Communication Between Home and School
- Published: 30 April 2020
Right now, no principal has a blueprint for leading learning in a “virtual school”. However, as school leader, you do know your school community, pupils, parents and staff. Every school is unique in its own way. When schools closed on 12th March, teachers assigned work and books were distributed in an effort to support learning at home. Previous to this, we could tell how things were going in our schools by visiting classrooms and the many conversations before, during and after school each day. The closure of school buildings has removed this vital communication, which is core to our work as principals. Therefore, we have had to rethink our approach to connecting with our school communities.
Text, email and Zoom meetings have been very important in linking with staff members. Platforms such as Aladdin Connect and Seesaw have enabled us to assign and receive pupil learning tasks. But, how do we find out how things are going at home? How do we review our initial approach to distance learning, and more importantly, how do we plan for the future that we know little about?
Seeking feedback from parents using a survey is an approach that can be both efficient and effective. A high response rate can provide a more comprehensive picture, rather than emails from a small number of parents or hearsay. The following are three key points to consider when using a survey as part of your communication with parents:
Focus on what you need to know now. Use scaling (1-10) to ask parents how helpful the school’s overall approach to distance learning has been to date. Include a comment box to allow for further information to be provided. You may want to find out more about a curricular area that is presenting as a challenge to support learning at home. You may wish to get a sense of how many devices are in the home and the reliability of broadband connection.
Use an efficient user-friendly tool. Create a digital survey using your school’s existing platform (Aladdin, Google Forms, etc.) or a product that most are familiar with e.g. SurveyMonkey.com. If possible, send via TextaParent.ie, and provide a specific time-frame for response e.g. one week.
Keep it short! Many parents are juggling working from or away from home with supporting their child’s (and other siblings’) learning. They will not have time to complete a lengthy survey. Ask 4 or 5 specific questions and include a comment box. Depending on the size of your school, it will take time to go through all of the responses.
Parents will appreciate that your school has sought feedback to inform planning for the future. However, your school’s plan for distance learning will also be guided by the professional judgement and experience of teachers. This is, and should be, unique to your school community. If using a survey to parents for feedback, remember to KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)!
