Fostering collaboration with your child’s school team

Article

Home-school collaboration encourages parents to get involved in their child’s academic life. Building a strong relationship with your child’s school is essential if you’re going to work together! To help your child succeed, learn to collaborate with their teachers and any specialized school staff.

All grades

Top of page
Table of contents
Look over and sign your child’s exams
Read messages and comments from teachers
Communicate with the school team
Participate in school activities
Talk to your child
Additionnal links (French only)

Look over and sign your child’s exams

Exams and report cards must be signed. While report cards provide an overview of your child’s performance per term, exams give an impression of their day-to-day progress. That’s why it’s so important for parents to look over them. Plus, taking the time to check and sign these documents has the following effects:

You show your child that you care about their academic progress
You can identify where they’re struggling
You get to acknowledges your child’s efforts
You build your child’s self-confidence
You inform the teacher that you’ve seen your child’s results
Etc.

Read messages and comments from teachers

As the school year progresses, your child’s teacher may try to contact you for various reasons. Most of the time, the preferred means of communication will be the school agenda. Therefore, it’s essential that you check it every day and respond to any written comments. This sends the following messages to your child:

You take their teacher’s advice seriously
You’re in communication with their school
You work as a team with their teacher
Etc.

Communicate with the school team

Members of the school team aren’t the only ones who can reach out. You can contact them, too! To support your child’s academic success and ensure that everyone is on the same page, keep the school team informed (by email, phone, in-person meeting, etc.) of certain issues, such as the following:

Family developments (birth, bereavement, move, etc.)
Your child’s worries
Your need for support
Etc.

Participate in school activities

Do you keep telling your child that school is important? Put your words into action to show how serious you are. One way is to participate in school activities like the following:

Performances
Fundraising events
Parent-teacher meetings
School outings (as a chaperone)
Etc.

Talk to your child

When you talk with your child about their school life and ask about their emotions and dreams, you support their academic success. Being involved in their education promotes home-school collaboration and has the following benefits:

You gain a better understanding of your child’s experiences
You help them develop a positive attitude towards learning
You get to encourage their efforts
You can put negative situations into perspective
You help their teacher understand why they might be struggling at school
Etc.

Tips and tools

Establishing effective communication with your child also helps them feel understood and safe.

Collaborators

Writing : Catherine Couturier
Scientific review : Marjolaine Léveillé, enseignante au 2^e cycle du primaire

Rewriting : The Alloprof Parents' team