Primary/Secondary: End of Year Time!

So it's the end of the year, the exams are over, students are winding down and the Christmas paerphrenalia is coming out left, right and centre. Some schools may have end of year concerts, some schools may even have special celebration events-it all depends!

But if you're unsure about what to do for the end of year (or to expect), read on!

General Tips:

• Typically secondary schools will have a clear timeline set for end of year activities, including exams, winding down, cleaning up and so on. Primary schools may also have this albeit in a simplified form in the form of end of year activities (or excursions) and things such as library books and loaned items being due back around this time. Read these thoroughly-they're either in the newsletter, on the website or on the Skoolbag app (if your child's school uses it). 
• If you do wish to give your child's teacher a gift, keep it small and casual-chocolates are usually good, as are small value gift cards. Large gifts or items that will take up space (such as mugs) are probably not the best option (one teacher I know of admitted to regifting stuff she received from students because she'd run out of space) and could also be construed as courting bribes or favours for end of year reports. 
• Some classes will do a Secret Santa. These are usually small with a limit of $5-$10 (the higher limit is obviously for secondary school students). No matter what your child says, try and keep it neutral for the sake of the recipient-a favourite item (if you know this) or a generic gift such as a teddy bear (if they're female) or stationery is appropriate, personal care/hygiene products (as I recall receiving from one such "gentleman" in primary school) are not. If you are getting food, check with the child's teacher first to ensure that the recipient is not allergic to anything. 
• If you do wish to bring in cupcakes or other gifts for students as an end of year treat, please check with the teacher first if a) this is OK and b) if there are any allergies/dietary restrictions. You may need to provide an alternative for those students (try and keep it in line with the theme so those students aren't being singled out, so for example, if you're bringing in cupcakes, try and bring in some cupcakes for those children with allergies) 
• Unless your child is in Year 10 or above, it is generally not a good idea to keep your child home during the last 2-3 weeks of the school year. While you may think your child is not learning anything and thus it's not important, teachers may use this time to incorporate various areas of learning in context with the holidays (for example, using literacy skills to write holiday stories, using mathematics skills to create geometric Christmas trees, researching different cultural practices around the holidays and so on)

Religious Programs/My family is not religious! 

These programs are common around this time of year and in some states, the school is required to host them. They tend to run the gamut of simply emphasising the non-religious values of the holiday (such as charity) through to full-on recreations of the Nativity complete with a suggestion that EVERYTHING (Christmas trees, tinsel, gift-giving etc.) somehow is connected back to the Nativity (hint: it isn't). Your child is not required to attend these events or even take them seriously (I definitely didn't as a child), but if you are still reluctant to have your child attend the events, you are allowed to pull them out. 

• If you do wish for your child to not attend the event, please ensure that you let the teacher know as soon as possible. You do not need to explain why your child is not attending the event, although if the reason is of a religious nature, please let the teacher know of this as this may carry over into other activities. (i.e. Christmas decorations) Just as a note, if your child attends a religious school, pulling them out may not necessarily be an option. 
• If your child's school cannot guarantee that your child will be supervised during the program running (for example, your child is allowed to sit in another class or in the library), this would be the only time I'd advocate pulling your child out for the period of time that the program is on. While this is not an encouraged practice, it does beat the school not compromising on your beliefs. 
• Take note that schools are not required to ban anything to do with Christmas on the grounds (or of any holiday), but rather they are generally not allowed to emphasise the religious aspect (in theory, in practice this may be difficult). So for example, making Christmas decorations, researching how Christmas is celebrated around the world or learning about holidays that are on during this time (such as St. Nicholas day, Diwali etc.) are all options that can be undertaken without putting the emphasis on the religious aspect (or if it covered, it's generally covered more as a contextual thing i.e. "Germans might go to church on Christmas Eve if they are Christian because they believe...") Therefore, if your family does not celebrate Christmas, please respect the rights of those who do. 
•  If you do not celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, please feel free to discuss this with your child's teacher and work out a viable compromise for end of year activities to ensure that the child is not left out (for example, if children are making decorations with Hama beads, the children who do not celebrate Christmas can instead make a coaster or something else with the hama beads. This way, they're still able to participate without being left out. Another example might be if they're doing colouring-in activities, they can do a colouring-in of their choice) 
• Another open option (provided you and your child are OK with this and your child's teacher is also fine with this), is for your child to do a short presentation to the class about their religion. Note that this would not be a marked presentation. If you want to as well, you could even do an activity around the religious holiday (or that religion itself) with the class (and teachers love this help!) to help them understand. 

I want to go on holiday at this time!

If you are going on holidays and your child is legally required to be in school, nearly all states require you to complete an exemption form and submit it well in advance of the holiday. This also needs to include the days that you will be off (and you are required to stick to this), where you're going and (in secondary school) any events that will occur during this time that your child will miss out on (such as exams, end of year concerts or similar). The decision about whether your child will be exempted or not rests solely with the school, it is not an automatic guarantee that you will receive the exemption (both schools and government departments do have the right to refuse in theory). 

The End of Year Concert.

Most schools will have some form of an end of year concert or presentation night. These are also generally compulsory for your child to attend or participate in (subject to certain rules). By now, you would've pretty much been informed about costumes (if your child needs to wear them), hair, makeup (most schools discourage this), songs, routines and so on. Keep these points in mind though:

• If your child is in secondary school, weekend rehearsals may occur. This allows the school the chance to practice somewhere without disrupting other classes, or for full-day rehearsals without disrupting learning. Make sure your child is prepared for this and try to discourage them from scheduling other important events when this occurs. 
• If your child is in primary school, there may be a few trips to and from the theatre (if they're not performing at the school) or wherever they're performing it. There may be a cost with this-this usually only covers the bus. If it seems excessively high, ask why. 
• Many schools are cracking down on parents filming the events for a variety of reasons (some reasons include copyright restrictions [and yes, there is someone in the audience checking up on this if this is the case-they do have the right to stop the show], child protection laws [especially if there is a foster child performing*], parents getting violent or disrupting the performance to get the best view, or simply that the school wants the parents to actually focus or participate rather than standing there filming the child repeatedly). The school MAY provide a copy of the night on DVD, but is under no obligation to do so. If they do, typically it's done by a professional. The DVDs may sell for between $25-$30, so keep this in mind. 
• For kids up to around Year 10 level, if they're doing several performances during the week (or one performance for younger kiddos), they're likely to be exhausted afterwards. Primary schools do recognise this and will set the concert for a Friday night to allow for recovery over the weekend, but in the event that they can't do this, they do understand if your child won't be attending school the following day (play this by ear though-it is important that your child understands this is a day for them to rest, not a "playing" day and if your child has boundless energy the next morning, they can survive a day at school). While it will be frowned upon, they do nonetheless understand. For secondary schools, there may be several performances or events over the span of a week, particularly if your child is very involved in the performing arts. Make sure your child is well-rested, encourage them to eat right during this time and to avoid consuming stimulants during this time (particularly for older children who may be tempted to skull an energy drink) 

The Formal:

Ah yes, the Year 12 formal (or Year 10 if your school does that). Pretty much all schools will have done this by this time, so I won't cover it here, but I will provide some handy tips on formals in another post separately. 

For parents of children in years 6-9, do your research on your child's potential school thoroughly and try to get a sense of when they schedule their formals. If they schedule them for the middle of the year, they're more likely to take things seriously education-wise than the school who does it at the end of the year. Why? Because many, many Year 12 students around the country will only hang around for the formal and will therefore disrupt the ones who do actually want to finish high school. If the formal is done in the middle of the year, it gets rid of those who are simply hanging around for the formal and thus makes life easier for the remaining Year 12's as they go into exams. 

Hopefully these bits and pieces of advice will make your end of year celebrations go a little less worry-free!