‘Honesty is the best policy.’ – Benjamin Franklin
December 2017
Children are the light of any parent’s life; they bring so much joy and happiness. Parents have high expectations and aspirations for their children and they all want what is best for them.
Education plays an enormous part in shaping children’s futures. Working alongside parents, schools endeavour to equip children with the learning and life skills they will need to be successful adults. Engaging in an on-going dialogue with parents about their child’s progress is vital to ensure that we are all pulling together and heading in the same direction.
Parents’ Evening is a fantastic opportunity to bring together teachers and parents to work for the good of the child. Teachers relish sharing stories of success; celebrating each child’s achievements and strengths. However, to balance this, it is also important to share with parents the areas in which their child needs support and encouragement to develop their skills. Year on year, the expectations for each cohort of children grow and the demands made on them for homework, learning behaviours and personal organisation ramp up; ultimately preparing the children for a successful transition to, and experience in, secondary school.
At Froebelian, the teachers are encouraged to be honest with parents. If we truly want to make a difference in the lives of these children, we would be doing them a disservice by sugar coating the issues. Honesty really is the best policy. Sometimes, it can be hard to listen to what your child cannot do yet, but the key word here is ‘yet’. We teach the children about having a growth mindset which centres firmly on the ‘yet’. The children are not failing; it’s not that they can’t do it, they simply need a little more help, guidance and support to be successful. In your parent consultation, your child’s teacher will have highlighted a number of areas of development – there are next steps identified in the notes. Teachers will have shared with you what they plan to do to help your child move forward and may have also suggested what parents can do to support this at home.
Parents and teachers working together brings out the best in children. We firmly believe that parents having a clear picture of what their child can do has much more benefit than masking over or brushing off any issues they may be having in their learning and personal development. All members of staff at Froebelian, teachers and teaching assistants, are dedicated and highly-experienced practitioners who pride themselves on knowing the children in their care extremely well. And, just like all parents, we have your children’s best interests resolutely at heart.
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