![How can you get everyone back into the swing for the first day back at school?](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/y/c/3/s/image.related.landscape.380x253.gty9rj.png/1485310155707.jpg)
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![Christian Bucks with his 'buddy bench'.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/z/8/v/0/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.2z8uv.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
Second-grader stamps out loneliness in the playground with a 'buddy bench'
Christian Bucks, a second-grader from York in America, came up with a heart-warming idea to ensure children in his schoolyard need never feel lonely again.
![index](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/q/o/p/9/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.1qoo3.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
What is your child’s learning style?
Just like personalities, people have different learning styles. By understanding how your child learns you can help them get the most out of their schooling.
![naplan](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/y/e/q/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.1yhcc.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
![ethics](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/f/k/7/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.2fk5p.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
![engaged school child](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/o/m/0/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.2olw5.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
![Overworked Kids](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/o/f/8/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.2orcg.gjzq9j.png/1444092976992.jpg)
Latest
![The girls were born on the same day, at the same hospital - however, they were delivered by different doctors.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/8/u/1/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtwh46.png/1485120479505.jpg)
Double take: Two Olivia Chens roll up for first day of school
No, they're not related, but these two girls have plenty in common.
![School shoes](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/q/b/k/v/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtsylq.png/1485169220435.jpg)
The real difference between $12 and $160 school shoes
There's a massive range of school shoes, from $12 all the way to $160. What should parents be looking for?
![Finnish primaty school students have 15 minutes of play per hour at school.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/7/y/0/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtrztp.png/1484597284111.jpg)
Lessons for Australia from Finland's schools in the forests
A master teacher tells William Doyle how Finland tops the world in primary school teaching.
![The idea that girls are being forced into chub-rub garments that they can’t easily run in seems to ignore the ...](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/x/f/w/4/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtpu92.png/1484423702980.jpg)
Why the school dress 'debate' is nonsense
For Australians growing up on a diet of American film and TV, seeing their parade of chic and shocking school outfits can only ever bristle. Here, uniform is king; over yonder it’s been a rarity since the 1960s.
![It's time to talk about the expectations around what girls wear to school..](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/j/q/y/1/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtnxy6.png/1484363476969.jpg)
Why do we still make girls wear skirts and dresses as school uniform?
While the wearing of school uniforms has a long history across Australia, we are only just starting to talk about the expectations around what girls wear to school.
![Gerardine Hansen with her son Hansen and the 3D printer he built.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/s/6/w/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtm62s.png/1484009823321.jpg)
Unschooling: learning about life from life at home
Saxon Hansen has been unschooled for most of his 17 years, and in March will start a degree in engineering technology at Swinburne University.
![Wedding surprise](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/e/w/l/z/image.related.landscape.300x200.gteul3.png/1482889668151.jpg)
Four times teachers and students won our hearts in 2016
There are some pretty admirable teachers and students out there, but we tend to hear more about the bad things that go on, rather than the good things. In honour of all those people who teach and learn, here are some of the best stories we've brought you in 2016, that shows the spirit alive in our schools.
![Fourth graders come up with a catchy rap for tackling long division.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/e/6/c/8/image.related.landscape.300x200.gte5un.png/1482274417143.png)
These kids rapping their way through long division will make you grin
A teacher has shared a clip of her fourth grade students rapping their way through long division - and just a warning: it's extremely catchy.
![Coco Schwaighofer, Dominic Despot, and Anton Perumal at coding camp during their holidays at the International Grammar ...](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/a/5/2/7/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtcf2e.png/1482186525768.jpg)
Forget the tents: there's a new kind of camp in town
This summer holidays, instead of the more traditional cricket or tennis camps, thousands of kids as young as 6 or 7 will be holed up in front of computers at privately-run coding and robot camps.
![I couldn't help thinking how all the kids who didn't get an award were feeling.](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/n/w/h/image.related.landscape.300x200.gt9nuk.png/1481573699692.jpg)
What to do when your child doesn't get an end of year school award
I couldn't help thinking how all the kids in the room who didn't get an award were feeling. Hadn't they worked hard too?
![Should parents be graded on their commitment to their child's education?](/web/20170125074641im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/5/z/g/6/image.related.landscape.300x200.gt5zno.png/1481616310970.jpg)
The school 'grading' parents on their commitment to education
While most parents welcome an assessment of their kids' performance at school, they do not expect their own input to be evaluated.
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