Contact with Parents/Careers

I have my year 11 class sitting an exam on Tuesday 24th January and I am quite concerned with a number of their attitudes and behaviour in class. Myself and the other Geography teacher have put in place various methods of raising their levels of achievement; since the end of October we have been running a Friday after school revision session; as well as providing them with revision booklets and holiday revision sessions, targeting to their individual need via a personalised learning checklist. However this so far had only really been benefitial to those that it wasn't particulary aimed at.

Last Friday myself and the other teacher split the class; normal practice for when we have a double lesson with them, so we could give them as much support as possible, but a number of individuals were really disinteresetd, lethargic and disruptive. As a result I decided to call a number of individuals who had been acting like this in lesson and also failing to attend any of the revision sessions.

I decided to go out of my way and contact their parent's on a Saturday afternoon. One hoping I would catch them as opposed to right after school and secondly to highlight my concern.

All of the parent's didn't seem best pleased that they were receiving a call at the weekend but it really helped drive home the importance and flag what lack of preparation some of these individuals had made.

This week I have seen a marked improvement, particularly amongst those really falling behind. This has drastically improved the productivity levels of the whole class, I have even had the students of whom I contacted visiting me after school for more help, emailing me for requests and finding out when I am free to support them further. I think they have finally realised the significance of their forthcoming exams, without contacting home I don't think this would have been possible. As was highlighted in an assembly yesterday, the most important aspect of a child's education is: 1.) Them; 2.) Their parents/careers; 3.) Their teachers; 4.) Their school and lastly; 5.) The area in which they live in.