On September 29, 2021, HARESSSO organized and moderated a constructive virtual meeting and workshop with the Principal of Norwood School, Ms. Maureen Matthews, and members of the community. The session was conducted in multiple languages with HARESSO representatives providing translation services so that members of the community were able to follow closely Principal Matthews’ slide presentation. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss parents’ roles within the context of the Education system of Canada.
It is the stated mission of HARESSO to “Raise Awareness and supports their Educational advancement.” of children, young girls, and women. To that extent, HARESSO was meeting its mandate in expanding the community’s appreciation of how parents and the school system can partner to ensure our children’s success. Recognizing the challenges faced by many immigrant parents during their children’s educational journey, the organization invited Principal Matthews who was gracious enough to come and share her expertise. Ms. Matthews presented in her slides a wide range of issues on how parents can contribute to their child’s educational progress.
The presentation covered several points and included some suggestions to help improve the children’s English performance. Parents recognized that reaching educational success is more than simply speaking English but that it also means the child can meet the schoolwork. Similarly, the school’s responsibility toward educational success as well as the mechanisms that schools use to evaluate a student’s English language levels (ESL) were discussed. In the same vein, recognizing that since it is in the interest of the parents as well as the schools in the success of the student, it was repeated a few times that there needs to be better communication and cooperation between the two. Teachers need to be forthright and clear in identifying areas for improvement, while parents need to engage the school and follow up with the teacher to ensure the child’s progress.
Overall, the workshop and the question-and-answer section were constructive and beneficial to all attendees. The concluding points focusing on the significance of parent’s management of their children’s lifestyle as well as factors that hinder the educational progress of the kids left everyone feeling as though a light was shown on how parents can be their children’s best supporters.
