Here is a basic outline of how we do things here at Maungaraki school
Partners in Learning
Strong connections between schools and parents and whānau are essential to accelerating the achievement of our kids, particularly those at risk of underachieving. The Education Review Office has a booklet for parents called “Partners in Learning.” This booklet helps parents, families and whānau to form effective relationships and educationally powerful connections.
Partners in Learning sets out what parents can expect from their child’s school and more importantly, how they can help their child do well at school. It describes what parents can do if they are concerned about their child’s learning and progress and what they can expect the school to do to help. The booklet contains links to parent information on ERO, NZQA, the Ministry of Education and Careers New Zealand websites. It can be found online here:
http://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/partners-in-learning.pdf
or we have a limited number of hard copies available at the school office.
Communication between Parents & School
To help us build strong connections and partnerships with parents it is important that we have clear and transparent communication systems that support these partnerships, while ensuring teachers retain the time they need outside of class hours for the planning, preparation and organisational needs of their classes and the school.
As such, we have discussed this communication as a staff and agreed on the following communication guidelines:
Proactive Communication Expectations:
Schoolwide newsletters and notices at least fortnightly
School facebook to communicate incidental events and share successes
Signmee notices to communicate events or information that requires a response from parents
School blogs or SeeSaw apps to share class level learning
Regular email reminders from teachers to classes or groups of learners
Reactive Communication Expectations;
When staff receive email or phone messages from parents, we will always endeavor to get back to you within 2 working days
We do not expect teachers to be checking messages within the school day, if you have urgent or time dependent messages, please call the office
We do not expect teachers to respond to emails in evenings and weekends. Teachers all have their own family and personal interest commitments outside of the school day. As such, each teacher prioritises time to respond to requests in different ways. While some teachers may choose to respond to emails in evenings and weekends, this is not an expectation placed on all teachers.
Face to Face opportunities:
Due to the busy nature of education these days, teachers often find themselves in meetings and workshops.
- Teachers will endeavour to be in classrooms between 8:30am and 8:55am this is often a good time for a quick catch up or incidental chat.
- Teachers have meetings after school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and will often schedule meetings on other afternoons as needed. Please respect the fact that we will not always be able to have impromptu meetings without prior warning.
If you have a specific issue that you want to discuss, please make an appointment with your child’s teacher, in the first instance, to ensure they will be able to give you the time needed. Following this if the issue is unresolved you can contact the Team Leader of your Syndicate.