Helping your child through adolescence
Saturday 21 May, 09:30-13:30
Burns Recital Hall
RHS will be hosting its fifth Parents' Conference at the end of May, inviting external experts to come and talk on the challenges young people face.
The pressures on young people today are very different from those of previous generations, more than ever before, adolescents are having to develop better coping strategies and resilience and it is our responsibility to guide them along the way. At the Royal Hospital School, we place great importance on understanding mental health and promoting well-being.
As well as training our pastoral team in mental health first aid, advocating well-being through whole school events and having provision for support should it be needed, we are extending our help to families so that they may better understand the issues. The Parents’ Conference ‘Helping Your Child through Adolescence’ will be building upon the topics of the previous years which covered teenage stress; life online; healthy eating; wellbeing; careers; and supporting your child through work and exam preparation.
Session 1: Dr Bettina Hohnen
Topic: The Teenage Brain
Dr Bettina Hohnen is a Clinical Psychologist and lecturer at UCL who has worked individually with families for many years specialising in complex neurodevelopmental assessments and working therapeutically with parents. She regularly gives talks and runs workshops with the aim of aligning parents and teachers with the developmental needs of young people. Her recently published book ‘The Incredible Teenage Brain: everything you need to know to unlock a teen’s potential’ written for adults supporting children, has been described as ‘…a must read for anyone parenting, teaching or supporting teens...’
Session 2: Dr Aric Sigman
Topic: Parenting the Demanding Generation
Dr Aric Sigman is a PSHE health education lecturer primarily to children, parents and staff at schools, as well as to medical schools and NHS doctors, and to companies and conferences. He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood and publishes peer-reviewed medical papers on health and development subjects. Dr Sigman is the author of five books on PSHE-related topics including Getting Physical which won The Times Educational Supplement's Information Book Award.
Session 3: The Kite Trust
Topic: Supporting Children in Exploring their Identity
The Kite Trust provide support for young LGBTQ+ people seeking to explore their identities, often with regard to their gender or sexuality. They provide one-to-one support for young people and also visit schools around the country to offer help and training to pupils, teachers and parents on the contemporary questions amongst the LGBTQ+ community such as language, identity and gender. This follows on from recent training that RHS staff had from the Kite Trust which was well-received indeed and we are looking forward to welcoming them back to the school
Entry and lunch are both free of charge. Please book for the conference by replying to the RHS Post email.