Parent involvement and building a community is something we encourage and aim to achieve. Years of research and practice shows that connecting with families positively impacts student achievement. Parent volunteers could also be called Adult volunteers. This may include grandparents, step-parents, aunts or uncles who have interest and dedication to all aspects of the child’s education.
2020 was a different year for parent involvement and we look forward to 2021 being able to see the return of parent volunteers, parent workshops, Grandparents Day and other special events which enable us to come together and celebrate. During Term 1 we ran two Parent Volunteer Sessions where we discussed what it meant to volunteer, the procedure of volunteering, along with the importance of confidentiality and in which ways adults can help.
External research on student achievement validates the importance of involving parents as educational partners. It has been found that when schools, families and community organisations work together to support learning, children achieve better academically. The ways parents can be involved are endless and all parental involvement is important whether it is at home supporting their child’s academic progress, assisting with small groups in the classroom, laminating, contacting books for the library or being part of the Parents and Friends Association (or a mixture of all).
As a school, we value whatever time commitments parents and family members make and we recognise that these volunteers want to support their children and us as a community. Parent and family involvement is not only essential for our building of community and a school but also to the children’s learning process. The use of Seesaw enables us to share with parents their child’s learning development and also for children to be able to share their joy in their development. The broadcasting of Newsletters and Bulletins update our families about what is happening at the school. The recent Parent Teacher Interviews enabled both parents and teachers to have a two-way communication about how the student is going.
We look forward to increasing our parents’ involvement in our School and community and certainly appreciate what all our families are doing so that we can work in partnership. Thank you to all our parent volunteers and the supportive community that we have.