Podcast
School Shorts
Hosted by Melissa Chan-Green · EN
School Shorts is the podcast for busy parents who want to help their children succeed in school.
Hosted by Melissa Chan-Green, a journalist and mum of two, this show covers practical tips on reading, writing, spelling, and maths for preschool and early school years.
Learn about structured literacy, phonics, and foundational maths skills like counting, patterns, and sequences, plus how to support your child’s learning at home.
Quick, easy, and packed with helpful advice—School Shorts is here to help your child thrive!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
13episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
What Happened When This Principal Prioritised School-Parent Communication, with Blair Dravitski
1w ago00:39:14Tap to summarizeHear from the Principal of Lemonwood Grove, among the biggest primary schools by roll in New Zealand. The area has had its fair share of major local traumas like the Christchurch earthquakes and mosque attacks as well as covid. These experiences reminded Blair Dravitski of just how important schools are as part of the community in managing anxiety not just for students but for their extended families too. On top of navigating those crises, the school has had explosive growth and has a wonderful diversity with families representing 47 different countries. Blair explains how he came to dislike the words 'difficult, challenging or hard' when it comes to communication. He expects staff to send direct, positive emails to families every week to build genuine relationships and communication. His insights are useful for any parent or educator wanting to help build positive relationships with the school and home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Early Learning Skills for Maximum Success: Ande Ford and Carolynne Masson
2w ago00:38:45Tap to summarizeChildren starting school without the skills needed for learning, are more likely to start on the back foot when it comes to the reading, writing and other skills that are assessed in the curriculum. Andrea Ford and Carolynne Masson work with families and communities to strengthen all those foundation skills through Ready 4 Learning. With backgrounds in teaching and school leadership, they discuss their thoughts on learning through play and structured literacy expertise. Ande and Carlolynne have lots of tips for parents about the best ways to develop language, movement and emotional wellbeing. We also discuss the impact of Covid - did it cause or accelerate certain challenges? or were those challenges already apparent in early education? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Understanding Neurodiversity and When to Seek Support with Tami Harris
3w ago00:33:08Tap to summarizeTami Harris is the CEO of Acorn Neurodiversity and a passionate advocate of better support for children and young people who are neurodivergent. This episode is especially useful if you are a parent overwhelmed or unsure of the diagnosis process, a teacher pondering strategies for diverse learners or anyone who wants to better understand the terms neurodiversity v neurodivergent thinking.Tami talks about why a multi-disciplinary approach is so often needed, combining speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioural science, and mental health.The discussion covers specific strategies to advocate for your child, navigate long waitlists, and interpret early signs before school age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Harnessing AI: The Brain Hacks to Teach Kids with Author Mohan Nair
4w ago00:42:08Tap to summarizeMohan Nair has written what he calls 'the nutrition label for AI'. Rather than a 'warning label', this is just saying here are all the ingredients we need to be aware of so that we can use AI in a way that benefits our health rather than the other way around. More specifically in this episode we are looking at the ways in which children and young people an prepare to become 'Unreachable'. This is the title of Mohan's book. After much research in the corporate world where he has worked with innovators from companies across the spectrum, Mohan has analysed what that world will want from its future workforce and the real, practical advice he would offer to families who want to prepare their children to be AI-enabled, rather than AI-afraid or AI-obsessed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Ladder of Reading and Writing with Nancy Young
May 800:35:29Tap to summarizeNancy Young is the creator of the infographic the Ladder of Reading and Writing which explains reading skills as a continuim. Nancy is also the Co-Editor of the 2024 book 'Climbing the Ladder of Reading and Writing: Meeting the Needs of All Learners' Here she also talks about exceptionalities that can co-occur alongside dyslexia, including ADHD, DLD and giftedness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Large School Resource v Small School Connection: Principal Steve McCracken
May 300:29:00Tap to summarizePrincipal Steve McCracken doesn't want a student to be able to go through a day at school and not have a teacher or school leader say their name or greet them for a chat. It is one of the things he fears losing with growing school rolls as the Principal of Whangaparāoa College in Auckland, New Zealand. While there are many benefits of growth and the resource and specialisation it can offer. The school is looking at innovative strategies to give students the same experience they might get at a smaller school where the relationship with teachers is a benefit because of much time they are able to get to spend with a student to get to know them. Is returning to a homeroom style class more beneficial than going to a range of specialist teachers? The school is on a mission to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Listen to this and the Teen Brain Will All Make Sense! with Kathryn Berkett
Apr 2600:40:10Tap to summarizeThere are so many things that happen with behaviour and attitude when hormones start changing in the teen years that it can be a bit of a mystery what is going on in the brain. After this conversation with Kathryn Berkett so much made sense. Kathryn has written many books translating neuroscience research in to practical insights for parents and her latest book is called 'What's Going on In There?'. There is so much focus on the first 1000 days that we can sometimes forget there is also a big neurological and hormonal change that comes later and just how important these years are in development too. Understanding what is going on in the adolescent brain could definitely help to avoid a lot of the pitfalls and arguments that might come along with it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ministry of Education: School Enrolment Policy
Apr 1900:24:37Tap to summarizeIs there any system of enrolling children at school that creates an equal footing? New Zealand has a 'rolling enrolment' system with flexibility within that for schools to decide how it might work best in their area and for individual children. In this episode, I talk with Andy Jackson, Head of Policy at the Ministry of Education about the reasons behind the policy and what, if any, work has been done on looking at the pros and cons of alternative policies. We look at why New Zealand is one of the few places in the world that doesn't use 'cohort entry' (starting in groups) as the national standard and whether that can still work as the curriculum is changed to align with countries who do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The birth date disadvantage; new survey with Jo Knox
Apr 1200:32:30Tap to summarizeLast we spoke to Jo Knox on the podcast we looked at what birth month was best for academic success. There has not been a lot of specific research on this topic but there are some indicators which point to being the oldest in your school year leads to better educational outcomes. That might not necessarily be surprising but what is interesting is a new survey has found that a large percentage of teachers spoken to, believe the current enrolment process is inequitable and leads to unfair and unnecessary pressure on some teachers and some students. Pressure that could ultimately end up influencing their school journey. We look at the results of the survey, the barriers to change and what you can do if your child is caught up in a situation where they might be disadvantaged because of where their birthday falls. In the episode to follow this, we will be speaking with a representative from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand about the reasonings behind the specific rolling enrolment process and what they might look to investigate at some point in the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Reading Progress: Too Fast or Too Slow? with Louise Payne
Apr 500:35:20Tap to summarizeNot sure if your child's reading progress or the teaching they are getting is going too fast or too slow? This is a common discussion among parents at the school gate and the answer is going to be very individualised depending on your child and their teacher. However, it's really important to have some information about how it all works so you can make a decision about whether it is something that is worth raising (remember if your gut says you should, then it's always a good idea to chat with a teacher!) Louise Payne, a former teacher and expert in literacy development with Learning Matters, shares insights about understanding the process and the pace of teaching. She explains 'phonological awareness', the best ways to support reading at home and why it's not just about decoding words but understanding the story behind them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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