This episode is about the importance of building a connection with parents and families, how we can address challenges & some examples of ways to involve them in their child’s schooling.

Parents are the foremost teachers of their children.

They are an important resource and should always feel welcome at your school and involved in it as much as possible.

Think of your connections with parents as a partnership where you are working together to support their child’s development & learning. A child’s academic success in school is greatly enhanced with these strong partnerships.

Please keep in mind as I share my experiences & ideas much of it may differ to your school situation. Factors such as the school demographics, its size, socioeconomic background, school policies & procedures and the culture of your families all play a part in the home to school connection.

I wish to be inclusive of all adults who are responsible for a child, regardless if they are the child’s parent or not, but never the less the primary caregiver. For the sake of wording for this podcast I clustered family & all carers together under the heading parents.

Part of Being a teacher is problem solving, including situations where parents are challenging. The podcast covers a sample of strategies for  these situations and various ways to communicate with parents.

I am very grateful for the insightful contributions from Morgane Michael who reminds us of parent’s perspective

Morgane can be found on social media @smallactbigimpact on Instagram & Facebook & @SAB121days on Twitter

Effective communication is essential for building the school and family partnership. By working together, we strengthen the connection. Several examples are included

Parents make a difference.

Positive connections and partnerships between school and families, parents & teachers play an important role in children’s learning, development and wellbeing.

Whichever methods you incorporate to build connections, the important goal is to keep communication between the parents and teacher open, to work together and support each other to provide the best environment and opportunities for children to be their best.

Together we are better.