Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

This week the parents, teachers and students in the Primary School participated in the Parent, Teacher and Student Conferences (PTSC’s).  The purpose of these conferences, in essence, is to share information between teachers, students and parents.  The term “triangular relationship refers to the idea that our students will learn and develop better with strong communication between home and family.  The PTSC’s are only one way that we provide opportunities to facilitate communication between each of the above-mentioned stakeholders.

The PTSC’s have the students as active participants; in many occasions the child leads the discussion.  These conferences are designed for students and teachers to share with the parents the goals that they have created together.  Often the parents will play a key role in an action plan supporting the child as they strive to meet their goals.  Work samples frequently are shown during this meeting providing evidence as to why the goals were developed.

I want to thank all of those parents who attended the conferences.  We value your input as it enables the teachers to learn more about the children.  Over the years I have seen the massive benefits on student learning when there is clear, consistent communication between school and home.  I also want to thank the teachers for the time and effort they put into the conferences ensuring they are meaningful to all of those in attendance.  The parent feedback related to the early steps conference has been overwhelmingly positive.

This past weekend the Primary School teachers also participated in two days of professional development (PD).  Chatsworth has many talented teachers skilled in a variety of areas.  We took the time to learn from each other as there were numerous presentations conducted by the teachers.  One aspect of this PD was a component entitled “What Works For Me”.  In this, teachers unpack their teacher toolbox and present to their peers different strategies, resources and activities that are used in their classroom.  I relayed to the teachers that I have been running these  “What Works For Me” workshops for over a decade and I have never had as many volunteers who wanted to share great educational practice as I did in this PD.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.