COFFEE sessions between parents and academics are nothing new – in fact, most international schools will have this on their calendars.
But what differentiates each school’s event is whether they are genuine attempts to engage with their most important stakeholders – fee-paying parents – or are mere PR exercises that pay lip service to the idea of parental input.
Peninsula International School Australia (Malaysia Campus) certainly takes the former approach as its Principal Gareth Allman explained that these coffee morning sessions support open dialogue between parents and school, thus enabling the school to share areas of focus and strategies, to hear first-hand of any issues, and to offer best solutions possible.
“We are also able to collect feedback about our academic and co-curricular programmes and to receive parent suggestions on areas that might need attention,” Allman said.
These coffee sessions also form an integral part of the school’s personalised teaching approach whereby lessons are tailored to suit the strengths of each individual student.
“Although we use metrics and data collection to formulate the best lesson plan for each of our students, these coffee sessions provide unique insight into what each student prefers,” explained Allman.
“Children may be more open to sharing their likes and dislikes with their parents and these chats allow us to determine which areas each student is enjoying most. Having parental feedback allow us to sharpen our focus on each child’s needs.”
Allman noted that regular sessions such as these will give confidence to parents that the school is pro-active, is listening, and is committed to high standards and expectations.
Details of the Year 7 to Year 9 student exchange programme with Peninsula Grammar (Melbourne) was also announced during recent sessions as well as the upcoming extra-curricular activities.
Having added extra-curricular activities is an example of Peninsula International School Australia (Malaysia Campus) responding to parental feedback.
Many parents had cited the lack of outdoor activities during the lockdowns and the school has responded accordingly with many events in the pipeline.
To find out more about Peninsula International School Australia, (Malaysia Campus), please call 03-50338000. – Sept 26, 2022
