Assistant Principal  -Curriculum

The Importance of School-Home Connections

My article for this newsletter is all about the importance of school and home working together.  This includes reports, information nights, informal gatherings, emails, phone calls and shared agreements. At O’Connor, the Compass application helps with communication and builds connections between school and home.

Two weeks ago we had our Community Engagement Evening.  This was its second year after the inaugural event in 2024.  This was an informal evening on Wednesday of week 3 where there was an open invitation for any current or potential future members of our community to come to O’Connor and share some time together.  Staff, students, parents and friends were all there, making connections.  There was a free BBQ, music, activities showcasing our learning areas and some awesome games.  

I was really proud of our Year 12 student leaders as they took a very active role in running the Community Engagement Evening.  They bring a level of enthusiasm that our staff (me included) can only be in awe of!  I would like to thank all the staff and parents/carers for taking the time to get together on that night.  Every bit of information has been well received, and the conversations between teachers, parents and students have been so powerful.

There are many reasons why we run sessions like this.  Some parents do not see schools as welcoming places. We acknowledge that. “Parents, as well as many students, often view school as uninviting. This is particularly so for vulnerable families. There is an opportunity to build and strengthen the relationship in the current environment; helping families learn the language of learning will support ongoing connections.” (p. 18, Howes, Tse, Dawson and Quach. 2020).  At O’Connor, we work hard to build positive connections with parents and carers.  

The research is clear on this, and it doesn’t take an educational genius to understand it.  When schools and parents/carers are on the same team, the learning outcomes for young people are high.  This is, of course, true for all types of learning: faith, academic and wellbeing learning.  When schools strengthen relationships with families, they can tap into the environment that has the greatest impact on students. This environment is where these young people spend most of their time in their early years: Their homes!  Thankfully, at O’Connor, this impact is almost always positive. Much of this positive impact comes from the values and attitudes that parents/carers have towards education. (Victorian Department of Education and Training. 2018)

The need for schools, parents/guardians and students to work together is also evident in the letter Mr Gibney sent home yesterday.  In it, he wrote about how students who regularly disrupt the learning environment in their classes, or exhibit unsafe behaviours, will be asked to have meetings with him and their parents/guardians.  With support and collaboration, a behaviour support plan and/or learning plan will be filled out to give the young person the best chance of improving.  Here is a template of the behaviour support plan we will be using.

Another feature that keeps the connections between school and home regular and worthwhile is Compass.  

Here are just a few examples of how parents and carers can use Compass.  They can see the lesson and teachers for their child on any day.  They can see the work in the Lesson Plans for each class.  In the News Feed for each class, they can see relevant information or documents for that class.  On the Dashboard, they can see communications sent out recently regarding the whole school community, or specific year groups or students.  They can send emails to specific teachers or all their child's teachers.  They can pay for excursions and give parent/carer consent.  They can explain absences.  Year 10, 11 and 12 students can scroll down from the star to complete Special Consideration forms for assessments.  Students and parents/carers can view Learning Tasks to get feedback on particular tasks done in classes.  They can also download formal reports from any year of their schooling.  I guess you get the picture.  Compass is a one-stop-shop that we all continue to learn about.

In 2021, we implemented a new student support framework called “Living Well, Learning Well”.  It is an outstanding document that holds some key values at its centre. One of these is the importance of all school staff maintaining a “universal and unconditional positive regard for children and young people.”  

Here are some of the images from the document that we hope symbolises the students at O’Connor.

We have in past years worked on “Rules for Living” in various year groups, KLAs and classes.  This can be extended to the homes and extended community environments of our students.  Here are the “Rules for Living” for families as partners in Catholic School Communities.

From page 19. Living Well, Learning Well.  A Student Support Framework for the Diocese of Armidale.  CSO Armidale. 2020.

Thanks for your support.  We, the staff at O’Connor Catholic College, love working with you as parents/carers.

Mr Stephen Chapman

Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing  - Jack Lewman

References

Howes, B., Tse, J., Dawson, G., and Quach, J. (2020). Supporting Vulnerable Children in the Face of a Pandemic. Centre for Program Evaluation Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Whelan, R. Et al. (2020). Living Well, Learning Well: A Student Support Framework for the Diocese of Armidale. Catholic Schools Office, Armidale

Victorian Department of Education and Training (2018). Priority: community engagement in learning. Retrieved from: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/priority4commengagement.aspx