Bringing parents onto campus to engage with and learn with their children in specially organised sessions helps to build the sense of community and togetherness that we at BSB attach great importance to. These sessions are an inspiring and energising part of the learning experience we provide for our students, and they help build strong connections and understanding between parents, teachers and children.
The latest sessions to be organised here at BSB took place in Primary before half-term with the classrooms and corridors buzzing with activity and excitement as students and staff welcomed crowds of proud parents into their children’s learning spaces for a series of ‘Curriculum Experience’ mornings.
Each morning, classes from Kindergarten up to Year 6 opened their doors and greeted parents who had been invited to not only see the rooms in which their children learn but also take part in activities that the students have been involved with during their lessons.
Ranging from language exercises in French and Dutch, to delving into Units of Discovery which include other curriculum areas such as Science, Art and Design Technology, both children and adults enjoyed a level of engagement which was truly exceptional, with the students clearly relishing the opportunity to involve their parents in their learning.
The attending family members fully immersed themselves into everything from building with blocks to operating touchscreens.
The Curriculum Experience series is the third strand of an initiative designed to further develop the school’s partnership with parents, deepen and strengthen our sense of community by bringing everyone together, and giving parents a participatory role in their children’s learning. It follows on from the ‘Sharing Learning…’ sessions held in November, in which students chose which areas of their learning they wanted to present to their parents, and the subsequent parent-teacher consultations a few weeks later.
The Curriculum Experience adds a level of involvement which gives the parents a hand-on appreciation of what is happening in lessons.
“These sessions are based on learning activities that both the parent and the child can do together so the parents are experiencing what their children experience at school,” said Neil Ringrose, Vice-Principal at BSB and Head of Primary.
“With the ‘Sharing Learning…’ sessions, it is about giving the parents a chance to look at what is being learnt, what has been produced until that point in the year, before these things can be discussed in the parent-teacher consultations. So the parents have seen their children’s work, they’ve seen the progression of their learning, they’ve discussed it with the teachers and then, through the Curriculum Experience sessions, they then have an opportunity to take part themselves.”
“The Curriculum Experiences are a great way for the children to show their engagement with their learning and share their own experiences across the whole curriculum by putting themselves in the ‘teaching’ space and their parents in the ‘learning’ space,” said Karen Ward, Deputy Head.
“The children are both excited and proud to bring their parents into their world at school. For parents it provides a wonderful opportunity to see how they can support their children at home through an understanding of how the curriculum is experienced.”
“We are giving parents the opportunity to spend time with their children, seeing what they do at school and seeing how they learn, the activities they are involved in and the engagements they have every day,” Neil added. “Involving everyone and strengthening this community through learning together is so important.”
At BSB we continue to learn together and inspire success. We believe that learning should be academically centred, but sensitive to the wider needs of students and their families.
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