By Majid Hussain
As your child navigates the complexities of high school, your support plays a pivotal role in their academic and personal development. As a pastoral leader, who has experience working with all the different year groups from Year 7 – Year 11, I feel like the sections below are the key areas that are consistent amongst the year groups I have worked with. I understand this may be specific to my context of working in an International School in Malaysia and may actually be specific to the students in my school, but I thought I would share anyway. This is not me telling you to follow every word or that my version is correct, but I hope it is thought provoking and something for us all to reflect on.
Communication
Open and honest communication is the cornerstone of a strong child-parent-teacher relationship, especially during the formative years of high school. I often explain it as a triangle and the stronger the communication is between all the parties involved, the better it is for the child.
- Parent Emails: Not all parents are active on their school emails and quite often, the teachers will contact home via email if there are any issues. By checking these daily, it helps keep on top of any issues and allows supportive measures to be put in place, if needed, as soon as possible.
- Student Emails: We are a Google school, so we use google classrooms as our main platform for students. I have found it very surprising how little students check their emails, which have the notifications from google classroom. Parents can support this by making sure they are doing this daily and then setting up their tasks for the evening (more on this later).
Creating a Schedule
Establishing a consistent routine can significantly improve your child’s productivity and time management skills. Work together to create a personalised schedule that balances academic responsibilities, extracurricular activities, and leisure time.
- Prioritise Tasks: Help your child identify and prioritise tasks based on deadlines and importance. Encourage them to break down large assignments into smaller, more manageable steps.
- Time Management Techniques: Most children will be more efficient if they break down their tasks into smaller chunks. You will know your child best, but usually anywhere between 20-40 minutes.
- Make it balanced: For me, this is the most important thing in a schedule. Sure, your weekday and weekend schedule will look different, but life is not all about academics. Make sure to include non device, family, sports/exercise, outdoor etc into the schedule. This will allow your child to focus on different things and hopefully bring some balance to their life, which they can continue into their adult life.
Organising Your Work Flow
A well-organised workspace can enhance focus and productivity. However, this section is more focused towards their online workspace.
- Folders: Creating folders, subfolders and labelling their documents helps declutter the space and allows them to find things easily.
- Utilise Organisational Tools: This could be many things, but I always show students how to create bookmarks, bookmark folders or how to group tabs/windows so they can navigate through their space in an organised manner.
Use of a Planner
A planner is an invaluable tool for staying organised and on top of deadlines. Encourage your child to use a planner to track assignments, tests, and extracurricular commitments.
- Daily Planning: Help your child develop the habit of reviewing their planner daily to plan their schedule for the day. We do not use physical planners anymore, but they can still learn the same skills with many different options out there.
- Weekly Review: Set aside time each week to review upcoming assignments and adjust their schedule as needed.
- Goal Setting: Use the planner to set both short-term and long-term goals. Breaking down large goals into smaller steps can make them seem less daunting.
Learning Environment
Create a supportive learning environment at home by providing the necessary resources and minimising distractions.
- Quiet Study Space: Ensure a quiet and well-lit study space where your child can concentrate without interruptions. Many use their bedrooms, but this is a space our body associates for rest/sleep, so another space would be ideal. However, this is not possible in many households, so try and make the bedroom look different to when they are sleeping i.e. lighting, door open, ambiance etc.
Asking for Help
Encourage your child to seek help when they need it, whether it’s from teachers, tutors, or classmates.
- Open Communication: Create an open dialogue where your child feels comfortable discussing their academic challenges. Be aware of how you respond to these conversations, as a positive or negative response will affect your next conversation
- Positive Reinforcement: Reassure them that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
- Offer Support: Be available to assist with study skills, time management, or other academic needs.
- Seek Support: It is important for you to seek support from teachers, peers or other parents if you are not quite sure how to deal with a situation. I have had parents in the past approach me for incidents that occurred outside of school and we offered support to both parent and child through the whole process.
Check In on Their Health
A healthy mind and body are essential for academic success. Health should be looked at in three different areas that can overlap each other; physical, mental and social.
- Prioritise Sleep: This should be included in your schedule. Ensure your child gets adequate sleep each night to improve focus and concentration. Many students are tired when they come to school and cannot fulfil their potential because of this. The best preparation for the next day starts from the night before.
- Balanced Diet: Encourage a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
- Regular Exercise: Promote regular physical activity to reduce stress and boost energy levels. You will be surprised by how much exercise can improve their attention and energy levels.
- Social time: This may be done as a family, through a hobby or simply spending some time with their friends. This may need to be scheduled, but it is also important for them to be bored and learn how to do things to fill that time (hopefully, not devices).
Having Regular Conversations
Maintain open and honest conversations with your child to build a strong bond and address any concerns. This will depend on your relationship with your child and it may feel awkward to start with, if it is not natural to you, but stick with it and keep evolving.
- Active Listening: Dedicate quality time to listen to your child’s thoughts and feelings.
- Empathy and Understanding: Show empathy and understanding for their experiences.
- Positive Reinforcement: Offer encouragement and positive reinforcement for their efforts.
- Conversation starters: When you first start doing this, you may have to have some prepared questions beforehand, but try to ask follow up questions to get them to share examples or for you to understand more. Try not to only ask the standard question ‘how was your day?’
Remember, your role as a parent is to support and guide, not control. By fostering open communication, establishing routines, encouraging organisational skills, and creating a supportive learning environment, you can empower your child to navigate the challenges of high school with confidence and achieve their full potential. It does take time and there is no right or wrong way of doing it. You know your child best and your gut instinct will tell you if you are heading in the right direction. I wish you a fun and fulfilling journey with your child.

Meet Majid
Majid Hussain is a dynamic and experienced educator who is passionate about helping students reach their full potential. With a strong focus on student wellbeing, engagement and progress, he creates a supportive and engaging learning environment. Majid's expertise in Physical Education and Pastoral Leadership enables him to foster both physical and emotional development in his students.He holds a Masters in Education and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Sheffield Hallam University, and a BSc Honours in Sport and Exercise Science from Leeds Metropolitan University. Currently pursuing the National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership, Majid is dedicated to continuous professional development and aspiring to take on greater leadership roles in education.