed, take the time to sit back and evaluate why you’re feeling this way.
Be aware that the holidays can be stressful for the whole family – including children.
Between all of the school plays and caroling, try to find a balance. Remember the importance of healthy eating, staying active, and getting enough sleep.
Make time to relax. Laugh, have a bath or take a walk to help wind down.

Stress is often viewed as a bad thing; but that isn’t always true. Stress is our body’s natural response to life’s situations; both good and bad. It can energize us to try new things or to get a job done.
Problems begin when we have too much stress and we struggle to cope with everyday expectations.
1 in 5 children will struggle with poor mental health. Stress is often a contributing factor.

For children, stress can have a negative impact on their school work, self-esteem, ability to communicate with others and relationships with family and friends. Recent research shows that prolonged stress in children can also affect brain development.

Stress management is an important skill for children to learn and parents play a major role in helping them develop this skill.

Here are some ways you as a parent can help with stress management:

Spend time with your children. Laughing and having fun together as a family is a great stress buster.
Be a good role model. Show your children how to stay calm, even when you are feeling stressed.
Maintain routines as much as possible. Morning routines get the day off to a good start while bedtime routines help children relax. This is often the time when children will want to chat about their day.
Promote a healthy lifestyle. Healthy food, physical activity and adequate sleep helps the body cope more easily with stress.
Check in with your child frequently. Ask about things that they may be worrying about.
Limit extra-curricular activities. Running from activity to activity creates stress on the whole family.
Reserve free time. A calendar can help your family stay organized. If you are having trouble finding down time, schedule it in.
Teach your child stress management techniques. There are lots of different ways to manage stress. For example deep breathing, positive self-talk, doing a fun activity such as drawing or listening to music, and using problem solving or organizational strategies are all ways that people manage stress. Help your child find a technique that will work for them.

Have you ever stopped to look at your child’s life from their perspective? A lot of demands are placed on your child such as homework, extra-curricular activities, chores and relationships.

Parents play an important role in teaching children how to manage their stress.

Here are some ways you can help them cope:

Stop, look and listen to your children. Children develop trust through positive experience with their parents.
Give children opportunities to talk about their everyday stresses. Allow them to discuss how they might solve their problems.
Teach children words to describe their emotions. Use words such as "I feel angry" or "I am sad when this happens," or "I'm afraid." Problems have feelings attached and children who can talk about their feelings can solve their problems better.
Watch for changes in behaviour. Stress can show up as headaches, stomach aches or changes in appetite and/or sleeping patterns.
Create a home that is less stressful. Children need guidance to manage their time such as homework and sleep. Children need regular fun, physical activity and nutritious meals and snacks.
Be a good role model for healthy ways you manage your stress. Children learn a lot from their parents.
Teach your children how to manage uncomfortable feelings better. Stretching, visualization, quiet time and physical or creative activity can help reduce stress.
Promote positive thoughts. Teach them to reframe negative thoughts. Children respond better to problems when they have confidence in themselves and have a positive outlook on life.

Balancing demands of home, work and family can be stressful. Learning to manage and cope with multiple stressors is important in improving your own mental and physical wellbeing as well as that of your family.

Some ideas:

Create a buffer between work and home. After work allow some down time to re-energize. Spend 10-15 minutes taking a brief walk or just sitting quietly.
Stay organized with a family calendar. Display it or use an online version so everybody can stay up-to-date. Ensure everyone is responsible to update the calendar.
Avoid over-scheduling. Let children choose one activity per season. Try to limit school night activities.
Prepare a menu for the week. Make meals on the weekend for the week and plan for a few dinners when everyone can eat together.
Involve family members with chores.
Strive for consistency and structure. Children need this to feel safe and secure. Morning routines get children off to a good start while bedtime routines allow them time to relax and connect with parents.
Stay in tune to signs of stress such as not getting along with siblings, frequent crying, or misbehaviour. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Take care of your physical and emotional well-being. Eat well and exercise regularly. Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
Schedule in fun time.

Substance Use & Abuse

Vaping is being marketed to youth with its many fun shapes, colours, sizes and flavours.
Vapourizing products are made to resemble pens, USB sticks, cigarettes, cigars, pipes and other everyday items. Because of this, vaping may go unnoticed in schools and around the community.

These vaporizers or e-cigarettes are battery operated devices that change a liquid mix of chemical ingredients, also known as e-juice, into a vapour that can be inhaled.

Youth think it’s harmless, they think it’s only flavored water. It is not! They don’t know e-juice often contains chemicals such as propylene glycol, acetaldehyde, vegetable glycerin, diacetyl, benzene nickel, tin, lead, flavouring chemicals, additives and often nicotine. Inhaling these chemicals can have negative health effects.

Know the facts. Educate yourself so you can talk about it.
Help your kids plan ahead for social situations; this is most likely where vaping will be offered. Talk about how to avoid use and say no.
Encourage open conversations. This may be many small conversations over time. Try to find a natural time to discuss vaping, for example when you see someone using vaping products.
Ask your kids if they are vaping. Be patient, ready to listen and avoid criticiziing.
Ask for support if needed from a health care provider or another trusted adult.
Be a positive role model; don’t use tobacco or vaporizing products.

Cannabis, let’s start the conversation.

Cannabis, also called marijuana, weed and pot, is a drug that comes from a plant consisting of dried flowers, fruiting tops and leaves. Cannabis contains hundreds of chemical substances and acts as a hallucinogen that alters perceptions, thoughts and feelings.

Now that cannabis is legal for those 19 years and older, people are talking openly about it. That’s a good thing. Did you know that 30 years ago THC concentrations (psychoactive component) were about 3 to 5% and now on average it’s between 15 and 30%? It’s a stronger drug that can cause permanent damage to the developing brain. Our brains continue to develop until the age of 25.

Users who start young are at risk of developing mental health problems, addiction, injuries and do poorly in school. Therefore, delaying cannabis use until at least after adolescence can help prevent these harmful effects.

It’s never too early to start talking with your kids about the harms of cannabis. Be informed, be clear about your expectations and keep the lines of communication open. Parents, you are the most important influencer in your child’s life.

The cannabis talk kit is an excellent resource to help you be prepared and answer those difficult questions like “Cannabis is a plant. How harmful could it be?” Check it out for some great ideas and answers.

Substances such as alcohol, cannabis and prescription medications affect the way a person thinks, acts or feels. They have become a social part of adult lives; however, they also come with harms such as cancers, diseases, mental health problems and addictions. Kids are at higher risks for these harms because of their developing brain. Did you know the brain develops until the age of 25?

As parents, you are the most important influencer in your kids’ lives. Use this powerful role to start the conversation about drugs and alcohol.

It’s important to talk about your values, beliefs, expectations, and consequences.
Take every opportunity to have open conversations. Ask open-end questions and seek their opinions.
Have several small talks over time.
Be informed and talk about lowering risks by delaying use until after the teen years and to not binge drink or use unknown substances.

Your kids will be around drugs and alcohol in their teen years and if you’ve talked about facts, including how to decrease harms, they will be more likely to be able to say no.

Although it is illegal to drink alcohol under the age of 19, the reality is many underage teens do. Alcohol is the most common drug used by teens and 1 in 6 students report binge drinking (more than five drinks on one occasion).

Alcohol can put youth at risk for unintended injuries, violence, alcohol poisoning and can have damaging effects on a teen’s developing brain. The safest option for youth is to abstain from alcohol or to delay use for as long as possible.

Parents play an integral role in helping their child’s decision on whether or not to drink alcohol. Here’s how you can help:

Know the facts. Educate yourself and know where to go for information on the harms of alcohol. Alcohol - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Encourage open conversations. Ask your kids if they are drinking alcohol. They may say yes so be patient, ready to listen and avoid criticizing. Thank them for their honesty. Talk about the risks.
Kids will be exposed to alcohol. Plan ahead with them and share your concerns. Encourage them to problem solve with you by asking “What if …?” questions
Be a positive role model Be responsible about your own use. Check out Canada's Low Risk Drinking Guidelines for more information.
Know where to get help. It’s important for your child to have trusted adults, aside from you, in their life that they can talk to and go to for help (such as a health care provider, school social worker, school child and youth counselor, or Kids Help Phone).

Transition to Adolescence

The Search Institute’s Developmental Assets are positive experiences, opportunities and personal qualities that all children need to reach their full potential.

The more assets a child has, the less likely they are to engage in high risk behaviour and the more likely they are to thrive. There are a total of 40 assets that are divided into two categories: Internal assets and external assets.

Internal assets

Internal assets are the values and skills that children develop and take up within themselves.

Commitment to Learning
Positive Values
Social Competencies
Positive Identity

External assets

External assets are developed through connections with others in their school, at home and in the community.

Support
Empowerment
Boundaries and Expectations
Constructive use of Time

We all play an important role in building assets in children. For more information on how you as a parent can build assets in your children, please visit: Parent Further website and check out our HaltonParents Blog: You're amazing just the way you are!

Becoming an adolescent can be a stressful time. During this time of change, parents are a key source of support.

Research shows that children who have involved parents achieve higher grades, feel better about themselves and are less likely to take part in risky behaviours such as smoking, alcohol and drug use.

Tips on how to be an involved parent:

Provide support. Talk to your child, listen actively, and help them problem solve. Children need to feel supported and cared for.
Encourage independence. This will help them learn new skills, be responsible, improve self-esteem and give them a sense of belonging.
Monitor. At the same time of encouraging independence, it’s important to know where your child is, who he or she is with and what he or she is doing. Stay alert to signs of trouble.
Help your children manage their time with a calendar. They are learning to juggle family life with school, friends and outside activities.
Encourage extracurricular activities. Joining a club or sports team creates friendships, promotes active living and reduces screen time.
Support a homework routine.
Demonstrate stress management skills. Model stress reducing behaviours, take a walk, breathe deeply, read, take a hot bath, listen to music, or talk to a friend.
Reinforce the importance of healthy eating, physical activity, and enough sleep. Eat healthy meals together and be active as a family.
Get involved with your teen’s school. Join a committee (school council, fundraising), volunteer and attend school events.

What was my teen thinking? Why is my teen so forgetful? Why did he or she not think about his or her actions?

There are many changes happening in the teen brain and new research on brain development is helping us understand this area better. The teen brain continues to develop until age 24. There are essentially two areas of the brain at work; the emotional and the rational brain (frontal lobe).

The emotional brain develops first and as a result drives teen’s behaviour and thinking while the rational brain takes a back seat.

Emotional Brain

Develops first
Dominates teen’s thinking and behaviour
Excited by taking risks and seeking thrilling experiences

Rational Brain

Develops later
Responsible for reasoning (planning, organizing, controlling impulses and self-awareness)

Helpful tips for parents:

Help your teen to plan ahead for situations (e.g., going on an outing with friends).
Problem-solve possible scenarios together. Talk about your concerns.
Focus on health and safety concerns. Help your teen think of the possible outcomes of their actions.
If you find yourself in conflict with your teen, remember that your teen is ruled by emotions.
Remember to stay calm. Don’t engage in a power struggle about who is right or wrong.

Parent Corner

Use the Parent Corner website content on your school’s website! This best-practice content is intended for parents - helping them build and maintain a positive relationship with their children.

Feel free to place the information and resources listed below onto your school website.

The HaltonParents blog connects you to parenting and health information via public health professionals.

HaltonParents is a free service provided by Halton Region.

Halton Region supports the following parenting actions that help build and maintain a positive relationship with your child.

1. Be connected

It doesn’t have to be complicated! Being connected is about developing and maintaining positive relationships with your child. Having meals together or sharing in a family tradition is an easy way to stay connected. Being interested in the day to day life of your child makes it simpler to maintain a positive relationship and to be there when your child is looking for support and guidance.

2. Stay involved

A great way to build stronger connections with your kids is to be involved. This will make it easier to talk to them, build trusting relationships and discuss expectations for home and school lives. This will also lead to kids being more likely to take part in social activities, improve their decision making skills, and bring about greater success in school.

3. Continue to monitor

What is happening in the life of your child? Monitoring means knowing your child’s whereabouts, what activities they are doing, with whom, and when and how will they be getting home when they are not under direct parental supervision.

Monitoring is about knowing what’s going on in the life of your child and preparing for new experiences.

4. Provide support

We all need support, but especially during the child and adolescent years. Acceptance, love, warmth, responding to their needs and communicating in sensitive ways will show children you are there for them. Your child needs to have that sense of security in knowing that you are available and that you’ll love them – no matter what. This helps to build resiliency and good problem solving skills.

5. Be a good role model

What are your children learning from you? It’s all about being a good example through your behaviours, actions and practices in everyday life with your child. What you do as parents/ caregivers shows your child how you want them to behave. As parents, we hope they’re picking up good habits and learning how to be caring, responsible people.

Resources

A collection of resources to help educators promote, establish and sustain healthy schools

Parenting tip sheets

Reading

Nutrition

Physical activity

Community Supports

Where To Get Food In Halton
A booklet listing food programs in Halton Region (e.g., food banks, farmers markets, community gardens, student nutrition programs).
HaltonParents
A postcard that promotes an online community for parents including twitter, blogs, e-mail and phone.
Youth Services
This resource identifies Halton specific youth serving agencies/resources.

Nutrition

Counting Down to a Healthy Lifestyle: Ages 5-17
This poster reflects healthy lifestyle guidelines known as best practices in the promotion of healthy weights for children and youth. Watch a video to learn more about how you can count do to a healthy lifestyle.
Get Top Marks for Healthy Lunches
Lunch ideas are provided for children attending schools with a Balanced School Day timetable
Kids and Juice: Too Much of a Good Thing?
A fact sheet that discusses children and drinking juice and what to look for when choosing a healthy juice.
Eating Well With Canada's Food Guide
A resource for educators and communicators that provides background information, tips and tools to complement each recommendation in Canada's Food Guide.
When Your Child is a Picky Eater
A fact sheet that discusses strategies for dealing with preschoolers that are picky eaters.
Simply Local: Your Guide to Halton Farms
A list of Halton-based pick-your-own farms, nurseries and garden centres, farmer's markets, horse farms and fresh produce availability.

Physical Activity

Counting Down to a Healthy Lifestyle: Ages 5-17
This poster reflects healthy lifestyle guidelines known as best practices in the promotion of healthy weights for children and youth.
Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (aged 5-17): An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep
The guidelines describe the recommended daily balance of sleep, sedentary behaviours and physical activities children and youth require for healthy development.

Immunization

Vaccine Safety: 10 Facts for Parents
Proof of vaccines for each child entering school is required by both the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board.
Immunize your Kids!
This pamphlet outlines the routine schedule of immunization for babies, children and teens.

Injury Prevention

Keep Kids Safe: Booster Seats
How to install booster seats and buckle up your children the right way.
Follow the 2V1 Rule
Bicycle Helmet Safety Bookmark

Developmental Assets

40 Developmental Assets
Search Institute has identified the following building blocks of healthy development that help young people grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

Mental Health

Helping Children Feel Good About Themselves
Self Esteem
Young Children and Stress
Stress management in children: What parents can do

Community supports

Where to Get Food in Halton
A booklet listing food programs in Halton Region (e.g., food banks, farmers markets, community gardens, student nutrition programs).
HaltonParents
A postcard that promotes an online community for parents including twitter, blogs, e-mail and phone.
Youth Services
This resource identifies Halton specific youth serving agencies/resources.

Nutrition

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
A resource for educators and communicators that provides background information, tips and tools to complement each recommendation in Canada's Food Guide.
Simply Local: Your Guide to Halton Farms
This pamphlet that contains a list of Halton-based pick-your-own farms, nurseries and garden centres, farmer's markets and horse farms. Included in the guide is a section outlining the availability of fresh produce.

Physical activity

Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (aged 5-17): An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep
The guidelines describe the recommended daily balance of sleep, sedentary behaviours and physical activities children and youth require for healthy development.

Immunization

Vaccine Safety: 10 Facts for Parents
Proof of vaccines for each child entering school is required by both the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board.
Immunize Your Kids!
This pamphlet outlines the routine schedule of immunization for babies, children and teens.
Information about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine
This fact sheet answers some of the questions most often asked about the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization program for grade 8 girls.

Injury prevention

Bullying: We Can All Help Stop It
A guide for parents of elementary and secondary school students.

Mental health

Halton Mental Health Resource Guide
The Canadian Mental Health Association provides this list of community mental health resources available in Halton Region.
Halton Suicide Prevention Coalition
This resource describes possible warning signs related to suicide as well as tips, suggestions and where to get help in Halton.
Anxiety
A brochure targeted to youth that lists the warning signs, treatment options and supports for anxiety.
Stress
A brochure targeted to youth that provides a simple tool to assess stress and provides ways to address it.

Substances and alcohol

Ecstasy
Information on ecstasy including its effects, risks, staying safe and community resources.
Marijuana/Cannabis
Information on marijuana/cannabis including its effects, risks, staying safe and community resources.
Cocaine and Crack Cocaine
Information on the short- and long-term effects of cocaine and crack cocaine, how it becomes a habit and community resources.
Crystal Meth
Information on the short- and long-term effects of crystal meth, risks, staying safe and community resources.
Alcohol
Information on alcohol poisoning, what to do in an emergency, risks and community resources.
Test Your Alcohol IQ
Information and a quick quiz on teens using alcohol.

Guides for Educators

Guide to parent engagement

What is parent engagement?

Parents who play an active role in their child’s learning and development enhance their child’s overall success and well-being. Research shows that parent engagement is directly linked to many positive outcomes for children, including:

better behaviour
improved social skills
staying in school longer
increase in academic achievement

While engagement emphasizes a shared responsibility between parents and school staff, parent involvement focuses on strengthening and assisting school programs and priorities.

Schools can involve parents in many ways. The Epstein's framework describes 6 types of involvement that strengthen both school-based and home-based activities.

Ontario's Vision of Parent Engagement

Ontario's Vision of Parent Engagement recognizes that parent involvement is multi-dimensional and that parents have an important role to play in student success and healthy growth and development. For more Ministry of Education tools on how to engage parents using school councils and committees visit the following websites:

Did you know?

Parents are more involved in grade school than in high school.
Mothers are more involved than fathers.
Parents who are viewed as “hard to reach” often see the school as “hard to reach”
Parents felt they might be seen as trouble makers if they talked too much
Parent engagement can be done in many ways both at home and school in addition to volunteering and committee work
Learning at home has the biggest impact on student achievement

Why is parent engagement important?

Benefits for children and youth

Increases student achievement
Fosters positive learning outcomes
Improves student behaviour
Enhances social skills
Decreases unhealthy behaviours such as tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use
Fosters a positive attitude about both school and home to support resilience and achievement
Improves transition into high school for youth

Benefits for parents

Parents find it easier to help their child learn
Confidence in parenting skills increases when they are more involved
Parents are connected to other parents since social support networks are created
Parents have a better understanding of the responsibilities of teachers, principals, school structure, school culture and curriculum

Benefits for schools

Teachers and principals are better supported and enjoy positive relationships with parents
Trust is built between teachers, students and parents
Staff have a better understanding and appreciation for family cultures/diversity

Getting your school ready for Parent Engagement

Parent engagement increases student achievement and fosters positive learning outcomes. Three key activities support creating readiness.

Assess: What is your school's current level of engagement?

Take a minute to reflect on your school’s current level of parent engagement. How many of the following does your school offer?

Parents are welcomed, respected, and valued by the school community as partners in their children’s learning and development.
Parents have a full range of choices about how to support student success.
Parents have opportunities to be involved.
Parents are engaged through ongoing communication and dialogue with other educational partners to support a positive learning environment at home and at school.
Parents are provided with the information and tools necessary to participate in school life.

Getting started: How to make parent engagement “come alive”

For parent engagement to thrive at your school, there are several things you can do. The Planning Parent Engagement Toolkit(external link) is a practical resource that can provide useful exercises and proven techniques to begin this process. To embed parent engagement in whole school planning you need to:

Provide training and resources for all school staff
Build positive relationships with families
Involve community partners
Use multiple communication techniques
Enhance school policies for parent engagement
Develop a recruitment strategy and offer incentives such as job references or paid positions

It is important to create an inviting school environment where parents feel safe and welcome. To help facilitate this:

Invite staff/students to greet parents as they enter the school.
Offer parents a cup of coffee/tea and a place to sit when they arrive.
Talk with parents. Ask them to share their stories and actively listen.
Offer Asset Building training to all school staff
Use signage that is welcoming and culturally representative to visitors, for example:

Instead of	Try a more welcoming message
Staff parking only	Parents parking here
No food or drinks in the auditorium	Welcome to our lounge
Visitors please report to the office	Welcome guests. Please sign in at office.

Increasing parent engagement: barriers and strategies for success

It is important to identify and remove barriers to parent engagement. Below are ideas to help overcome those barriers and increase parent engagement, which in turn increases the success of your students.

Lack of time for school staff and parents
- Be flexible with meeting times and locations by offering times during the day and in the evening and close to where parents live (not always at the school)
Parent voice
- Ask parents for their feedback and use it to plan
- Ask parents to participate in ways that are meaningful for them
- Build collaborative relationships and provide opportunities for parents to gain knowledge, skills and tools to support student learning
- Survey parents via written forms, with in-person meetings and focus groups to determine their needs
- Inform families of opportunities to get involved
Effective communications
- Ask parents about the best ways to communicate with them
- Personalize communication tools and methods based on groups of parents (for example, grade-specific)
- Encourage teachers to initiate contact with parents early in the school year and frequently throughout the year
- Share information about the benefits of parent involvement in schools and at home
- Create a web page for parents that highlights the importance of their involvement
- Reach out to families to identify unique barriers and problem solve together to find ways to address them
Multicultural/diversity
- Reach out to ethnically diverse families and ask them about the best ways to communicate with them
- Partner with Halton Multicultural Centre or other organizations that are already working with ethnically diverse groups of parents
- Invite families to bring a traditional dish or wear traditional clothing
- Recognize and celebrate all cultures at your school
- Provide language translation on your web pages or communications home
Need for child care to attend school events
- Arrange for grade 7 and 8 students to provide child care at school events
- Hold events that include entire families so that no child care is needed
- Connect with YMCA or local community groups to identify available child-care services
Recognition
- Acknowledge contributions and volunteers by providing positive feedback, such as a personalized ‘Thank You’ card, reference letter, or an annual celebration.

Parent engagement activities

Below, find a number of activities which promote parent engagement.

Communicating with parents

Using a variety of communications methods can help improve communications. Consider:

Print such as postcards, calendars, daily logs/agendas
Media such as email, text messaging, automated or personal phone calls
Face-to-face such as parent seminars or meetings

Translating information into different languages and pointing parents to existing resources available in multiple languages increases the number of parents you can reach.

Newsletters, the school’s website and social media channels are proven methods for reaching parents. Some tips to maximize the communications impact include:

Tips for newsletters:

At the beginning of the school year, create a calendar of topics and submission deadlines for the year
Invite parents who have expertise on a topic to be a guest writer
Dedicate a spot in the newsletter for parent communication and use the same spot consistently
Invite parent volunteers to translate the newsletter into relevant languages
Place a link to the newsletter on the school’s website
Request regular feedback from parents about the content, format, readability and relevance

Tips for the school website – Parent’s Corner

Have a regular space dedicated for parent information (for example, Parent’s Corner) and use this space to communicate about school events, to showcase students’ work (such as art projects or short stories) and to display parenting or health information videos and tips
Post parent surveys on the website
Include a link to the HaltonParents.ca which has parenting articles, blogs, and videos

Tips for social media

Review board-wide social media guidelines as a first step
Invite parents with expertise in social media to help with writing, maintaining or monitoring
Ask parents what interests them to guide the information being created and posted
Recruit youth to support the school’s social media initiative
Invite parents to connect with HaltonParents.ca, Twitter or Facebook for parenting information

Giving parents a voice

Giving parents opportunities to be heard helps school staff to understand community issues from a parent perspective and engages parents in decision making about important issues that impact their families

Parent feedback can be used to gain insight and is useful for gauging:

Satisfaction with classroom teaching strategies and extracurricular programs
Level of current family engagement at home and at school
Priority community issues; and
Need for specific family services, programs or events.

Tips for gathering parent feedback:

Ensure that an ethnically diverse group of parents contribute feedback
Use a variety of methods to collect parents’ feedback, including:
- Focus groups held in, or outside of school
- Community forum
- Social media - blogs or Facebook

Tips for parent surveys:

Be clear about the purpose of the survey and have parents help to develop the survey questions
Pilot test the questions with a small group of parents before sending it out
Consider the most convenient time and method for parents to receive the survey
Assure parents that action is possible if they identify changes that they would like to see implemented

Hosting parent sessions and events

Get parents involved in planning activities that will:

meet the needs and interests of families attending your school
increase their involvement with their child and their child’s learning

Tips for hosting events:

Involve parents and students in planning events and workshops
Plan events around activities (family fitness night, literacy night, curriculum night, musicals/plays, sports events) and/or meals/refreshments (BBQs, dinner, coffee)
Look for a variety of funding opportunities to support the event:
- Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grants - Ontario Ministry of Education(external link)
- Healthy Schools and Communities Potential Funding Opportunities(external link)
Consider convenient dates, times and locations to encourage parent attendance
Host an event off-site at a safe and welcoming community location other than the school to increase accessibility and community connections
Use video conferencing where possible: have the option for parents to participate from home via video link if they are not able to attend

How to plan coffee talks for your school

Purpose of a coffee chat:

Create opportunities for parents to connect and socialize
Help connect parents to volunteer opportunities within the school
Bring more caring adults into the building
Provide information and enhance learning on a given topic

Steps:

Getting started
Tips to recruit a parent coordinator
- Approach school council
- Post a job “call out” for an expression of interest
- Send email to all parents
- Use the school board telephone system “synrevoice”
- Personally invite parents that you have existing relationships with
- For Secondary Schools: Use Grade 8 parent nights to advertise opportunities
Assessment – What do parents want to know about?
- Obtain information about the needs of your parents (common issues, hot topics, community related issues)
- Collect information in a parent wide school survey
Provide a list of popular topics
- Create a list of topics and seek out speakers from local community organizations at ‘low cost or no cost’
Set a consistent time and day for meetings throughout the year
- Decide together with parents, the best time of the day to offer the event (during the school day, in the evening, or both)
- Provide a sample agenda that can be used to structure each session

Time	Agenda Item
9:45	Join us for coffee and talk with other parents
10:00	Speaker presents topic highlights
10:20	Interactive discussion and sharing
10:40	Questions and further sharing
10:50	Principal updates
11:00	Wrap-up and thank you for coming

Evaluation and planning for the next year
- Use a standard evaluation to assess how each topic/presentation was received
- Create a schedule of topics and speakers in the spring to prepare for the upcoming school year. Remember to invite grade 8 parents from feeder schools to get involved in planning for these events.

Providing volunteer opportunities

Parents volunteering for school activities fosters positive relationships between youth and adults, creates a welcoming environment and a sense of community. Parents can be offered different ways to become involved, such as:

School Councils
Parent Involvement Committees (PIC)
Safe School Action Team (SSAT)
Parent coordinator, to be a parent liaison and to champion parent engagement activities
School trips
Musicals/plays

Tips for increasing parent volunteering

Be strategic in how you ask parents to become involved:
- Ask early in the year
- Make the request small and simple
- Ask parents whose children are new to the school
- Ask parents about interest, passions, skills
Acknowledge volunteer contributions through notes of thanks and recognition
Spread the workload among parents
Align volunteering opportunities with parents’ skill sets, expertise and interests

Parent-teacher interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are a great opportunity to engage parents and discuss ways for them to become involved at your school.

Parent-teacher interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are a great opportunity to engage parents and discuss ways for them to become involved at your school.

Tips for parent-teacher interviews

Advise parents ahead of time when they will be receiving reports on their child’s progress
Consider sending parents information on how they can prepare for the parent-teacher interview
Encourage staff and parents to share ideas on how they can work together to help the child/youth meet their goals

Advise parents ahead of time when they will be receiving reports on their child’s progress
Consider sending parents information on how they can prepare for the parent-teacher interview
Encourage staff and parents to share ideas on how they can work together to help the child/youth meet their goals

Parent-teacher interviews provide an opportunity for the parents to build a bridge between the home and school. Collaborative relationships between teachers and parents help to improve students’ chances for success.

Harris and Goodall, 2007 People for Education

Resources

To help prepare parents for the interview, consider sending home:

10 Tips to Help You When Talking to the Teacher (MOE website)

For more information or consultation:

Contact a public health nurse by dialing 311 or emailing schoolhealth@halton.ca
Access school health information for professionals at School Years Health Program
Review and use content from the Healthy Schools Halton newsletters

Guide to asset building in school

What are Developmental Assets?

Key Points:

All kids need Assets
Relationships are key
Everyone has strengths
We need to work together to build assets

Developmental Assets are traits, values and experiences that all young people need to be healthy, successful and reach their full potential.

These building blocks, or Developmental Assets®, are grounded in research on child and adolescent development, risk prevention and resiliency. The more assets young people have, the more likely they are to thrive, make healthy choices, and avoid harmful behaviours.

About Developmental Assets®

The positive power of assets is seen across all cultural and socioeconomic groups in youth around the world. There are 40 Developmental Assets® that are divided into two categories – external and internal.

External assets include the first 4 asset categories that make up Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets®. These are the external structures, relationships, and activities that create a positive environment for young people, such as:

Support
Empowerment
Boundaries and expectations
Constructive use of time

Internal assets include the second 4 asset categories that make up Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets®. These are the internal values, skills, and beliefs that young people need to fully engage with and function in the world around them, such as:

Commitment to Learning
Positive Values
Social Competencies
Positive Identity

Why is asset building important?

Note: This guide has been adapted from the Our Kids Network Asset Building Toolkit to reflect the strategies that can be used to build assets within the school community.

Asset building has the power to promote positive behaviours and attitudes. Young people with high levels of Developmental Assets® are more likely to:

Succeed in school
Value diversity
Maintain good health
Demonstrate leadership

Protect youth from high-risk behaviours. The more Developmental Assets® young people have, the less likely they are to engage in risky behaviours such as:

Substance use
Gambling
Violence
Sexual activity

Asset building is about connecting with our children and teens as they make the transition into adulthood. Relationships are key! It is important to be intentional because most young people are not experiencing enough of these assets. While there are 40 assets, researchers have found that on average, young people report having only 20.

Getting started – how to begin the process of asset building

Note: This guide has been adapted from the Our Kids Network Asset Building Toolkit to reflect the strategies that can be used to build assets within the school community.

We can help our children and teens grow up successfully by encouraging them to connect with other caring and responsible adults who can be their mentors, guides, and role models as they make the transition toward adulthood. Relationships are the key!

You are probably already building assets in your school without being aware of it. Asset building is incorporated within the work that school staff do every day – the key is to be intentional!

To get started you can:

Assess what your school is currently doing to build developmental assets®. Use this asset-building checklist to identify areas of strength and need within your school goals, programs, and policies.
Things to consider:
- Do students feel welcome and engaged in the activities offered at your school?
- Does your school share stories of positive contributions by students with board members and the community?
- How does your school strengthen students’ leadership skills?

Connect with other schools to see how they have incorporated asset building with their youth, parents and staff.

Discuss with members of your school community about the power of assets for all young people.
Remember - everyone can build assets – it’s about:
- Recognizing all kids
- Developing positive relationships
- Being intentional
- Focusing on strengths
- Being consistent

Raise awareness about Developmental Assets® - Share the asset message at school events or on your school webpage!
- Check out the list of 40 Developmental Assets® and Family Assets
- Download free resources from the Search Institute® and Lions Quest Canada
- Purchase and print ready-to-use handouts to share with individuals or groups

Look within your school community for natural asset builders who exhibit these qualities:
- Advocate for children and youth regularly
- Demonstrate relationship-building behaviours
- Empower children and youth to have a voice
- Are open to trying new things
- Are mentors and role models

Develop an asset-building plan to become more intentional about sharing strategies and embedding assets into your school.

Start small by focusing on one or a few assets. Assets are all intertwined—as you build one asset, others will naturally follow.

Activities: Building assets within the school setting

Review local research data to determine what assets to focus on at your school:

Encourage staff to be intentional about building assets in young people by:

Teaching respect for cultural differences
Encouraging school success
Seeking opinions
Reporting positive behaviour
Guiding decision making

Everyone can contribute to the building of Development Assets®. Below are tools and ideas for everyone in your school community.

School staff and administrators

Make Developmental Assets part of your everyday activities by using:

Developmental Assets® ideas
Implement some of these practical ideas including greeting children/youth by name every morning, establishing peer-mentoring programs, catching kids doing things right (caught-yas) and more.
Asset building policy statements
Incorporate asset building policies that kids can thrive on!
Video clips or great group games
Begin each staff meeting with a discussion or activity about asset building by using video clips or great group games.

Parents

Parents are an important part of your school community. Include parents and caregivers in your Developmental Asset® messaging by sharing:

Asset-building ideas for parents and caregivers
Parents can use these great and practical ideas with their children.
An asset-building plan
Help parents identify how they can share their assets with other families in their school community with this asset building plan.

Youth

You can support asset building in students by:

Engaging students in all program planning and decision making
- Include several students on school committees such as SSAT and health and well-being committees
- Allow opportunities for youth to provide ideas and influence decisions that affect students
Involving children and youth in asset building. Have students complete the Developmental Asset® checklist(external link) to see how many assets they have and to identify areas to build on
Forming a student asset team and support them to identify, plan, and implement initiatives to build assets among their peers – help them:
- Identify their passions and how they can share them with others
- Start a student book, art, or music club
- Challenge students and staff to reduce screen time and increase physical activity
- Fill peer’s buckets with positive affirmations and recognition
- Lead peer to peer support group that address homework help, playground leadership P.A.L.S. or reading buddies
- Organize a student volunteer program at a local senior’s center

On the right track – reflection and celebration

When building assets, it is essential to reflect on how your initiatives are going. Throughout the process, it is important to:

Assess where your initiative is with regards to each of the seven essential goals for community-based asset-building:
- A shared vision of positive development
- Shared norms and beliefs
- Connections across socializing systems
- Everyday acts of asset building
- Unleash the asset-building power of organizations and systems
- Identify, affirm, and expand the reach of existing asset-building activities
- Introduce new asset-building efforts
Identify specific actions to make further progress if you have not achieved all of your objectives or if you’re ready to create even more change
Review the twelve critical culture shifts and reflect upon whether your initiative has resulted in a positive change from:
- Deficit language to asset language
- Some youth to all youth
- Early childhood only to the first two decades of life
- Age segregation to intergenerational community
- Self-interest to shared responsibility
- A program focus to a relational focus
- A fragmented agenda to a unifying vision
- Conflicting signals to consistent messages
- Efficiency to redundancy in asset building
- Youth as objects to youth as actors
- Shifting priorities to long-term commitment
- Civic disengagement to public engagement

Ask for student feedback about your existing school programs to determine whether they are enjoyable, offer meaningful involvement for youth, and build skills and relationships
Create a video to tell the story of your success incorporating Developmental Assets® into your school community
Share your success story at a student assembly or family event, or write about it in the school newsletter. Even better, involve youth in sharing the story!
Make your work sustainable by:
- Committing to continuing your asset building efforts
- Incorporating Developmental Assets® into your school improvement plan
- Making asset-building a standing item on your staff meeting and parent council meeting agendas
- Offering ongoing training, presentations, and resources to new staff and parents

Developmental Asset® resources

Guide to youth engagement

What is youth engagement?

Youth Engagement has been described as "Empowering all youth as valued partners in addressing, and making decisions about issues that affect them personally and/or that they believe to be important. It is about adults working with youth to create opportunities for young people to become involved and contribute to the betterment of an organization and/or community in which they live." – Pereira, 2007

Youth engagement is:

Listening to student ideas and be willing to try them out
Involving youth in work that has purpose or is meaningful to them
Recognizing that all youth have skills and strengths that can benefit your school or community
Involving youth in all stages of planning, not just toward the end
Giving youth access to mentors and opportunities to build skills and experiences
Having realistic expectations. Consider their life stage and level of experience

A common term in schools is student voice (students having a voice in their learning). Student voice is a component of youth engagement.

When working with youth, it is important to:

Involve all youth

Involve youth of different cultural backgrounds, level of school engagement, age, grade, gender, sexual orientation, etc. No single youth can speak for all youth.

Recognize youth as valued partners

Value youth perspective, skills, knowledge and experience. Recognize mutual gains for everyone. Adults have life experience that can benefit youth; youth bring fresh ideas and energy.

Involve youth in decision making

Share decision-making between adults and youth with youth having equal voting power with adults

Address issues youth believe to be important

Do not limit their involvement to just “youth issues.” Ask them what they care about and how they wish to be involved.

Create opportunities for youth

Continually look at ways to involve youth, get their feedback, build skills and put their ideas into action.

Give youth a sense of ownership

A sense of ownership, pride and responsibility increases youth engagement, sense of belonging, and success at school.

Give youth a say in matters that affect them

Youth should have a say in matters affecting them. Their involvement will result in better outcomes.

Why is youth engagement important?

Engaging youth in work that is meaningful to them has many benefits for youth, adults and the community.

Why You Should Involve Youth in Decision-making

Benefits for Youth

Opportunity to build leadership skills and gain experience
Builds assets and protects against risky behaviours
Gain understanding about the value of youth voice in their community
Feel a sense of belonging and worth
Develop positive connections to peers and adults
Develops their resume
Provides sense of accomplishment and affirms that they can make a difference

Benefits for Adults

Recognize and acknowledge youth as vital contributors
Changes how they perceive youth (breaks down stereotypes)
Opportunity to enhance mentoring skills
Re-energizes adults by learning about youths’ fresh perspectives
Learn new skills from youth
Gain insight into current youth culture

Benefits for Communities

Develops youth leaders who become active in addressing community issues
Increases understanding about and between generations of adults and youth

Youth engagement activities

Involving youth in a meaningful way in the planning and decision making of activities at your school is an important part of youth engagement. The following is a list of tips for engaging students:

Tips for school staff meetings

Include youth engagement or student voice as a standing agenda item
Invite guest speakers who are experts in youth engagement to conduct staff training (i.e. high school students, youth peer facilitators)

Test out youth engagement activities by using them as icebreakers for staff:

Icebreaker example: Picture Guessing Game (15 minutes)

What you need:
Paper, pens, markers/crayons, coloured paper
What to do:
1. Using art supplies, have everyone create something represents a strength of theirs
2. Collect the drawings
3. Randomly select different drawings
4. The group tries to guess who drew the picture. Once the artist is guessed, that person explains what the meaning of the picture is. Whoever chooses correctly is the next to choose a drawing.]

Assign an asset category to each meeting. Have staff present examples of how they are building assets in youth using youth engagement principles in their classroom or when leading extracurricular programs.
Include youth participation during staff meetings by having students:
- Provide updates on programs or events they have been involved with planning and delivering (e.g. pizza days, reading buddies, literacy nights)
- Facilitate an icebreaker with staff that promotes collaboration. Share their expertise about social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.)
- Share local youth engagement stories with staff high schools and feeder schools
- Present their own work to staff (e.g. short stories, poems, art work, videos)

Tips for getting student voice

School climate survey (external link): Encourage students to complete school climate surveys (e.g., Tell Them From Me)
Focus group (external): Hold a meeting so youth can give meaningful input to the data collected
Apply for a grant(external) based on youth ideas such as Dare to Dream(external) or the SpeakUp project(external).

Tips for youth participation in peer-to-peer program

Reading Buddies: Encourage older students to help younger students with reading
Playground Activity Leaders in Schools (P.A.L.S.): Encourage students to participate in peer-led playground leadership programs to increase physical activity and reduce bullying amongst younger students.
Peer Education Programs(external): Encourage students to participate in peer-led prevention programs to assist younger youth in making healthier, informed decisions.

Tips for youth participation in school activities, clubs and committees

Involve youth by inviting them to identify the purpose of a school club or committee, selecting meeting times and locations and developing the agenda
Icebreakers(external): Make it fun! Use icebreakers and games at meetings
Diversity of youth voice(external): Encourage diverse youth representation by encouraging culturally diverse youth participation
Tell youth about the impact of their involvement and let them know how their participation resulted in positive changes
Invite student leaders to train younger students to take over in the following year
Encourage youth to invite friends to join activities, events, clubs and committees

Tips for Youth Volunteers at School Community Events

Utilize the strengths of youth in your planning by inviting a student artist to help design flyers for school events and asking a student with good public speaking skills to introduce a guest speaker
Invite students to speak at parent nights, sharing their experiences with school clubs, sports teams, and student leadership

Tips for Youth Participation in Community Initiatives

Encourage and invite youth to participate in coalitions/partnerships and community run events, for example, Give Respect Get Respect
Include youth in the early stages of planning when forming partnerships with community partners, as having their voice at the table can help ensure that initiatives and activities under development are relevant to youth

Getting your school ready for youth engagement

Youth Engagement ensures that young people become an integral part of the work of schools and communities and that their voices help shape the future. To get your school ready to engage youth, follow these simple steps:

Assess Readiness

Gaining buy-in for youth engagement is essential. Make sure school staff and parents understand that this is a priority.
Determine if your school is ready by using the youth adult engagement readiness assessment. This assessment can help identify areas of improvement or supports needed before starting youth engagement.
Take a minute to assess how you are currently involving youth. Use the following questions as your guide:
- Do you have any youth on your school committee(s)?
- Do youth hold positions of leadership on the committee? Are there opportunities for youth to take on leadership roles?
- Do you seek a diversity of youth perspectives? (i.e. diverse backgrounds, views, levels of engagement, gender and age)
- Who sets the agenda? Who decides what happens?
- When are meetings scheduled? Is it a convenient time for youth to attend?
- What incentives do you offer? (i.e. food, honorarium, volunteer hours, references)

Identify and Engage Champions

Find staff champions who are natural mentors. We call them adult allies
Engage staff who are positive role models and foster assets in students
Have these champions bring youth together to initiate the process

Create a Youth-Friendly Environment

Be welcoming and respectful of differences in youth perspectives, skills and knowledge
Create an atmosphere that is non-judgemental (i.e. avoid assumptions, generalizations)
Hold meetings in spaces that are convenient and where youth feel comfortable
Be authentic and genuine

Being an adult ally

Being an adult ally is similar to being an asset-builder.

An adult ally:

Recognizes that all youth have strengths and skills and actively looks for the strengths in others
Takes the time to build trust and connections with students
Looks for “sparks” – the things youth are passionate about – the “hook” that motivates them
Is willing to work collaboratively with students, even if it takes longer
Looks for teachable moments
Has the wisdom to let youth try out ideas even if they might fail
Recognizes that the process is more important than the outcome

One of the biggest considerations and barriers for adult allies to build meaningful youth engagement is time. When working with youth remember:

Understanding Youth Motivation

In June 2011, the Halton Region Health Department retained Ipsos Reid to conduct youth focus groups on youth engagement. When asked about reasons why they choose to get involved, youth responded:

10–13 Years

For fun
Help others
Learn new things
Meet new people
Build social skills

14–17 Years

Create opportunities
Build confidence/feel good
Help others
Try new things
Meet new people

Source: Ipsos Reid Survey, 2011

Motivators for becoming involved naturally differ by age. For the youngest group, the possibility of having fun is easily the greatest motivator getting involved with social issues; they often see it as another activity in their schedule, like piano lessons or soccer. For teens, creating opportunities, bettering themselves, helping others and building confidence are key motivations.

“An adult ally helps youth have their voice heard through meaningful engagement. With support of an adult ally, young people can be meaningfully involved in every stage of an initiative” (Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement, 2007).

Want to learn more?

Article: Tips for Adult Allies
Article: How to Give Meaningful Praise

Am I on the right track?

It is important when working with youth to reflect together on how your initiatives are going. This teaches youth the value of reflection, it also shows respect for their involvement throughout the process and may also improve your outcomes long-term.

Reflecting on the Youth Engagement Process

As an adult ally, it is important to reflect on the youth engagement process itself. Ask yourself: What went well? What would you do differently?

Consider:

Did youth and adults share in decision-making responsibilities?
Did youth input receive equal weight when making decisions as compared to adult input?
Were youth consulted when activities and timelines were being decided upon?
Were youth given leadership roles within the group? (e.g., chair meetings)
How did youth voice shape the direction and purpose of the initiative?
Were youth engagement practices held in youth-friendly spaces, at locations and during times convenient for youth?

Help students reflect by asking:

What went well?
What would you do differently?

Keep asking these questions as you work through the stages of planning and implementing your group’s ideas. There may be opportunities for teachable moments, especially when something did not go well.

Think about sustainability

How can your student leaders train younger students to take over next year?
Encourage youth to invite friends to join youth groups
Encourage youth to recruit at networking events

Celebrate!

We all want to feel valued. Celebrating youth involvement sends the message that you value their input, time and dedication. Hopefully this will lead to more involvement in the future!

Find a meaningful way to honour students’ involvement. Send a personalized thank you note, make a PA announcement, write a reference letter, or have a party for your last meeting of the year.
As a school, plan an event for National Youth Week (May 1-7) as a way of thanking all youth for their continued support.

Youth engagement resources

Understanding Youth Development:

Understanding Youth Engagement

Models of Youth Engagement:

A model that shows the level of youth involvement in a program or organization
Can be used as a tool to identify a need to increase meaningful participation of youth
Highest levels of engagement are at the top of the ladder where youth and adults share decision-making
Lowest levels of engagement are at the bottom of the ladder where youth are non-participants

Youth Infusion Continuum

This model describes youth and adult perceptions of working together along a continuum. At the end of the continuum, it describes ideal youth-adult partnership (Youth Infusion, 2007).

Youth Engagement Continuum

Defines approaches to working with youth and/or providing services to youth. The model moves through five stages and defines these stages by how they impact youth (Listen Inc., 2003).

Youth Services Approach	Youth Development	Youth Leadership	Civic Engagement	Youth Organizing
Defines young people as clients	Provides services and support, access to caring adults and safe spaces	Includes components of youth development approach plus:	Includes components of youth development and youth leadership plus:	Includes components of youth development, youth leadership and civic engagement plus:
Provides services to address individual problems and pathologies of young people	Provides opportunities for the growth and development of young people	Builds in authentic youth leadership opportunities within programming and organization	Engages young people in political education and awareness	Builds a membership base
Programming defined around treatment and prevention	Meets young people where they are	Helps young people deepen historical and cultural understanding of their experiences and community issues	Builds skills and capacity for power analysis and action around issues young people identify	Involves youth as part of core staff and governing body
	Builds young people’s individual competencies	Builds skills and capacities of young people to be decision makers and problem solvers	Begins to help young people build collective identity as social change agents	Engages in direct action and mobilizing
	Provides age-appropriate support	Youth participate in community projects	Engages young people in advocacy and negotiation	Engages in alliances and coalitions
	Emphasizes positive self-identity
	Supports youth/adult partnerships

Source: Listen Inc., (2003). An Emerging Model for Working with Youth: Community Organizing + Youth Development = Youth Organizing. Retrieved April 20, 2011 from Pereira (2007): “Ready, Set, Engage!”

Our Kids Network: Engaging Youth and Developmental Assets
Guide to Asset Building in Schools

Documents and Downloads

Public Health Nurses and Halton Schools
Children and Healthy Sexuality: A Reference Tool for Child Care Providers, Kindergarten Teachers
School Connectedness Bingo Game
School Connectedness Bingo Game
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Guide to asset building in school

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About Developmental Assets®

School staff and administrators

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Youth

Guide to youth engagement

Youth engagement is:

When working with youth, it is important to:

Benefits for Youth

Benefits for Adults

Benefits for Communities

Tips for school staff meetings

Icebreaker example: Picture Guessing Game (15 minutes)

Tips for getting student voice

Tips for youth participation in peer-to-peer program

Tips for youth participation in school activities, clubs and committees

Tips for Youth Volunteers at School Community Events

Tips for Youth Participation in Community Initiatives

Resources and Tools
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