Information for parents

We will:

• teach your child with others of a similar age and level.
• use a coursebook but add to it with stories, games and other fun activities.
• give your child lots of opportunities to use the language they are learning by speaking with other children, and by practising a range of skills. This helps build their confidence and improves their grades at school.
• use a range of different activities in each lesson. This helps children stay active and focused throughout the lesson. Different children learn in different ways – some through seeing, some through listening, some through moving around - so a variety of activities will make sure all children learn well.

We will:

• use continuous assessment (skills/participation) and mini-checks (language) to monitor your child's progress and actively encourage them to reflect on their own learning.
• at the end of each term, give you a progress report with details of the topics and language that your child has studied, and the skills they have practised in class.
• at the end of each year, give young learner students an end-of-course certificate of achievement.

We’d like you to:

• talk to your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns about your child’s progress or participation.
• attend open days and parent meetings. 

We will:

• give your child homework every week to support what they have done in class. Details of this will be written on the ‘homework record’ in their workbook.
• check the homework in the next lesson.

We’d like you to:

• make sure your child does their homework before their next lesson.
• ask to speak to your child's teacher if you had to help them or if they found the homework very difficult.

Our rules:

1. Follow instructions.
2. Listen to teachers, staff and other students.
3. Let everybody contribute and take part in classroom activities.
4. Keep everybody safe.

We will:

• teach children that everybody is welcome and important at the British Council.
• teach children about good classroom behaviour.
• speak to your child when their behaviour is disruptive and explain to them why their behaviour is a problem. If your child's behaviour does not improve, we will speak to you about this and if they continue to behave badly, we may ask you to stop sending your child to classes.
• speak to you if your child has been bullied.
• only discuss your child’s behaviour with you (not other parents).

We’d like you to:

• work with us to help your child follow these rules.

We will:

• look after your child from when they arrive until you collect them.
• only let your child go home alone if you have told us they can (if they are 11 years old or older).
• only let your child go home with the people you have told us about.
• speak to you if your child has hurt him/herself.

We’d like you to:

• bring and collect your child on time - no earlier than 15 minutes before class and no later than 15 minutes after class.
• let us know if your child will be absent for one or more lessons.

You play an important role in your child's education.

We provide lots of free English learning materials and resources to help you help your child. We also provide free face-to-face workshops, which give you advice on developing your child’s learning.

Your opinions about your child’s learning are very important to us.  

That’s why we encourage you to:

• come to Parent evenings
• join focus groups
• respond to surveys.

We also offer you the opportunity to see your child in action in class. You can keep up-to-date via our email newsletters.

Children do better and are happier when parents encourage them and are involved and interested in their studies.

As parents you know more about your child and how they are feeling. If you’re involved, teachers can ask for your advice about your child and you can share your ideas for change and improvement with us.

No matter how good communications are, disagreements and misunderstandings can occur.

If you have a concern or a complaint relating to your child, please speak to your child’s teacher about it directly or contact our customer services team in the usual ways.

Please state:

• whether it is a complaint, query or comment
• the urgency of the matter
• your child’s full name
• his/her timetable, level and centre for study.

Most concerns or complaints are easily resolved, especially if they are mentioned early on. However, if the concern or complaint isn’t easily resolved and requires further investigation, we will inform you of the likely timelines for resolution.