The school and family connection is important for both parties involved. How do we strengthen it? What does it mean to have a connection between these two? This week’s blog is absolutely full of ideas, and we would love to hear yours too!
Our children thrive when home and school environments work cooperatively, communicate well, and share similar educational values and expectations. At FMS, we have been active in sharing Montessori values and practices in ways you can apply them at home. This year, we want to encourage more ways for you to engage with our school too.
This provides many opportunities to strengthen our school-family connection to ultimately deliver greater support for your child.
We are introducing more and new opportunities for school-family connection to give our parent community a deeper understanding of what Montessori learning looks like in action and how our methods translate to specific skills, outcomes and opportunities for your children.
The 3 factors central to the school-family partnership are:
- Communication
- Education
- Participation
Here’s how each of these can enhance your experience of your child’s journey from preschool to primary school at FMS:
Communication
Staying up to date with communication is key to any partnership.
Parent conferences are the traditional two-way communication between parents and educators and allow both parties to address school and life factors impacting the child’s classroom experience. Communicating with your child’s guides in these meetings allows them to better support your child during times of transition or challenge.
Of course, if you have concerns about your child or their classroom experience, we encourage you to reach out to their lead guide at any time. This ensures the school can be more responsive to your child’s needs in a timely manner. We want to know your thoughts and feelings sooner than later!
In addition to parent conferences, there are many details of school life that need to be communicated to our parent community, from upcoming events and activities to sports, excursions, and information to help implement Montessori at home.
We know your inboxes are bombarded with messages each day, and we are conscious not to overwhelm you. That said, when it relates to our children, communication is vital.
To ensure you get the information you need, we have the following communications in place:
- Weekly newsletter – Sent every Thursday, this is an overview of recent and upcoming activities with fun snapshots for you to see or links to book if necessary. To help families apply Montessori values at home, or learn new parenting, wellbeing or learning tips, we always include a helpful blog – just like this!
- Audiri app – Here is where parents sign up and provide permission or payments for school activities such as sport or excursions. Audiri will be phased out this year and in the spirit of communication, we will keep you posted as to its replacement in due time.
- Transparent Classrooms – Educators use this platform to share photos and activities from your child’s own classroom, giving you a window into your child’s day here at FMS.
Other:
- Direct email to class parents – You may occasionally receive messages via email relating to your specific class group or grade.
- Printed papers – Occasionally, educators send a print version of forms home with your child to ensure it is seen. We did this recently with NAPLAN notices.
- Posters – Keep an eye our around the school and playground for posters with information for upcoming activities and events.
We don’t want anyone to miss out on any important information!
Education
Education at FMS is not just for students! The parent-school partnership is strong at FMS and the more our parents understand about Montessori methods, values and outcomes the better!
While classroom observations are a cornerstone of the Montessori parent experience, this year, we are opening our doors further, welcoming parents onsite to learn more about specific topics and activities direct from our educators.
This new initiative, In Conversation, will be held 3 times per term, hosted by a different teacher presenting a different topic each session.
In Conversation gives parents across the community insight to Montessori teaching methods, materials, skills and practical outcomes for the children. It’s another touchpoint for you to get to know our amazing educators and an opportunity for you to learn about various programs for the various age groups offered here at FMS.
The first session is next Wednesday, Feb 21st at 8am, and is hosted by Xarifa, who will be demonstrating The Power of Numbers.
Participation
The final factor in our parent-school partnership is participation, yours!
At Montessori, we encourage students to be active participants in their own learning. Equally, we encourage parents to be active participants in their child’s education. There are so many ways you can do this, and again, this year we are adding more.
From joining activities like Sunday’s working bee or coming along to In Conversation or attending an event such as this week’s Chinese New Year celebration. Your children will love having you here at school, showing you what they do and seeing you involved in their lives and learning.
Each of these events is a chance to meet other FMS families, to engage with our staff, to learn more about the school and to have fun while you’re doing so!
Some of the other events you may participate in this year include:
- Community morning teas
- Concerts, events and carnivals
- In Conversation
- Classroom presentations from students
- Parenting Talks (eg. cyber-safety, sexual health, wellbeing at FMS)
We are committed to fostering wonderful relationships with all families at FMS and want you to connect with us and with one another in the same way.
Please feel free to share suggestions for other ways to connect in the comments box below.
Communication, education, and participation are key to an exceptional school-parent partnership.
We look forward to partnering with you throughout 2024 to make our already wonderful community even stronger!
Please note: if you are not receiving any of the communications noted above, please reach out to our admin team (admin@forestvillemontessori.nsw.edu.au) so we can help you stay connected.
