Understanding learner characteristics.

 29 May 2019

Understanding learner characteristics

Our school is one of many that aim to assist students who do not fit the frame of main stream schooling in South Africa. The parents often see this as a last resort for their child to complete their education. We rely heavily on parental support and involvement to ensure the student development and learning is at optimal level. The way we keep communication channels open is through our parents watsap group and regular parents evenings. We also have direct access to the parents for immediate intervention. This idea is also supported by Schunk (2012) that propose parental involvement have a positive impact on students, teachers and the school.  One such example is that if a teacher continuously has to request for a student to pack away their phone during class and this is not done, the parent is sent a message asking them to intervene. The parent then will contact the student directly to address the behaviour.  This has a huge impact on the classroom as students know we have their parent permission to contact them directly if we do not get their co-operation at school. Further, our parents are required to visit the school once a term to discuss their childs progress with the individual teachers. We believe this leads to greater classroom monitoring and student participation.

We believe that parental involvement is key to our schools success and ultimately aid in student development and learning.