Positive Partnership
Northern Christian School believes that parents and caregivers have the prime responsibility for the education of their children. The Bible contains many passages which state clearly that parents are responsible for training their children. For example,
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.’ Deuteronomy 6:4-9
This passage specifically tells us about God, His love for us and our obedient response to Him. We encourage partnership between school and parents. Recently, Alison Moore, a parent whose children attend Devonport Christian School wrote an insightful practical article in the Nurture Magazine about how you can positively partner with school.
Alison asks the questions, ‘What does partnering with a school actually look like in 2019?’ Alison provides the following summary using The P’s of Partnering.
Passionate about education – Let your actions demonstrate that you value your child’s education. Use language like, “You get to go to a Christian school,” rather than, “You must go to school.”
Promote the teacher to your child – Promoting your child’s teacher, speaking about them supportively and showing your child that you respect them, creates a stronghold against manipulation. Praise the teacher in front of your child; be a parent-teacher team.
Pray – Pray for the leadership team, the Board, the teachers, the admin staff, the School Council and the students. Model the habit of praying, to your children.
Student led interviews – Attend interviews and show your child, the teacher and the school that you are interested and invested in the 25-plus hours your child spends at Northern Christian School each week.
Praise – Share the school’s character, events and victories with friends, work colleagues and family. Share all the ‘good stuff’ that is happening in your child’s school.
Procedure – Follow procedure. Things aren’t always smooth sailing, so when there is a problem, follow the procedure. Speak to the appropriate teacher first and definitely don’t share with all the parents in the drop-off zone.
Participate – There is nothing quite like ‘on the ground help’. Make sure you have a valid Working With Vulnerable People Card and offer whatever time you have to share. If you have skills to share, let us know!
Prepared – Help your child to be fully prepared for whatever excursion or event is coming up by responding to school letters, emails and skool bag notifications.
Publicise and post (with restraint) – Hit the ‘like’ button, ‘share;’ that good news story, help our school by supporting their social media presence (Morgan, A 2019).
Christian schools were formed with the acknowledgement that we need schools who support the right to bring up your children in the ways of the Lord. In all you do, help to strengthen your partnership with Northern Christian School!
Miss Bethany Armstrong - Principal
