School+Context

 

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Upwey Primary School perceives that it is a community school with involvement of parents and other community members in the classrooms and in programs such as sport, camps and excursions. The reality is that the same families have contributed for many years as a small committed group of parents with a few new families participating each year and others who do not participate in home-school communication activities for various reasons.

 The school enrolment figures have declined between 2003 and 2006 by almost one third. Since then there has been a stable enrolment between 86-98 (2009 figure – 89) students. Due to the size of the school it is important to make sure that as a school community we are welcoming and involve all families in the learning process.

 Most families come from two parent families and there is a diversity of occupations ranging from tradespeople to professional amongst the parents. Changing family commitments have made it difficult for parents to access the traditional structure of the Parent-Teacher interviews and other forms of Home-School communication.

 Through provision of this wiki parents, staff and visitors are invited to review the progress of the project and add additional comments. The school is ‘Striving for Excellence’ and wants to ensure that parent-teacher relationships will be more effective. This relationship is vital and when operating effectively it has the potential to lead to improvements in student achievement and also increased levels of connectedness of families to the school. I agree with Glasgow & Whitney (2009, p. 1) 'Two heads are better than one'. They go on to say 'students will benefit if schools, teachers, parents, and communities are in consensus with one another and working as a team focus on the student'. The conversations between school members have the power to strengthen the relationships or cause harm that becomes very difficult to reverse. I want to strengthen the partnerships and make sure that all families are included regardless of their diverse background and their voices continue to be heard.

The impact of the above ** At the beginning of each school year we have provided year level information evenings. In recent years there have been few families in attendance. Those families who have provided a verbal apology indicate the day, time and family commitments as being reasons for non-attendance. The Parent-Teacher interviews are attended by the same families throughout their child’s journey through primary school. There are families who are regular non-attendees. Despite numerous initiatives, interaction between parents and teachers is not always effective in terms of increasing student achievement and improving student behaviour where there are specific issues. This project aims to set a new trend so that the relationship between the parents/guardians and the school community is strengthened and becomes an integral part of belonging to this school community.
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