We have written a book, What You Need to Know Before Your Child Starts Secondary School, which is available in all leading bookstores.

THE BOOK

After years of helping people navigate secondary schools to get the best support available for their teens , Debbie and I thought we would write a book that we hope demystifies how these places run. This is the time of the year when parents are starting to think about making the transition to secondary education with their sons / daughters. For many families this is a whole new system . What You Need to Know Before Your Child Starts Secondary School, by Debbie Knowles & Julie Mulcahy, is a handbook to help parents understand secondary schools – 

• How to choose the right school for your child

• Systems of assessment

• Special Needs – how to get help for those with learning or behaviour difficulties

• Pastoral Care – what to do if your teen is truanting , refusing to eat or being text bullied- to name but a few!!

• The discipline systems – how they work and how to approach a board hearing

These are just some of the areas covered in this handy manual, packed full of tips and information for parents and future parents of secondary students. We would love to have an opportunity to share our book with you– and more importantly, empower you to feel confident in dealing with their child’s secondary school systems as well as the staff that run it.We’ve used lots of our own anecdotes (we have 6 kids between us ranging from 6 – 24 years).

Our kids experienced all facets of the school system – some high achievers and some leaving in Year 11 with no qualifications- so we share a wide range of experiences. Listen to an interview with Takapuna Grammar Students on our book on Jam Radio by clicking here.

THE AUTHORS

Debbie Knowles is a former teacher and Coordinator of Learning Support in a large Auckland secondary school. Julie Mulcahy, also a teacher, has more recently been working in secondary schools on the North Shore as the Year 11–13 Funded Classroom Specialist Teacher. Together they run an educational consultancy business.