Explore tips on communicating and collaborating with school staff to support your child and build a positive school culture.
Let's communicate
Positive and honest communication between you and your child’s school means better outcomes for your child. We are all on the same team.
Firstly, talk with your child about what's happening at school.
Ask: What are you learning? What do you enjoy? What don't you enjoy?
If you're concerned about your child's learning or wellbeing, start a constructive, honest conversation about the issue with their school using the tips in the next section.
Let your child know you're communicating with their school and the reasons why. Remind your child that you and their school are on the same team: to help them enjoy learning and feel safe.
Find tips on how to communicate respectfully.
Contact your child's school
Follow the school's process for communicating with them—as a parent, your needs and concerns are important to your child's school. Schools have communication processes set up so your needs can be met by the right person as quickly as possible. If you aren't sure about the communication process for your child's school, contact the office and they will tell you the best way to communicate with them.
Know the outcome you want—before you contact your child's school, be clear about your needs and have some ideas about how the school can help. Make sure you begin the conversation when you're in a clear head space so you can have a constructive conversation about taking action.
Organise a time in advance—school staff want to support your child's learning and wellbeing. But, just like you, they can have limited time and juggle many priorities. Allow staff time to prepare so they can better support your family.
Plan next steps—if more communication with your child's school is needed, ask about how and when this will happen. Accommodate their needs where you can, to make the process happen as smoothly as possible.
Keep your contact details up-to-date—make sure your child's school has details on the best way to contact you.
Be patient—school staff might not be able to respond to your request immediately—but that doesn't mean you're not important to them. Allow staff to have boundaries around their communication and give them reasonable time to respond.
Be polite and respectful—when communicating with school staff, in writing or in person, be polite. School staff deserve to be treated with respect because they, just like you, want the best outcomes for your child. Be considerate of how you're speaking and the impact it can have on the staff.
Be a team player—your child's school is on your team when it comes to supporting your child. Be open to new ideas and be prepared that you might need to compromise to reach an agreement. You and your child's school have different kinds of expertise when it comes to raising your child, and that expertise can be much more powerful when combined.
Let's collaborate
Working with your child's school can create great outcomes for your child. You can get better ideas about how to best support learning at home, and school staff can better understand your child’s unique needs.
Find tips on how to collaborate respectfully.
Support your child's learning
Set your child up for success—when your child has nutritious food, enough sleep, a quiet place to do homework and rules around screen time—they're able to concentrate on learning and being brilliant.
Be on time—make sure your child arrives and leaves school safely, on time, every day.
Know what's expected—help your child to understand and follow the student code of conduct. The code supports your child's school as a safe and comfortable place for everyone, ask your school for a copy if you don't have one.
Be proactive—ask your child's teachers for practical ways you can support your child's learning when they're not at school.
Attend parent–teacher interviews—before you arrive, think about what you want to ask the teacher, what you hope for your child's future and what your child likes to do and learn. These conversations let you partner with the teacher to build a rich learning environment for your child.
Read communication from your school—read emails and newsletters, and regularly check the school's website, calendar and social media.
Let the school know when your child is absent—if your child needs to be away from school, let them know and the reason why.
Keep your child's school in the loop when things change—if circumstances at home change that might impact your child's learning or wellbeing, let your child's school know so they can support them.
Get involved in the school community
Attend events—go to school meetings and other events. Learn more about
parent participation.
Volunteer—consider volunteering if opportunities arise, in the classroom or at other school activities.
Join the Parents and Citizens' Association—have your say about the issues that affect you and your child by joining the school's Parents and Citizens' Association.
Give respectful feedback—when your child's school asks you to provide feedback, share your views respectfully. Think about whether the feedback you're giving is constructive, actionable and achievable.
Let's build your child's school culture
Everyone deserves to feel welcome and included in their school community. As a parent, you can help build this sense of belonging.
Find tips on how to model positive behaviour.
Add positivity to your child's school culture
Champion your school—be proud of your child's school and be a positive role model. Remind your child how important school is, now and for their future.
Have a positive attitude when talking about school—be respectful and speak positively about your child's school and the people who work there. Your child deserves to feel positively towards the school you have chosen for them.
Give positive feedback—notice what school staff are doing to support your child and let them know they're doing a good job. Knowing that you appreciate the good work they do will help staff receive and implement constructive feedback when you need to give it.
Be committed to authentic relationships within your child's school—it's not just your child's school—it's your school, too. Build relationships with the staff who support your child so you can trust each other with the role you each play in your child's development.
Acknowledge different cultures—appreciate the different cultural backgrounds of people in your school community. Everyone contributes to the learning environment.
Celebrate culture—be part of significant cultural days and events at your child's school. Understanding the inner workings of your school's culture will help you build your relationship with the school.
Agree to disagree—remember people have different views and don't always agree with each other—and that is OK. It enriches learning, as long as we are respectful.
Support the school values—find out your child's school motto and values, show your support and reinforce these ideas at home. Model integrity for your child at home while the staff model integrity at school.
Stay accountable and keep accountable—make an effort to stay accountable to integrity and gently keep your child's school staff accountable too, when it's needed. We all have a part to play in raising your child with integrity.
Spread positivity—don't make negative comments or gossip about other members of your school community—in person, in writing or on social media.