Engaging parents remains a priority at Ashfield Public School. Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in the school by attending morning lines and assemblies, volunteering in the classroom, garden and canteen, being part of the class parent initiative and participating in P&C meetings and other initiatives. Please join us for school assembly, once every fortnight on a Friday morning at 9am.
Also for parents is the Parent Space on the ground floor of B Block. The Parent Space is a hub for mums, dads and carers to meet, talk and support each other in their commitment to the education of their children.
To remember where you come from
is part of where you're going
Parent engagement is one of the four pillars of the Australian Government's Students First reform agenda. A Students First app has been released to inspire ways for parents to be more involved in their child's learning.
Another resource aimed at engaging parents in learning is the Family-School Partnerships Framework - A guide for schools and families. Its vision is of families as the first educators of their children and the continuing influence of families on their children's learning and development during the school years and long afterwards.
At Ashfield Public School we prioritise parent engagement and pride ourselves as a collaborative community with teachers and parents working together to give every child every opportunity within a culture of growth, performance and positive well-being.
We achieve this by maintaining systems that allow for all parents to be involved in the decision making processes that affect learning at the school and how our school operates.
For example, the school has a WHS committee, an Inclusion Committee and a Digital Learning Committee. All committees have parent participants who make contributions and help decide on school initiatives, process and programs. The decision to introduce Key Word Signs on morning lines has been a result of teachers and parents working together.
The class parent initiative and the parent forums are also ways that the school listens to the parent voice. They are opportunities for parents to receive information, engage in discussion, put forward ideas, and have their views considered in making a final decision. The current review of the Homework Policy is an example of this process as we seek support and input.
Maintaining effective maintain partnerships with parents is also about understanding the cultural and linguistic diversity of our school community. The range of different experiences of our families, including different education systems and languages, calls us to consider how our school processes can engage all parents.
Initiatives including the Nepalese and Chinese forums have been created to increase understanding of the different cultures, languages, religions and world views that are part of our school community. By knowing the backgrounds of our children, we can focus on making learning relevant and therefore more engaging.
Ashfield Public School is committed to effective two-way communication between families and schools. It will continue to use a range of strategies to regularly seek and share information about students' achievements and learning needs, school policies, practices and community initiatives.
Strong partnerships between the school, its teachers and families are important; they enable collaboration to drive high quality educational opportunities for each and every child.