Episode 6: Strategies for connecting and communicating with whānau

Forging partnerships with whānau can make a big difference to the outcomes for ākonga in your school. Today we’re talking about relationships with whānau, including the best ways to engage and connect with families and caregivers who are reluctant to get involved.

My guests this week are:

• Ngaire Ashmore, tumuaki of Auckland Girls’ Grammar School
• John Prestidge, principal of Motueka High School
• Ngahina Transom, tumuaki of Frimley School in Hastings
• Stephen Eames, principal of Raroa Normal Intermediate School in Wellington.

This podcast was produced for the Ministry of Education as part of Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals.

You can learn more about this topic by accessing Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals e-learning modules on the Education LMS: https://training.education.govt.nz

Show notes

Episode themes:

• Partnering with whānau helps your ākonga to be successful at school, which is a common goal for you all. Showing you care is a great way to create trust.
• Remember that for some whānau, school may be a scary place where they themselves didn’t have good experiences – especially the principal’s office. Having people within your kura who can act as connectors (eg. attendance officers, other teachers) can work well, especially when you’re new to a school and haven’t had a chance to build your own relationships with families and caregivers.
• Some parents and caregivers may not be able to travel to school, so offering different ways to connect can work well, including for learning conversations – offer online options as well as in-person meetings.
• Sometimes something as simple as renaming an activity can turn it from something daunting into something fun, eg changing the name of ‘learning conferences’ to ‘learning celebrations’
• Kai can be a good way to get people in a room together. Thinking of creative ways to attract people to the kura is great eg. offering entry into a draw for kai vouchers for people who come along to learning conferences.
• Remember that whānau have a lot going on outside of school, so taking the time to get to know a family and how you can support them to support their tamariki is important.
• Don’t make assumption about why someone isn’t engaging with the school.
• Use lots of communication channels to connect with whānau and caregivers. Different channels work for different people – emails, text, social media, school apps and portals, face-to-face, phone calls.
• Keep your messaging consistent across all channels so there’s no chance of confusion.

Questions

1:11 [to Ngaire] how have you built your relationships with parents and caregivers?

3:37 [to all] How do you approach relationships with families that are more difficult to make time with?

11:08 [to all] Which communication channels have you found to be most effective?

16:27 [to all] What advice would you give to new tumuaki about engaging with whānau and community?