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This study surveyed 115 Australian parents' knowledge, views, and feelings of food allergy management and guidelines in primary schools. Although most parents were knowledgeable about food allergy management and related guidelines, half of them had limited understanding on how schools identify and respond to anaphylaxis, or teachers' recent training in anaphylaxis. Overall, parents' satisfaction surrounding the schools' food allergy management was mixed. Yet they highly appreciated the schools' efforts and practices in preventing the risks of food allergy, for example by identifying affected children and/or raising awareness about food allergies among the school community. Despite these efforts, parents were concerned about their child's overall safety at school, especially in playground and non-routine activities such as school camps and lapses in communication and implementation of state guidelines. To address these concerns, parents suggested many improvements in the schools' practices and guidelines, including proactive communication with parents on matters of food allergy. The implications of these findings for educators, along with recommendations for further research are presented., Background Food allergies among children are on the rise worldwide, affecting 10% of Australian infants (Osborne et al., 2011), 5% of American children younger than 17 (Jackson, Howie & Akinbami, [...]

To date, there is no research or instrument that can collectively measure beginning students' transitional challenges, wellbeing, help-seeking, and adjustments to university. This paper addresses this research gap by theorising and describing the relationship between these constructs and by developing and assessing the psychometric properties of a scale to measure those, labelled as Transition, Wellbeing, Help-seeking, and Adjustments Scale (TWHAS). Data was collected from 306 first year students studying in an Australian university, using a self-reporting questionnaire. The analysis shows that the TWHAS is a sound and psychometrically valid instrument. This questionnaire makes a unique contribution to the students' transition literature in Higher Education. Its implications for universities, along with recommendations for further research, are also briefly discussed., Author(s): Prathyusha Sanagavarapu [sup.1] , Jessy Abraham [sup.1] , Emma Taylor [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0000 9939 5719, grid.1029.a, Western Sydney University, , Locked Bag 1797, 2751, Penrith, NSW, [...]

FOOD ALLERGY IMPAIRS THE health-related quality of life of both the affected children and their families. In particular, parents and children become anxious about the potential risks and consequences of food allergy, including disruptions in families' and children's social activities, the need for constant vigilance, children's safety, and the daily management of children's health and illnesses. These anxieties tend to increase during children's transition to school because of the increased risks outside the home, as outlined in the review of literature in the present paper. However, there is a gap in research on the concerns and support needs of families and children when starting school. Attention to parents' and children's needs and concerns is vital to ease their smooth transition to school., Introduction Starting school is an important event in the lives of young children and their families, and can be complicated by food allergy, because of the increased risks due to [...]

THE STUDY ON WHICH this paper is based explored Bangladeshi parents' perceptions of children's transition to school. The paper reports on the data obtained from interviews with 10 parents living in Sydney, Australia, on their children's experiences when beginning school. According to the parents, friendships with peers who share a similar cultural or linguistic background and support from school teachers facilitated their children's positive adjustments to school, whereas limited or lack of proficiency in English conversational skills hampered a few of their children's adjustments to school. Parents also outlined the role of families, school teachers, and educators in childcare settings in enabling Bangladeshi children's smooth transition to school. A noteworthy finding of this study was that language barriers precluded many Bangladeshi parents from accessing information on school curriculum and transition to school and from collaborating with school teachers. The language barriers also hindered a few children's smooth transition to school. The implications of this study are that educators need to be sensitive to and address the linguistic issues that impact on Bangladeshi children and their families in making a smooth transition to school., Introduction Transition to school is a major event in the lives of children and their families. It is one of the life-changing experiences for children, with significant implications for their [...]

IN THE CONTEXT OF LIMITED DISCUSSION on what globalisation means for families, this paper aims to foster discussion by exploring the cultural implications of globalisation for parenting in immigrant families. It argues that in a global context, the parenting practices of immigrant families are likely to be hybridised as they try to adapt to the cultural differences in parenting in their host country. The cultural perspectives of globalisation and cultural integration, and the published literature on immigrant parenting, are used in support of this discussion. The notion of hybridised parenting emerges with important consequences for children's development and early childhood practices., Introduction GLOBALISATION HAS A PROFOUND impact on all facets of our lives. It is defined in various ways--from social, economic and cultural perspectives. For instance, some definitions of globalisation include [...]

Abstract. This article provides insight into the cultural patterns of metacognitive guidance that occurs among children and mothers in selected Australian homes. Fourteen Anglo Australian and eight immigrant Indian (Telugu) [...]

This study aimed to examine views, concerns and expectations of immigrant Bangladeshi parents and children in Sydney concerning transition to kindergarten (the first year of school). This study builds on the previous work of the Starting School Research Project at the University of Western Sydney by: * deriving data from families and children for whom English is not the first language; and * exploring the transitional experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) children from prior-to-school to school settings. Ten parents and four children were interviewed on the topic of transition to school. In particular, parents were asked to indicate their concerns and expectations that would assist schools in meeting the needs of Bangladeshi children and would make transition to school a positive experience for all concerned. The results revealed issues specific to families and children of non-English-speaking background regarding transition to school., Background Transition to school is an important event in the lives of children and the adults caring for them (Pianta & Cox, 1999; Ramey & Ramey, 1998). Some of the [...]

Children with life-threatening food allergies are increasing in number in Australia. A variety of foods such as dairy milk, peanut and tree nuts, fish and egg can cause severe allergic reactions in some children. The foods that cause allergies could trigger severe breathing difficulties (anaphylaxis) for these children and, if not treated immediately, could lead to death. Caring for a child with potentially life-threatening allergies has social, emotional, and financial consequences. This paper gives an insight into the psychosocial and cultural aspects and experiences of a migrant mother in raising a child with multiple and potentially life-threatening food allergies. It also advocates for improved and equitable access to child care for these children., Introduction Before my child was born in 2000, the issue of whether the baby was a boy or girl was not important. All I dreamed of was having a healthy [...]