A Simple Start for a Strong School Year.

New year, new teacher, new classrooms. The start of the academic year is an opportunity for clean slates and fresh starts. But how do we make sure that our child is seen and supported when they have an entirely new teacher? How do we make sure they aren’t overlooked?

It’s simple – email your child’s teacher with the information they need about areas of struggle and areas of growth. If you highlight areas of attention, they won’t waste time looking for them and instead can focus on them from the start

Your classroom teacher is a valuable member of your child’s team. They want your learner to thrive just as much as you do – and you can give them the tools they need to get the most from the forty weeks of the school year. It’s just a matter of reaching out and making contact. Hearing from you will give them a head start – and your child, too.

Why Touch Base with a New Teacher?

Each new school year is a fresh start, for both your child and for their teacher. First day back is just as big a change for the teaching staff as it is for their students.

To a teacher, a new classroom represents two dozen or so bright new faces, each with their own areas of excellence and their own challenges.

Even a skilled educator needs a bit of a run up to best understand the needs of their class.

You will be offering your child’s classroom teacher a head start if you can provide them with an outline of your child’s areas of growth. If you can tell them what needs extra attention, they won’t have to spend valuable time finding them on their own. The teacher can get right down to what they do best – helping your learner shine.

When to Make Contact

Ideally, it’s good to touch base with your child’s classroom teacher as soon as possible. In practice, it’s a bit trickier.

The first week of school is intensely busy for everyone involved, and you may not even have a channel for communications through which to convey your concerns. Frankly, parents are often busy too – I know my first week back was spent catching up on things I could not do with the children at home. Blink on that first Monday morning, and it’s Friday by the time you open your eyes.

Week Three is still an excellent time to initiate contact.

Many schools run Parent Information Sessions around this time, in which teacher set aside time to meet parents and have informal discussions with them about their teaching philosophy and the routines of their classroom. It’s a great opportunity to meet face-to-face and get a feel for who will be occupying a critical role in your child’s year.

From there, it’s much less intimidating to email them with your concerns. You know who will be reading your email, after all. Even if you don’t have a chance to get in at the scheduled time, Week Two is still a good time to fill them in. They have their feet under them and have a feel for the class. It makes it an excellent time to provide extra context for patterns as they emerge in the classroom.

What to Tell Your Child’s Teacher

Examples of what to write in your email include:

• Academic areas you may be concerned about
• Areas in need of improvement, especially those identified by the previous teacher or tutors.
• Behavioural challenges
• Any previous support measures provided by the school
• Additional support they are receiving from tutors
• Areas of strength from which they can build.

While it’s likely some of this is already included in your child’s file – especially prior accommodations – it’s good to get it all down in one spot so the teacher knows that you both are on the same page.

It’s good to be specific where you can, too. “My child needs help with math” is not as clear as “My child struggles with fractions”.

Get the Help You Need to Support Your Child

For many of us, emailing the teacher throws us right back to primary school – we want to put our hands up and get permission to speak first.

Consider this your permission to email the teacher! We’ve made it easier for you by drafting a template you can use for your own email. It’s been written to accommodate Seeds of Knowledge families, but it’s adaptable to most children with very little effort.

Dear [Teacher’s Name],

I hope you’re well. My name is [Your Name], and I’m [Child’s Name]’s parent/guardian in your [class/year].

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and share a little about [Child’s Name] as we begin the school year.

[Child’s Name] experiences some learning difficulties, particularly with [briefly mention area, e.g. reading, attention, processing, maths]. We’ve found that [mention any strategies or supports that help, if appropriate] can be helpful, and we truly appreciate your support in this area.

[Child’s Name] is currently attending Seeds Of Knowledge tutoring to provide further assistance and reinforcement in a small group setting. They are receiving support for [literacy/numeracy] specifically.

I wanted to share this information so we can work together to best support [Child’s Name]’s learning and wellbeing. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or need clarification. I am best contacted at [email address/phone number].

Thank you for all that you do. I look forward to working together this year.

Kind regards,
[Your Name]

We’re also happy to help you identify specific challenges facing your child.

Our pre-enrolment assessments are designed to highlight areas of growth for each individual child, and to tailor a program of support that gives them the best chance to thrive.

As all our staff are fully qualified educators in their own right, they are excellent at spotting what a teacher needs to know in order to support your child effectively.