Raising Our Boys in a “Village Environment”
‘Our boys don’t come with instruction manuals’.
When leading school tours for prospective families, I highlight the fact that parents can only do so much to support their son to thrive, and staff can also only do so much. However, when we truly work together, we can help realise remarkable growth.
Life changing partnership and collaboration between parents and staff has long been a special and quite unique hallmark of Mosman Prep. This partnership - built on trust and respect - is treasured by our staff, due to our commitment to see each boy reach his potential.
“Decades of research has shown that when parents engage in their child’s learning, both at home and at school, student achievement and wellbeing are increased. Schools that prioritise parental engagement can form a positive, collaborative culture that values input from both parents and teachers, and ultimately benefits students.”
Parental engagement with learning means parents undertake an active, meaningful, and sustained sharing of their child’s education. By aligning home and school environments, these partnerships foster better academic outcomes, providing months of extra progress, while building student confidence, motivation, and positive attitudes toward school.
Key aspects of effective partnerships include:
- Improved Academic and Social Outcomes: Active parental engagement leads to better grades, higher attendance rates, increased motivation, and improved social-emotional skills.
- Holistic Understanding: When trusted by parents, teachers can gain valuable insights into a child's strengths, interests, and background, allowing for more personalised learning and support, and the building of critical student/teacher relationships.
- Consistent Support: A "partnership" model ensures consistency in expectations and interventions between home and school, which is more effective than acting in isolation.
- Active Communication: Effective partnerships are built on open respectful, two-way communication, such as emails, apps, or regular meetings, which keep parents informed and involved.
- Benefits for All: These relationships benefit teachers (better understanding of students), parents (deeper insight into their child's learning), and students (more support).
“Involving parents and families is an important and valuable endeavour in and of itself, because of the ways in which it can help parents and families build a sense of belonging to their school community, which in turn can demonstrate to a student that their family values and supports their education.”
At Mosman Prep, we are incredibly blessed that our class teacher and parent partnerships are supported by small classes and include collaborating with onsite learning support and gifted and talented teachers, allied health professionals, school counsellors, a Chaplain, additional teaching assistants, specialist subject educators, and invested administration staff.
As a staff we are so thankful that we have a positive, collaborative environment that helps parents engage with their child’s learning and helps teachers better understand the needs of their students. Such an environment is precious and takes significant commitment from everyone to maintain respectful and trusting relationships.
Peter Grimes | Headmaster
Reference:
Strengthening Parent Engagement to Improve Student Outcomes (2024) - Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
