A few years ago a request to contact the school meant either your child was sick or an INCIDENT had occurred which the school could not keep to themselves.
Either way it was bad news.
This week I was accused, as a teacher, of not wanting to return the phone calls of a parent. The reality was that I thought I was having a dialogue with the parent via the pupil. The pupil was passing on a message from her mother 'that she wasn't available this week.'
I should have seen that one coming, but had a daft idea that this pupil would respond better if involved in the process.
One of things which I have re-learnt from this, is that the conduit we use for communication, normally the pupils, isn't always the right one.
Scenes of child at kitchen table with strong light being shone in his face.
‘But who exactly said that?'
‘I don’t know –maybe it was George.’
‘MISTER George the headteacher? Or George your wee pal?’
‘I can’t remember, but we have to have it in for tomorrow.’
Well, I am exaggerating. Schools send home letters. Good parents remember to dismantle the school bag each evening in search of them. Don’t throw anything away, that scrunched up paper inside a banana skin might just be the news that Friday’s fun day has been cancelled, and your child should not now arrive dressed as a character from a book. (I speak from bitter experience.)
Maybe it’s just my children. Girls apparently are much better at relating news.
I’m interested in things that help communication. What works? Some schools have websites. Would it be a good idea if parents could email teachers?
What about Glow –this is the new intranet which is being piloted by teachers like Tess Watson. To quote the website ‘Glow is the new name for the Scottish Schools Digital Network, the national intranet which will link Scottish education safely and securely’. On the GLOW site there is a scenario of how it might be used by parents. Check it out if you are interested.
In the meantime, aforementioned parent and I did meet up and had a good talk about our mutual interest -doing our best for this child.
