Involvement to Engagement | Considering our Families
榴莲社区 has a long history of seeing our parents and carers involved in the life of the College with volunteerism an accurate description of this level of participation. We love our parents鈥 and carers' deep commitment to classroom support in Primary, extra-curricular activities like Sports and Performing Arts opportunities, involvement in celebrations like Multicultural Day, Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day and our Mother鈥檚 and Father鈥檚 Day celebrations, along with attendance at College events like ANZAC Remembrance Service, Foundation Day, End of Year Awards and Celebration evenings.
I continue to be humbled by our TLCCA and their energy for supporting families through the Second Hand Uniform Shop and through events like our recent Open Morning followed by the TLCCA Picnic in the Park, showing support for and love of the College whilst helping our new, current and future families establish connection. The involvement of our Class Parent Representatives (CPR鈥檚) who support families to remain on track with what is happening in this busy place helps to build and sustain a sense of community. 鈥
Your level of involvement as parents and carers is outstanding, but I must ask myself, are we giving you, our parents and carers, opportunity for deeper engagement in the learning lives of your young people?
Engagement in an educational context can be described as a mutually beneficial interaction where active participants make and feel valued for their contribution. In a school context it could be argued that one of the significant differences between parent and carer involvement and parent and carer engagement is the level of emotional investment a parent and carer feels when actively engaged in the learning journey of their young person.
There is no doubt in the research around parent and carer engagement, that involvement in your child鈥檚 school community has benefits for their wellbeing and sense of connection to community, in fact, it is permission giving for your child to know that you too like where they go to school and so your involvement helps to produce a positive mindset. It is also clear in research that when parents, carers and the school are actively engaged in partnership to benefit the child鈥檚 learning, parents and carers feel empowered to further engage with their young people about what and how they are learning, and this produces more supportive and productive conversations with school staff. In short when both school, parents and carers have the same goal in mind and are both equipped in understanding what learning looks like, there are improved outcomes and resilience levels for the young person.
In some pockets around the College, I dare say we do offer opportunity for your engagement, but this can be something that appears more complex as your children get older and the nature of schooling more complex. This however should not be a stumbling block to engagement for the sake of your young person.
榴莲社区 is committed to building positive partnerships with our parents and carers to enable better outcomes for your children. To further grow our partnership, we have commenced a program run by the ISQ Parents Network, that takes contemporary research and then assists schools in working with parents and carers to strengthen relationships, enabling parents and carers to feel more connected to their children鈥檚 learning.
I have invited our TLCCA President, Kristina Petho to join our working party at the next workshop to assist in discerning how the College, moves from parent and carer involvement to engagement. As we continue on this journey together across the next few years we will be seeking your feedback and ideas assessing to help improve our partnership and the outcomes for our Lakes Learners.
Nicole Gregory | Principal