Those of you who have heard me speak know that I place great importance on the idea of Eton School being a partner with parents in the education of their children. The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) maintains a set of Principles of Good Practice for accredited schools. These Principles include a section on "Parents Working with Schools and Schools Working with Parents," and nicely articulates how we approach this practice at Eton: "The school recognizes that effective partnerships are characterized by clearly defined responsibilities, a shared commitment to collaboration, open lines of communication, mutual respect, and a common vision of the goals to be reached."
Part of the commitment to open communication is to be a good listener. When we sent out the Parent Engagement Survey last spring, one piece of feedback that came through loud and clear regarded communication from the school and teacher about what is happening in the classroom. Parents wanted more frequent communication and wanted it pushed to them, so they would not have to seek out that information. We also heard rave reviews from parents in the three classrooms that used Seesaw last year. As a result, we have implemented the use of Seesaw school wide this year. Teachers and Assistants have made a commitment to share information with families on a consistent basis, and the feedback has, thus far, been unanimously favorable.
We will continue to explore ways in which we can improve on our partnership with families, and there will, of course, be another survey next spring. This is all part of our commitment to ensure that parents are involved and informed members of the Eton School community. Here are a few figures illustrating how Seesaw is being used this year:
All Time Stats
- 282 Active Students
- 426 Active Family Members
- 31% with 1 Family Member
- 65% with 2 Family Members
- 4% with 3 Family Members
- 4,817 Items Posted
- 1,874 Comments
- 6,282 Likes
- 11,002 Family Member Visits
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