Get Involved - Article Northland Age

Most schools will have opened their doors by now and learning will be underway. The year is going to scream by so now is a good time to start making a few commitments to your child’s learning. One of the strongest influences on a child’s success at school is parent engagement.  Simply getting involved with your child’s learning. The only time I can remember my parents coming to school was to watch sport or talk to the teacher about my behaviour.  Like many things in education things have changed. Now we are jumping up and down to get parents into our schools, to be part of their child’s learning. We are using a whole range of strategies to keep parents informed and encourage them to be partners in their child’s learning. Sadly some parents still feel they do not have the skills to help out. Simply asking about your child’s day at school, asking what they learnt, what they found hard, what they found easy, what they might like to learn next. This shows your child that you are interested in what is happening in their learning, that learning is important and you want them to succeed. 

This year at Mangonui we are putting a lot of the students learning activities and learning outcomes online so everyone can access it. This has involved big investment and commitment by everyone in our school. We know it is critical to support whanau to be able to participate in their child’s learning. We understand parents are busy but every parent wants their child to succeed and have options when they leave school.  Having a better understanding of what your child is learning at school will allow for parents to participate and celebrate their child’s learning. Make a commitment to having that conversation with your child and find out ways you can get a better understanding of what is happening in their learning.

Get involved with your school. There was a campaign a number of years ago called ‘High Five’.  Doing five things for your school each year. Sure it helps out the school, teachers really appreciate the generous support some parents give but it is also a positive thing for your child to see. Someone from the family at school participating in the day to day activities. It is a great opportunity to develop a relationship with your child’s teacher and other staff at the school. A relationship cannot be developed over one visit! Many parents are quite surprised how much they enjoy these experiences and get a better overview of what is happening in their child’s learning.

There are a whole lot of other actions that we all to need to make to ensure our children have every chance of success at school. Most of them are really simple and do not require huge amounts of time. Make a commitment this year to get involved.