Catholic schools welcome opportunities to work with you in educating your child.

The partnership between you and the school, especially your child's teachers, is crucial to ensuring that your child has the best opportunities to enjoy the school experience and to learn effectively.

As a parent you can contribute your own knowledge and skills at all levels, to assist your child's learning, to support the school's goals and to promote the principles of Catholic education.

Parents have a particularly important role to play in the educating community, since it is to them that primary and natural responsibility for their children's education belongs.

Congregation for Catholic Education 1997

There are many ways in which parents and schools can work together to improve the educational experience and outcomes for their children. You can help your child in many areas of school life, as suggested here:

What you can do to help your child at school

Faith Development

• Attend school and parish liturgies and Masses, sacramental education and faith development evenings.
• Participate in and discuss religious education learning activities and social justice initiatives.

Learning

• Encourage your child to take increasing responsibility for his/her learning and organisational skills.
• Discuss your child's school work and progress with him/her.
• Contact the relevant teacher to discuss any problems your child is having with his/her classwork or homework.
• Encourage reading by setting an example – reading yourself.
• Read texts (e.g. novels, plays) set by your child's teachers.
• Discuss your child's response to the texts and ask to see work s/he completes on these texts.

Wellbeing

• Encourage healthy eating, sufficient sleep and regular physical activity.
• Encourage positive attitudes, values and behaviours like courtesy, confidence, persistence and doing your best.
• Celebrate your child's successes.
• Help your child balance the amount of time spent completing homework, watching television, playing computer games and engaging in other leisure or recreational activities.

School Activities

• Attend school events, displays or productions in which your child is involved.
• Become actively involved in school community activities such as the School Board, parent groups, parent education programs, etc.

Homework

Catholic schools usually advise parents of homework expectations at the beginning of the school year. You can assist your child with his/her work at home in a number of ways:

• Ask whether homework has been set and ensure your child keeps a homework diary.
• Acknowledge your child's success and ask how his/her homework and class work are progressing.
• Help your child to plan and organise a time and space for completing work at home.
• Assist your child to complete work at home by discussing key questions and directing him/her to resources.
• Discuss homework in your child's first language (where English is not the main language spoken at home) and link it to his/her previous experience.

Your Child's Progress

Our schools welcome opportunities to communicate with you about your child's progress, to enable you to:

• assist with your child's progress
• see examples of work
• develop a relationship with your child's teachers.

There are formal occasions for this, both face-to-face and in writing (see the Assessing and Reporting section). However, you are welcome to make appointments at other mutually convenient times to discuss any concerns.

As a parent you can contribute your own knowledge and skills at all levels, to assist your child's learning.

Career Options

Parents play a vital role in guiding and advising students about career options. As parents, you are aware of your child's particular interests and abilities.

This knowledge helps when choices are considered for post-compulsory education, training and employment options. However, it is the young person's ongoing life choices that are the key.

Each individual needs to be encouraged to accept this responsibility as part of their maturing. Happily and with sound support from home and school, this is a common outcome.

Contact Information

It is important that you keep the school up to date with your contact telephone numbers and those of an emergency contact. There may be times when the school will need to contact you. In cases of emergency or ill health, the school will contact you so you can collect your child or approve the appropriate medical attention.

Annual School Reports

Every Victorian Catholic school provides an Annual School Report on its activities to parents and the wider community. This report gives parents a clearer idea of the nature and outcomes of each school. The report includes important information such as enrolment and financial data, student attendance, the range of activities provided, overall performance of students on tests such as the NAPLAN and VCE, results of parent and student surveys and teacher qualifications.

The Annual School Report is found on the school's website but may also be found through the Victorian State Register website, or through the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) website.