Health and Wellbeing
How to Build a Positive Relationship with Your Child’s School
Your child gets more from school when you and the staff pull in the same direction, even if things have gone badly before.
- 32 minutes
- 11 modules
- Certificate
Members
Parent membership: all 50 courses for parents and carers, £40 a year or £4 a month after 14 days free.
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What you'll learn
- Make a fresh start with a new school or teacher, whatever happened before
- Find allies among the staff and build those relationships
- Confirm what was agreed at meetings in a short follow-up email
- Raise concerns calmly, without sending the email you wrote in anger
- Thank staff specifically for what made a difference to your child
About this course
Maybe a previous school let your child down, or you've been chasing the same promise since September and your patience is wearing thin. It's natural to walk in braced for a fight, but a fight rarely gets your child what they need.
There's a steadier way to work with school staff, starting with four Ps: be patient, persistent, proactive and positive. Look for allies, the members of staff your child trusts, because they can show you how things really get done. After a meeting, send a short email saying who agreed to do what and by when. And if you've written an angry email, sleep on it, then take it to a face-to-face conversation instead of pressing send.
Small things count as well. A thank-you note that names what a teacher did for your child that day means more to them than you might think.
11 modules
Open in order
- 2 min
Introduction
- 2 min
A fresh start
- 3 min
Look for allies
- 4 min
Be patient, persistent, proactive and positive
- 6 min
Be kind!
- 4 min
Know what you want
- 5 min
Hunt for the good
- 3 min
Work as a team
- 4 min
Say thank you
- 2 min
Wrap up
- 2 min
Draw on staff’s expertise