As children get older their responsibilities will increase, including time management and being organised. Your child will be organising more of their time around school, lessons and out of school activities.

This comes with lots of practice and support from you, other members of the family or teachers so they can take on more responsibility with confidence and maturity.

Having older children involves some changes to the levels of responsibility in the family. Providing lunch, books, equipment, managing extra out of school activities and hobbies used to be the parent/carers job but now it’s great if your child(ren) can do this too.

A few examples of what you might see change are:

It is now the child’s job to bring the right books to each lesson, with learning equipment such as a pencil case, calculators, P.E. kit, and so on.
It is likely your child will bring home the updates on school trips, exams, information on clubs and more.
Before you might have accompanied them on the school run, but now they might have to make their own way to school e.g. getting up in time to walk, getting the correct bus. You and your child might have some concerns about keeping safe and how they will manage this change. See below for practical advice and tips.

What you can do to help

It is a good idea to practice your child’s new route to school over the summer break. Whether this is visiting the bus stops they will use, encouraging them to do a practice walk or planning who they could walk to school with; this will all help to settle any worries.

It is important to remind your children about road safety, in particular crossing roads and thinking ahead of safe places to cross roads on their route to school. Remind them to concentrate around roads, particularly when talking to friends or listening to music. Purchasing coats and bags which have some reflective material also help to make your child more visible to motorists.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/road-safety-seven-11-year-olds

If your child plans to cycle ensure they have a suitable helmet to protect their head, are proficient at cycling in traffic and can securely store their bicycle at school.

https://www.capt.org.uk/cycle-safety

Remind your child about the principles of keeping safe, including talking to people they don’t know and not getting into an unknown vehicle. Agree a time you would expect your child to be back at home after school and a plan for making changes to this including how you will contact each other. The link below has some more ideas around keeping safe and avoiding becoming a victim of crime:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/keeping-children-safe-while-out-and-about

You should also think about after school arrangements and who will be home when your child gets in or where they plan to go, below is some advice from the NSPCC about keeping safe:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/in-the-home/home-alone/

Some things a parent/carer can do to encourage time management and organisation:

Display a copy of your child’s timetable (e.g.. on fridge, cupboard).
Keep up to date with emails from schools, activity groups, sport teams, etc.
Practice journeys to school.
Practice getting ready for school such as tying a tie, getting ready in a time frame, getting up for a certain time.
Encourage frequent use of a diary and use of checklists, alarms, to do lists.

Ways to help practice organisation and time management:

Tidying their room.
Giving them more responsibility with jobs in the house.
Consider rewards for good time management.
Visit the ‘preparing your child practically’ section of the BBC bitesize support page for tips on how to prepare your child for school.

Positives of using a diary:

Often supplied by schools or available from supermarkets.
Digital calendars or notes can also be kept on a phone or similar device.
Easy to use and manage.
Can be used to note homework, deadlines, school projects, equipment needed, school trips, exams.
Everything you need to remember can be in one place.

Other useful tips:

Getting ready the night before - ensuring bags are packed and uniform is ready the night before school means fewer things are forgotten in the ‘school morning panic!’
Online, they will also be able to find lots of information about what’s going on in school by visiting the school website or using your child’s school portal.
Equipment - 5 a day rule: pencil, pen, rubber, ruler and calculator.
Creating a timetable at home to manage clubs, homework, free time.
Communicating as a family about your child’s weekly plans and equipment needs.
Head over to the BBC Bitesize support website where they have lots of tips on organisation and managing a new school.

Who can help?

For more advice about time management and organisation you can speak to one of our team. You can Call Us on 0300 029 50 50 or Text Us on 07520 649887 to start a conversation. **Monday to Friday 9.30am - 4.30pm excluding bank holidays**

Older children (11-19) can ask advice from a school nurse by texting our Confidential Chathealth service on 07480 635 443.

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Delivering excellence in Children and Young People’s Services:
a partnership between Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust and
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.
Funded by Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council

Being organised, time management and travelling to school

Who can help?

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Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Healthy Child Programme

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