6 Tips For A Good Conversation At School And Home.

6 Tips For A Good Conversation At School And Home.

Schools get extra financial resources for the next two and a half years. They will use this to tackle the effects of the corona crisis. You can expect the school to share with you how your child is doing and to discuss a tailored follow-up plan. It starts with a good conversation between teacher, student and parents. It is important that you prepare well for such a conversation. The following steps help with this. Teachers can also use the tips below to have a conversation.

1. Go to the (parent) meeting

Do you get an invitation for an (online) meeting? Use the invitation, even if your child is doing well. Especially because of the effect of corona on education, it is important that parents, children and school talk about the consequences.

2. Discuss in advance with your child how things are going at school and home

Talk first at home with your child before going to the meeting at school. Ask your child how things go at school and home. If your child just got a report, ask what your child thinks of it. This way you also get a lot of information from your child to talk about at school.

Example questions for your child:

-How are you doing? What goes well, what do you find difficult?
-How do you feel now, how are you doing?
-What did you think of remote learning and working from home? What went well, what did not?
-What helps you to keep going well?
-Who can help you and with what? What do you need from school, from us or others?
-What can you do yourself?

More and more schools have students join the meeting themselves. Especially in the talk about the effects of corona, it is important that a child participates. Prepare the meeting together. It can also be that the teacher/mentor and your child have spoken in a mentor meeting. Then ask your son or daughter about that meeting and what was discussed.

3. Think about what you want to say

Remember that as a parent, during the remote learning period, you noticed well how your son or daughter was working with schoolwork. And also how it was for you to support and guide your son or daughter. All this is important and useful information for the teacher and school. It is good to share this with the teacher. So think ahead about what you want to say.

Suggestions:
– How your child handles homework;
– How your child is at home;
– How you helped and guided your child during the school closure and after;
– How you experienced the school closure.

4. Think about what you want to ask

A meeting at school is often short. So think at home about what you want to discuss. These can be questions about results. But also think about your child’s social-emotional development and how he or she feels. Questions ready? Make a list, write it down and take it to the meeting.

Example questions:
– How is my child doing?
– What goes well and what can improve?
– What help does my child get?
– What is the school’s role?
– What is the parent’s role?
– How is my child doing (how does my child feel) in class and at school?
– How motivated is my child?
– How are skills like planning and organizing schoolwork?
– What is needed next school year? What must we do now?
– How can my child make a good start in secondary school after group 8?

5. Ask for explanation, examples and agreements

You discuss with the teacher/mentor what your child needs. For example, to catch up on possible delays or to feel good again. How can you and the school work on this together? If you do not understand something well, ask for extra explanation and examples.

Maybe you will make agreements during the meeting. Write these down. Also agree when and how you will discuss this with the teacher/mentor again. That can be by (online) follow-up meeting or by email. The important thing is that it is clear how agreements continue and who does what.

Ask also for a follow-up meeting if you think there are more things to discuss.

6. Work together as partners

Remember that your child’s education is a joint partnership between school, child and parent. It is important that school, student and parents work well together. So you can tackle the possible effects of corona on education and the development of your child.

More questions? Go to the helpdesk of Ouders & Onderwijs via vraag@oudersenonderwijs.nl or by phone: 088-6050101 on weekdays between 09.30-12.30 and 13.00-16.00.

You can also contact the foundation Voor Werkende Ouders by info@voorwerkendeouders.nl or visit the website www.voorwerkendeouders.nl. Or visit the website of ROV for more information and questions.

To read more about the National Education Program, visit the NP Education website of the Ministry of Education Culture and Science. There you can also view answers to Frequently Asked Questions. You can also check information on the Ouders & Onderwijs website.