Living and settling down in US, I had the chance to experience one of the most modern education systems in the world. When I returned to Vietnam for business, my biggest concern was my child’s education. How to find a school that could develop my son’s language ability, his thinking, and his body comprehensively. Since he was born in US, I was worried whether or not he could adapt and fit in the Vietnamese school environment. After visiting many schools in Ho Chi Minh City, I eventually found a reliable school, the teachers who have been teaching my son are so devoted and his friends were so friendly, that they helped him adapt to the environment here quickly.
On his first days at The Western Australian School System (WASS), I read a lot in the news about the high levels of school violence and that caused me great levels of anxiety, thinking how my son would be treated when studying at the school. However, this concern didn’t last long, the teachers always make an effort into bridging the gap between the school and parents in different ways. In my opinion, working with school as a partner in the education of children plays an important role that provides the unification of education, and gives them a knowledge base that is applicable to real life situations. Every morning and afternoon, when taking or picking up my child at school, the teachers always wait in the lobby to take students to class and return the students back to their Parents. This is a time for both teachers and parents to exchange ideas about the student’s activities at school and home. This is an aspect of caring, which is necessary in education and helps not only students be aware of the “right paths” but also for parents to “listen” and “understand” their child more.
Every day, we as parents always receive “Student Daily Diary”, an effective communication tool for parents to follow their child’s learning process, help them review child’s knowledge as well as update their activities, in case that Parents can’t speak to teachers. Every month, the school sends “E-newsletter – an internal news” via email to Parents, which includes information about the student’s activities in previous month, as well as upcoming activities in the following month so that parents can participate in the activities with their child. Thanks to these regular updates, Parents can grasp, understand and support their child, as well as contribute to the development of the school.
Additionally, Parents can also join in charity trips with the students, attend seminars presented by domestic and international psychologists, to share ideas, experiences and problems in communicating with children. Thanks to these activities and seminars, the relationship between the school and Parents is getting closer and closer, which means support to the students, but also means finding a common path in caring and educating our children both intellectually, spiritually, and physically.
In modern life, when parents are busy with work and other issues take up most of their time, bridging the gap between the parents and school is necessary and effective through these communication channels. The cooperation and contribution of Parents will be foundation which will help the school to fulfill their responsibilities. I believe that, when Parents and school have same ideas and values, share information, which will make the students the focus of their attention, they will be nurtured and lead down the complete correct path.
Nina Do – WASS Parent
