Teaching or Learning? Parents Coffee Morning

Which is more important, teaching or learning?  This was the topic of discussion at this morning's parents coffee morning.  Ms Rachel, Mr Steve and I talked about how at TX we have been considering what outstanding teaching and learning is.  Our meeting this morning was quite long and so is this post, so I hope you can take time to read it.
'Outstanding' is the grade given to the best schools in the UK. We agreed that parents and teachers all want the best for the children, so we began by thinking about what qualities and characteristics we would like to see in the children by the time they left secondary school at 18 years of age; bearing in mind the changes in society, technology and communication. You can see some of the thoughts below.
The children have had their input into what makes teaching and learning outstanding and Ms Rachel shared some of their comments before handing over to Mr. Steve who shared a video showing some of our EAL learners explaining how teachers and friends can help them to learn.  Mr. Steve also asked parents to write down ideas how they can help their own children learn at home.  Some of these ideas are at the bottom of this post.




The government in the UK provides information about outstanding and teaching learning and all the teachers at TX work to maintain those standards.  In January, a group of teachers visited all the classes in the school and identified what outstanding features were present.  Combining, these two elements and the input from the children has led us to produce a 'Pyramid of Outstanding Learning'.  The purpose of this morning's meeting was to provide parents with an opportunity to contribute to that pyramid.  
In conclusion, I asked the question again, 'Which is more important teaching or learning?' After a short discussion, it was clear that when our children come home from school, we need to be asking them, 'What did you learn today?'

Ways to help your child at home

Talk

Take time to talk to your children in your home language

Encourage children to ask questions

Be patient with them and try to answer all their questions

Read

Have plenty of books and encourage your child to read at home

Ask them to write a journal or a diary

Talk about the books your child has read

Support and encourage

Provide a happy environment for them at home

Establish clear routines for your children and have good discipline

Create a good homework environment

Help them with their homework when they are stuck

Encourage and compliment them when they have done a good job

Provide some self-study activities using websites such as bbc.co.uk

Play

Play interesting games with your child

Take part in as many activities as you can with your child

Provide opportunities to play with other children

Try not to interfere (too much) with their social life

Global Citizens

Share experiences that help children how behave within the family

Discuss what is happening in the world to enable your child to broaden their mind