Alexander R.

Key

70708771

Penn Foster College ECE 230

Field Experience

405429

1st September 2022 

 The first form in question is the student handbook that is sent home on Fridays and returned

on Mondays. The students have a communications folder bag and all the school communications

are placed into this bag. The handbook is a summary of the week’s learning and includes a typed,

half-page summary of each aspect of the child’s learning. Since the school follows the IB

curriculum, most of the information pertains to the unit of inquiry from that week. The title of

the unit is at the top with a short passage on the highlights of the week. Under this, is another

summary of creative language arts and math and literacy. Again, this is a general summary that is

the same for each student. To complete the one-page, each student has a handwritten message

from the teacher that specifically gives details on the individual child. It can include details of an

incident in the week that was positive or some area the teacher feels the student needs

improvement on. There is a blank column for the parent to write a message back to the teacher.

The handbook is fairly detailed but only provides small snippets of school life. However,

given the time it takes to prepare it would be hard to see an even more detailed way of

communication feasible.

The school provides a monthly newsletter that is sent out in the child’s communications bag

and emailed to parents. The newsletter focuses on the lighter side of the school life and gives

details on things such as upcoming events any special news related to the school. It’s a colorful

two page, A4 size document with photos of students and the class activities. The newsletter

includes details on student’s birthdays and if there are new students entering school or students

leaving.

It would be a good idea to increase the newsletter to four pages as just two pages seems too

short. Having more photos of school life would give parents a better insight into what happens in
the school and help parents feel more in touch with the school. The newsletter being monthly

seems to be adequate given the time it takes to produce.

The majority of forms and communications sent to parents come in the shape of the school

app. This is an online portfolio, specific to each child that the teacher updates almost daily. If

there are any messages to the parents, for communications such as lost library books or accidents

in school, the app is updated. Photos and messages can be sent as group or individual

announcements. If there are any weather announcements, the details can be sent to parents and a

push notification goes to their phone. The teachers can send details of classes they have taught

and reminders for things like show and tell.

The app is very comprehensive but it seems teachers do not always have time themselves. It

would be better to have one designated media person to be able to upload photos and information

to parents on a regular basis. However, along with the newsletter and the handbook,

communications in the school are fairly comprehensive.

As many of the parents live locally, when they pick their children up, I observe the verbal

communication between parent and teacher at the end of the school day. As most of the parents

are non-native English speakers, the exchanges are usually simple. Questions from the parents

are usually: “How was he/she today? Was he/she ok today?” The teachers are willing to give

more specific information to parents if they want to ask and teacher’s volunteer information to

parents on occasions. School pick-up time is busy ‘so there isn’t much more the teachers can do

than simple exchanges. If an incident occurs, the teacher will be available to talk to the parent if

necessary. I observed the teacher explaining that a boy had had a bathroom accident and that was
why he wasn’t wearing his school uniform but other clothes. I also observed a teacher explaining

that one student had said they didn’t like their lunchbox that day and therefore hadn’t eaten much

of their lunch. However, I noticed that some of these daily problems were discussed in front of

the other parents and that might make parents uncomfortable.

There is also daily verbal communication through the school app where pictures and short

messages are sent. As this is the class teacher’s responsibility it can be hard to observe this but

the teachers were willing to share their communications from time to time. I observed messages

about bathroom accidents, behavior issues and positive messages of encouragement. These were

sent when the teachers had time and not always consistent. Certainly, the app system works

better with written messages as some of the parents cannot understand oral English but can read

English. Therefore, it could be more useful to only communicate via the written app system. I

have observed that some of the parents nod happily at the oral messages but they may just be

being polite and not actually understand.

When speaking to parents after school and having observed caregivers and teachers, knowing

the characteristics of their students definitely helps them when talking to parents. Understanding

the sensitivities of their students helps them to be able to explain how the child feels at school.

Often their behavior can be very different from home, so giving a clear insight into school life is

important. I’ve observed teachers using positive language when describing the behavior of

students and avoiding describing the students in negative terms. A big strength of some of the

teachers I observed was giving concise information that was to the point and not overly

laborious. The other noticeable thing is the warm and friendly way in which the teachers deliver

the information to the parents. They appear to be knowledgeable and confident when they speak

and convey messages in a way that appears to develop trust among both parties. The parents
seem to know that their children are looked after and cared for by the careful and friendly way

the teachers speak.

With a weekly handbook with quite a detailed account of the week and regular updates to a

child’s portfolio, it’s fair to say that the school has good communication with the parents. As yet

though, I have not witnessed any parent-teacher information sessions and I feel these would be

useful at this stage of the year. The opportunity to come to school would surely be welcomed by

the parents. However, there are still quite strict Covid regulations and gatherings for more than

four people at a time are prohibited. Perhaps when these restrictions are lifted the opportunity

will be realized.

To change the way information is delivered verbally, to begin with I would only deliver

messages of any importance through the communications app to avoid any language problems or

misinterpretations. All of these communications are then logged as part of the portfolio and

would avoid any confusion. A second way would be to have more consistency when updating the

app each day. Some teachers were not updating the communications to parents each day. Finally,

the school could provide access to an office or room, or teachers could go back into the

classroom for more privacy. This would avoid any embarrassment on the part of the parents

when receiving updates about their child.