If having read this, you have any revisions to suggest, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Amesbury School
Community
Community Partnership
1.
Purpose
There is a large body of evidence to
suggest that educating children is most effective when there is a strong
partnership between home and school. This partnership has a significant impact
on the levels of student achievement and happiness of children at school. This
research also suggests that the nature and focus of the partnership is
significant in terms of what the partnership achieves and how well functioning
it is.
The purpose of this Community Partnership
document is to establish a framework that ensures parents/caregivers, teachers
and students are working together effectively in a way that positively impacts outcomes
for students.
2.
Parties to the Community Partnership
The parties to the Community Partnership
are Amesbury School:
·
Parents and caregivers
·
Teachers
3.
The joint endeavour: Our task -
educating our children
Through:
·
a supportive community;
·
the provision of a broad range of experiences;
·
creative, fun-filled learning programmes;
·
meeting the needs of students and increasingly
empowering them to take responsibility for their learning;
·
a culture that is underpinned by strong family
values and inclusivity;
continually develop the potential
of all our children to be the best they can be, preparing them for their future and developing in them the
capacity to be innovative, questioning, authentic, contributing and responsible
adults who live well in and for the world.
4.
Roles, responsibilities and expectations
of each party
School:
Communication
·
Communicating in a range of ways in an open, regular,
clear, concise manner to enable access to relevant and timely information
·
No surprises - informing parents and caregivers
early of any issues related to their child’s learning/behaviour
·
Communicating clearly about the school’s
philosophy
Transparency
·
Acknowledging the centrality of the role of
parents and caregivers in their child’s education by always being transparent
and treating parents and caregivers as “insiders” in the education of their
children
·
Regularly reporting on student achievement,
providing a very clear picture of where students are at
·
Valuing transparency, honesty and integrity in
all collection, collation, analysis and reporting of student achievement data
With students:
·
Developing positive relationships that build their confidence and assist their
learning
·
Developing in-depth knowledge of students –
their individual needs, strengths, weaknesses, gifts and talents and their
preferred learning styles.
·
Having high expectations of students –
encouraging and motivating students to aim high and do their best
·
Intervening early – acting quickly when concerns
become clear
Learning Programmes
·
Providing a broad curriculum that acknowledges
the importance of holistic growth and development including the academic
disciplines, the arts, creativity, physical education, learning competencies,
social justice, and, seeing diversity as a social good
·
Providing the most effective learning programmes
possible, blending the best of traditional and innovative practices
·
Providing programmes that increasingly empower
students to take responsibility for
their own learning and ensure that students are engaged meaningfully in
shaping their learning pathways
Home:
With your child:
·
Doing the best to ensure children are well fed
with plenty of brain food and come to school feeling refreshed and in a good, relaxed,
positive frame of mind
·
Spending quality time with children. Having high
level conversations with them. Engaging them in talk about school and their
learning. Finding the right questions that open up the conversations
·
Ensuring a high level of attendance at school and
informing the school in a timely manner of all non-attendance
·
Remembering that each child is on a learning
journey and that the journey will look different for each child. Comparing one
child’s achievement with another is not helpful or necessarily relevant
·
Taking every opportunity to know your child as a
learner
·
Supporting/reinforcing children’s learning.
Using the documentation provided by the school to identify areas of need and
providing support
Communication
·
Keeping the school informed of all relevant
issues and information
·
Being open and receptive to information
regarding children’s learning and behaviour
·
Seeking information/clarification when you don’t
understand or have not received the information you would find helpful
Engagement
·
Being actively involved/engaged in school
activities
·
Attending parent/teacher/student learning
conferences and being proactive in
initiating discussions with teachers
·
Understanding the school’s philosophy and
contributing to its development.
With teachers
·
Having realistic expectations of teachers’ time
and availability
Both parties:
·
At all times, being protective of the school’s
reputation and speaking positively about the school with/in front of students,
with each other, in the school and wider community
·
Always speaking positively about each other –
teachers, parents, students. Giving the benefit of the doubt and avoiding
negative, deficit thinking. Not making assumptions – checking things out
·
Showing grace to each other - no one is perfect and
all are busy. Being realistic in our expectations of each other
·
Being non-defensive in all interactions and
giving consideration to the perspectives of others
·
Providing/taking opportunities to get together
and dialogue about issues of importance
·
Contributing to the ongoing development of the
school through surveys and consultation processes. But not always waiting until
asked – being proactive
5.
Support: The parties agree:
·
To enable, encourage and support each other to
carry out their roles and responsibilities
·
To value the contribution made by each party and
to make this known to the other
6.
The parties agree that we will treat
each other in the following ways:
·
Open communication: Seeking to understand each
other’s perspectives and being open to the fact that our own perspectives may
not be accurate
·
Use face-to-face communication for difficult
conversations as much as possible and arrange an appropriate time and place
·
Be willing to put our names to all feedback and
be prepared for it to create a conversation
·
Be positive in the way we feed back. Praise and
encourage each other and always be solutions-focused
·
Ensure all interactions are respectful,
appropriate and kind – concerned with the other’s good as well as our own
·
Honour our commitments
·
Value each other’s cultural perspectives
7.
Resolving differences
Addressing concerns with the person
concerned using the approaches outlined above will be normal practice at
Amesbury School. If after these “normal” approaches, concerns still remain, the
school will have a Complaints Policy which will outline good practice for
taking the matter forward.
8.
Review of the Partnering Document
The Community Partnership will be reviewed
annually and shared with the community regularly.
9.
Appendix A: Complaints Policy
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.