How Does DCSZ DUCKS Create Trust between School and Families?
When children go to Nursery, parents tend to worry about many things, such as if their children eat well and sleep well. How does school nurture and take good care of their children? Are their children happy to stay at the school? The most frightening thing for parents, obviously, is the first time when their children go to school. DCSZ understands and takes parents’ concerns and children’s wellbeing into consideration. That’s why we have home visits for new families.
The importance of home visit lies in the ability to establish a strong connection between teachers and the students and students' families. By doing home visits, teachers can know the individual needs of kids and get insights into their interests, their mindsets, the family dynamics and cultural backgrounds. It helps teachers to get prepared for the personalized approach and build a foundation of trust between families and students. Also, during the learning journey at the Nursery, with home visits at the beginning, it’s easy for teachers to communicate with parents since they already have trust in each other.
Our Head of Nursery, Ms Kang, has just finished the home visits recently and shared her experiences and insights with us. “Home visit is like a string between teachers and families. It helps us to create a bond with families and thus parents entrust their kids to the school. It is vital to understand what kids think and thus they will feel happy and secure to study at DCSZ. For example, one time when a new child came to our school, he clearly felt uncomfortable and started to scream loudly. Because of the home visit, I knew exactly why he was upset. (He was afraid of the new environment and English was not his mother language. Screaming is a way for him to express fear. I knew this during the home visit.) So when he came to school I could calm him down and take care of him very well. “ For this child, making connections between home and school allowed a gradual pathway for him to feel comfortable and confident in new surroundings. He can now takes this confidence in new experiences he has inside and outside the school.
Ms Kang also suggests that for new parents, please do not be afraid of the home visit. The home visit is not about judging you or inspecting you. It’s about building trust and helps me to get a better understanding of you and your kids so that we can offer good learning experiences. What’s more, it also helps identify potential challenges to learning at an early stage. If you have questions about children’s behaviour which you do not understand, I can give some advice for you to support children at home as well.
DCSZ is devoted to providing a caring learning environment and fostering a strong partnership between teachers and families, leading to improved student engagement and their wellbeing. By bridging the gap between families and DCSZ, these visits contribute to a holistic and student-centred educational experience.
