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Supporting your teen’s learning

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Play & Learn Supporting your child’s learning

What with exams and decisions to make about the future, teens can sometimes feel increased pressure at school. Here you’ll find information and advice to help you support and reassure them.

Tips for supporting their learning

You can also find useful information on supporting your teen's learning on the Parentzone Scotland website, including advice on preparing for assessments.

Keep in contact with the school

Schools aren't just there for students – they're there for you too. So if your teen feels overwhelmed by the amount of work they're being set, is struggling with their work, or you have worries about their mental health, contact your child’s school for advice – they will be happy to help and could even put together a support plan for your child.

If lockdown has been hard on your teen, it may help to let their school know. This could be the case if your family is dealing with bereavement or changes, such as job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. If you feel that your teen needs additional support or if you have concerns about their health and wellbeing, it’s important to let the school know as early as possible so that they can work with you to put any support in place which may help.

Bullying

Nowadays bullying isn't just confined to school. If you’re concerned about bullying, this page from the NSPCC has lots of information on preventing bullying, spotting the signs that your child may be being bullied, and how you can help them and get further support. The respectme website also has practical advice on your options, while Childline offers advice to young people on dealing with bullying.

Staying safe online

Photo of a teen on their phone

Photo of a teen on their phone

It's important to consider how you can help keep your teen safe online. Most people, especially teenagers, will be online more than ever – which isn’t a bad thing. It lets them keep in touch with their friends, have fun and supports their learning outside of school. But at the same time it's important that you know that they're safe while online. Our online safety section has lots of advice to help you.

Exams

This year, exams are taking place as usual. You can find out more at the SQA website.

When your teen receives their exam results, they may have questions about what this means for their future. They can find out more about this and what to do if they want to appeal on the SQA website. Young.scot also has lots of advice for teens if they have questions about their results or didn’t get the grades they were hoping for. You could also suggest they call the Skills Development Scotland Results Helpline on 0808 100 8000.

They may be over the moon at their results, or they may be feeling disappointed. They may even be worried about telling you their results. Whatever their grades, reassure them that you’re there for them and will support them to make decisions moving forward. Our section on supporting your teen has more advice if you’re concerned about them.

Their future

If your teen is not feeling very motivated about learning right now, encouraging them to think about the future opportunities it will open up to them might help. There are many different pathways available in school to give your teen skills for life, work or further study. When they turn 16, instead of staying at school, your teen may choose to go to college instead. Your local college website will have more information on some of the options available for your child to continue their learning journey.

Encourage your teen to look forward to their next steps, whether that's continuing with school, going to college or university, securing a Modern Apprenticeship or other work-based training, or getting a job. 

Check out these websites together for more information and advice:

  • Your teen is going through some big changes and making important decisions in the preparation and transition into post school life. A very helpful School Leavers Toolkit is available to support them as they make the move into the post-school world. The Toolkit covers a range of topics including mental well-being, work and pay, finances, moving out and housing options, community involvement and young people’s rights.
  • The Young Person's Guarantee is a commitment to bring together employers, partners and young people. It aims to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity. This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. 
  • The MyGov.scot website has more information on your teen’s options when they leave school.
  • Skills Development Scotland offers advice, information and support on education, employment and career choices for young people and their parents and carers.
  • Skills Development Scotland also has a dedicated section for parents and carers on its career website My World of Work. It offers information to help those career conversations with your young person, understand skills in demand from employers, and suggests ways to explore the different routes and pathways that young people can take.

Learning at home

In this short film, Dr Elaine Lockhart offers practical advice on supporting your teen’s mental health if they need to learn from home. 

Last updated: 25 Jan, 2024