Each year, parents enter into a co-guardianship with their child’s teacher. Each of us in this partnership plays our different roles, but we all strive to surround the child and put their needs at the centre. Our common goal is to have the child succeed throughout the year and to ensure they are happy in the school environment. Attaining that goal is more likely when parents develop a good relationship with their child’s teacher.

As with all healthy relationships, it is important to establish effective and open channels of communication through which the parents and teacher can identify areas of common ground, develop mutual respect and understanding. In this way, parents and teachers form the foundation for rich and meaningful dialogue around our children’s education.

So, how can you develop an understanding of who your child’s teacher is? To get to the heart of a teacher’s personality and to find out what drives them, I propose the following five questions. The answers will give you a picture of the person your child spends part of their day at school with.

 

What led you to become a teacher?

 

Most educators have a story to tell about how they ventured into teaching. Their story informs you on how they teach and how they relate to their students in the classroom. This will give you a window into the kind of classroom environment that the teacher will create and it will reveal why your child’s teacher shows up to work every day as well as what makes them passionate about what they do.

What do you want most for my child this year?

The beliefs and expectations the teacher has of each student can directly impact student achievement and growth. This question sheds light on how your child is viewed by the teacher and gives an indication of how the year will progress.

How do you view mistakes and how do you discipline students?

Knowing a teacher’s style of discipline and how they deal with the inevitable mistakes that children make, will help you gain a clearer picture of what is happening in the classroom. Knowing the teacher’s views on discipline will help you to understand the teacher’s reaction to any given event. Often teachers choose to work at certain schools because their personal views on discipline align with that of the school. However, it is important to understand your child’s teacher’s personal views.

What is your philosophy on education?

A teacher’s philosophy on education will determine how your child is taught, how much their voice will be heard as well as the students; access to certain resources. How you can successfully advocate for your child can be greatly influenced by how well you understand your child’s teacher’s approach to education. A deeper understanding of the teacher’s core beliefs of teaching and learning can allow you to develop a strong partnership with the teacher which will, in turn, have a positive impact on your child’s school year.

What is your expectation of us as parents and what does good communication look like to
you?

In any relationship, it is good to understand what each person’s expectations are to keep things harmonious. I would suggest that you seek to understand early on what your child’s teacher expects from you as a parent. Knowing this will allow you to establish rules of engagement with the teacher and also give you the opportunity to discuss how this fits in with other things that you have to do as a parent. Gaining an understanding of this from the outset can lead to conversations about where you are struggling and where you need help.

Your ultimate goal is to get to know your child’s teacher and I would encourage you to make this a priority. Make an effort to learn about and value the individuality of this very significant person in your child’s life. I would also suggest that parents reflect on what five things you would like your child’s teacher to know about you. This will go a long way in building a parent and teacher relationship that will ultimately benefit your child.

 

The global call to save our environment is critical! Nova Pioneer has made it a point to do its bit for the environment and to teach our Novaneers that the future of our planet is in their hands. Although nations are facing a pandemic with Covid-19, taking care of our environment should be no different this year, as we observe World Environment Day on Saturday, 5 June 2021. At Nova Pioneer we teach our students that the onus lies on each and every individual to take active responsibility to restore our ecosystem.

For this reason, we are committed to finding new innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint at our campuses. Here are five environmentally friendly ways that we have already started to heal our planet below:

 

1. We say NO to air conditioners

Air-conditioners are classified as one of the major consumers of electricity. The machines subsequently contribute to air pollution and play a role in ozone depletion. Nova Pioneer schools pride themselves with the use of natural ventilation in their classes and offices to regulate room temperature naturally.

 

2. We choose environmental friendly lights

LED lights save energy, compared to the traditional light bulb, which has the same light output as an energy-saving LED light. We use low-energy LED lights in all our schools. This helps us reduce a significant amount of energy at our campuses. We also make use of natural light to significantly reduce the amount of electricity usage during the day.

 

3. What we don’t use, we switch off

Switching off electrical appliances when not in use is not only beneficial in preventing the waste of energy, it also significantly reduces the risk of fire hazards. All our schools switch to dark mode every day after school, to ensure safety at our premises. We switch off all lights and all running electrical appliances that are not in use.

 

4. We practice the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Three sure ways to eliminate waste and protect your environment are to simply reduce, reuse, and recycle. When we reduce we can save money. When we reuse we can help sustain the environment for future generations. When we recycle we save energy. We are proud advocates of the 3R’s as all our campuses are provided with recycling bins to help sort out litter.

 

5. Our surrounding spaces are green

Our schools provide our students, staff, and the neighborhoods that we exist in, with attractive and nurturing green spaces. As a result, this promotes greater physical activity for our students. The green spaces at our campuses are also used for enriching activity, learning, and for teaching various aspects of our curriculum.

We encourage our Novaneer parents to also adopt environmentally friendly ways of living in their homes to help us reinstate the culture of looking after the environment in our children.

Source: unep.org