Alex Tait, Director of Studies at Notting Hill Prep (and parent of three) shares his top tips on how to help your child succeed in and out of the classroom. 

We all want the best for our children and the best out of them. Do we hover over them as helicopter parents or let them go, hoping that nature (and a little nurture) will steer them  in the right direction? There are no easy answers but there are concrete things you can do to help.

Success at school isn't just about achieving in the classroom.  Children develop in different ways and in different time frames and classroom performance isn't always the best measure.  The really important thing is laying the foundations for becoming a successful learner in life, and this is something you can develop at home.  So where do you start?

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Find a strength in something totally unattached to school 

Learning  how to knit or bake bread will make them feel a bit unique and different. Teach them a magic trick that will impress other children. Just something that belongs to them and won’t be a part of school.

Show them not to be afraid of failure  

This is hard for many parents to accept.  But if your child never fails achievement is also diminished.  There will be others better than them at sport, with neater handwriting or faster maths or even better behaviour.  Children need to forge a sense of what they can achieve and part of this is about taking risks.  Let them know when you have failed and what you did - and do - about it.  Show them that you appreciate the risk rather than the result.

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