At Gusford we have many ways we help parents to support their children. We know the children are much more likely to be successful in their learning when we all work together.
Informing: At the start of each year we have a meeting in each year group/phase with parents to explain the setup for the year. This is followed up by curriculum information and homework for the term sent out via ParentMail and uploaded onto the school website.
Collaborating: Throughout the year we have ‘Learning Together’ workshops where parents come and work with their children and learn together (share sessions, reading cafes, seeing is believing). Recent subjects have included Design Technology, Maths, Reading, Science and ICT web safety. Realise Futures run regular parent workshops on a range of different topics. Every Friday we invite parents into our 'Star of the Week' assemblies and we hold termly attendance assemblies to which parents are also invited.
Reporting: We believe that you as parents need to know how your child is progressing. We have a parent/teacher consultation in the autumn and spring terms and an end of year report and open evening in the summer term. In these consultations we update you on what is expected, what they have achieved and what they need to work on next.
Helping: We have a number of parent helpers and a fantastic parent association (FOG) who organise lots of fundraisers throughout the year. Parents are welcome in school and can become regular helpers after completing a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) form.
Communicating: Children need to feel that their parents and teachers have mutual respect. We endeavour to promote this relationship and hope that parents have similar aims. Our staff stand at the gates at the start and the end of the day and encourage informal 'check ins' (lost PE kit, homework, illness, progress). The school has adopted a parent/school contract. This is given to all parents of children when they start the school and again when they transfer to Key Stage 2. We send out a weekly newsletter on Friday (The Gusford Gazette) and regularly update our own Facebook and Twitter pages.
'A child's mind'
I dreamed I stood in a studio
And watched two sculptors there,
The clay they used was a young child’s mind,
And they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher, the tools they used
Were books and music and art.
One was a parent with a guiding hand
And a gentle loving heart.
And when at last, their work was done,
They were proud of what they had wrought,
For the things they had worked into the child
Could never be sold or bought.
And each agreed they would have failed,
If they had worked alone,
For behind the parent stood the school,
And behind the teacher, stood the home.
Author unknown