Forming Positive Relationships with Your Son's Teacher

As we commence the academic year in Junior School, Middle School and Year 9, and re-commence the start that was made last year in Years 10, 11 and 12, it is timely to consider how parents and teachers can work together to support their son as they progress through the year.

With that in mind here are some suggestions regarding developing positive relationships with your son's teachers:

1. Communicate with the teacher as soon as you feel necessary - this is going to be different depending on the age of your son. In particular, make sure that one or both parents can attend any opportunity to meet with staff. If this cannot occur, email and inform the teacher of this and look to establish an alternative.
2. Clarify the method of communication - across the school there is a range of ways for parents to access information about learning that is occurring, as well as events within each sub-school. Make sure you have clarity about the preferred method of communication.
3. Respecting the teacher's time - our staff are extremely dedicated and professional, at times they will have multiple areas to focus on. Please work with our teachers and respect that they will attend to your request as soon as they can. If for some reason they do not, feel free to speak to the appropriate person in each sub-school.
4. Be positive - much like your son, our staff love to hear positive feedback about the education they are providing at the College. A small note of thanks or a quick email does a great deal to reinforce the wonderful support we have from our parent community.
5. Model behaviour - being positive about your son's teacher in front of him, will help develop confidence that your son has in his teacher's ability. If you do have concerns about something in the classroom, please always address them with the teacher first.
6. Be part of our community - Scotch College offers a myriad of opportunities for parents to interact at our events. Having a conversation and developing a connection with our staff beyond the focus of your son is a great way to demonstrate to our staff the level of support you are willing to give them.
7. Say 'thank you' - our boys are fantastic at this; often teachers discuss the way boys will thank them at the end of a lesson or the end of the day. A quick thank you from a parent is always much appreciated.

In nearly every case, your son's teacher is the best first contact to make if you have an issue or concern with something that is occurring in the classroom. Our staff in management positions will invariably want to discuss any concern with the teacher directly so it seems a logical choice to engage with them first.

Once again, thank you for the trust you place in our staff to educate your sons.

Mr Peter Allen
Director of Teaching and Learning