Parents who help shape the school instead of watching

Sometimes misunderstandings happen very quietly. A child only tells you fragments of the lesson at home or reports a conflict. As an empathetic, attentive parent, you listen and think about what is going on. An argument between friends, excessive demands, insecurity or disagreements with a teacher?

At the same time, we sense that something has changed at school - a child withdraws, seems absent or behaves conspicuously. And before a clarifying conversation has been held, the guesswork begins on both sides: What's going on?

Mutual mistrust makes an open and honest exchange in the interests of the child difficult.

Moments like these show how vulnerable the relationship of trust between school and home can be. Parents often don't know exactly what is happening at school. Conversely, we at school also make assumptions about what may not be going well at home. Mistrust arises - on both sides. And this mistrust makes exactly what is actually most important more difficult: an open, honest and solution-orientated exchange in the interests of the child.

Parents and school support each other

As a school, we are deeply convinced that nobody knows a child as well as their parents and nobody sees them in their role as a learner as continuously as we teachers do. These two perspectives should complement each other, not exclude each other. School is not a compartmentalised space, but part of a child's living environment. That's why we want to walk this path together with you - not in your place, not in competition, but as partners on an equal footing.

But what can this cooperation look like in practice? What does it take for parents to see themselves as an active part of the school - not just as listeners at parents' evenings or signatories to tests? One key point is transparency. Parents need more insight into what school means today: How do children learn today? What methods do we use? What do we do in the event of conflicts?

What values are important to us? We endeavour to show this again and again - at parents' evenings, site meetings or school visits, through work shadowing opportunities or by means of newsletters and on social media. This should not be a one-way communication, but rather a genuine dialogue.

Because that's exactly what we want: parents who think, ask and help shape things. Parents who don't just want to know what's going on - but want to understand why we do things the way we do. We know that school is often experienced very differently from the family perspective than in the classroom - and that is precisely what makes the exchange so valuable.

From an information evening to a real parents' evening

Parents' evenings in particular are still too often designed by schools as purely informational events. Yet they could be much more: a real platform for dialogue, a place for parents and school to meet - but also among the parents themselves. After all, when a class is assigned, parents suddenly become part of a kind of community of destiny.

Not to mention with people with whom you might have little contact in everyday life if the children did not attend the same class together. So why not use this framework to promote understanding, dialogue and perhaps even mutual support?

There needs to be a common interest in not judging each other too hastily, but in seeking dialogue - especially when things get difficult.

Of course, teachers also have the task of identifying changes in children's behaviour and asking their parents about them. Ideally, however, it should not even get that far. We encourage parents to contribute to transparency.

If we realise at school that a child is not doing well, it helps enormously if we can also know something about the home: Are there any changes in the family? Stresses and worries? It doesn't have to be drastic changes such as a divorce.

No detail is too small if it helps to understand a child better. A quick phone call, an email, a conversation when picking up the child can sometimes achieve more than many hours of pedagogical analysis. Communication often acts as a door opener for understanding and joint solutions.

Parents as an active part of the school

We want parents who do not observe from a distance, but are right in the middle of things. Who see the school not just as an institution, but as a place where their child learns and lives - and therefore also as their place. This can be done through involvement in the parents' council, through participation in project days, through ideas for school development or simply through interest and presence. Every contribution counts - even a friendly chat in the playground or a favourable comment in the parent chat group.

Of course, we know that many parents are very busy with work and family commitments. Commitment does not have to be time-consuming, the decisive factor is the attitude: do we want to work together on your child's development? Then we need mutual openness, a culture of dialogue at eye level, appreciation - and trust.

Trust needs open ears

Trust is not created through perfect solutions, but through open doors and open ears, on both sides. It requires a shared interest in looking and listening, not judging each other too quickly, but seeking dialogue - especially when things get difficult.

With this in mind: Talk to us. Ask us. Get involved. Your view counts. Your contribution makes a difference. And we look forward to shaping school together with you - as a lively place that not only imparts knowledge, but also strengthens relationships.