Category Archives: Schools

Principles of effective parent engagement in early childhood education

Posted on 15 March 2017 by Graeme Stuart

The engaging diverse families project of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) identified principles of family engagement in early childhood education, collected case studies of good practice and developed resources to help programs more effectively engage … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools, Working with communities | Tagged Community engagement, Family-school partnerships, For students, Schools, Working with families | 1 Comment

What works in connecting families, communities and schools?

Posted on 24 February 2016 by Graeme Stuart

What works in strengthening connections between families, communities and schools? This is the subject of a report by the J R McKenzie Trust, “Connecting Education and Communities.” The J R McKenzie Trust, a New Zealand charitable trust, currently focuses on … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools | Tagged Expert panel, Family-school partnerships, For students, School & community partnerships, Schools | Leave a comment

A few reflections after 10 years of primary school

Posted on 17 December 2015 by Graeme Stuart

Yesterday Alexa finished Year 6, marking the end of our 10 years at the primary school since Jasmine started in 2006. Both girls received a top class education, and have grown as individuals through their time at the school. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools | Tagged Family-school partnerships, School & community partnerships, school community, Schools | 3 Comments

Jihad Dib on school transformation (TEDx talk)

Posted on 7 October 2015 by Graeme Stuart

This TEDx talk by Jihad Dib, the Principal at Punchbowl Boys High, captures the essence of strengths-based practice and highlights the importance of community engagement. In the school of around 450 students, 65% of the students come from the bottom … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools, Strengths-based approaches & ABCD, Working with communities | Tagged Community engagement, For students, Schools, Strengths-based approaches, Strengths-based practice, Students, TED Talks, Video | 2 Comments

Irony – Denying parents information about school ethics classes

Posted on 4 June 2015 by Graeme Stuart

Once again NSW ethics classes (Special Education in Ethics – SEE) are under attack. The NSW government is apparently considering removing any reference to ethics classes as an alternative to scripture classes (Special Religious Education – SRE) from school enrolment … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools | Tagged Ethics, Ethics classes, Schools, Scripture, Students | 1 Comment

Engaging families in early intervention for child conduct concerns

Posted on 26 May 2015 by Graeme Stuart

I was one of the authors on a paper published this month in the journal Children Australia about Getting on Track in Time (Got It!): an early intervention programs assisting families to deal with emerging child behavioural difficulties that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools | Tagged Conduct problems, Disruptive behaviours, Early Intervention, For students, Parenting | Leave a comment

Learning vs school education

Posted on 2 February 2015 by Graeme Stuart

[Updated 24 July 2017 to fix link to second video.] Engaging children in their school is not the same as engaging children in learning. I’m a huge fan of families being engaged with schools but we also need to recognise … Continue reading →

Posted in Families & parenting, Schools, Working with communities | Tagged Family-school partnerships, For students, Parenting, School & community partnerships, Schools, Video | 1 Comment

Teachers phoning parents

Posted on 9 October 2014 by Graeme Stuart

Imagine the difference to school-family relationships if teachers made a phone call to all families at least once a year, not when there were problems, but just to help build connections. I first heard this idea a number of years … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools | Tagged Family-school partnerships, For students, Phone calls, Schools, Working with communities | 1 Comment

Community engagement in turning around schools

Posted on 18 August 2014 by Graeme Stuart

Earlier this year, the Grattan Institute released a report “Turning around schools: it can be done” (Jensen & Sonnemann, 2014). It explored how schools can transform from being a “low-performing’ school into a “high-performing” school. I suspected that engaging parents … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools, Working with communities | Tagged Education, Family-school partnerships, For students, Parents, School & community partnerships, Schools | Leave a comment

Family and community engagement by schools

Posted on 31 July 2014 by Graeme Stuart

Across Australia there is an increasing awareness of the importance of school–community partnerships and engaging families and the local community. I recently presented a workshop for teachers on community engagement as part of a Teachers’ Visit Day at the University … Continue reading →