Building a positive relationship with your child’s school

To help make sure that your child feels supported at school you must work with the school to create a supportive environment. This will also help meet your child’s learning and wellbeing needs.

Respectful Behaviours in the School Community Policy

The Respectful Behaviours in the School Community Policy defines standards of behaviour for all adult members of the school community. It also defines unacceptable behaviours and consequences for such behaviours. This helps to ensure schools are safe, supportive and respectful places for work and learning for all students, staff and other adults.

Read the new policy to learn more about the behaviours that help create strong, collaborative relationships and what behaviours are unacceptable in schools, or download the poster: Respectful behaviours in the school poster (PDF, 45.6KB).

Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy

This policy outlines the shared roles of parents, carers and school staff in creating a positive environment for learning.

For an Easy English version of this policy see:

Respectful Behaviours in the School Community Policy - Easy English version (PDF, 1.2MB)

Build a positive relationship with your child’s school

Support is available to help maintain positive relationships in school, including:

Ways to Get involved with your schools such as volunteering, parent clubs and school councils.
‘Think. Wait. Communicate’ tip sheet to help you have effective interactions with your school, before during and after you meet with school staff.
Learn more about the whole-school approach to Respectful Relationships and how parents/carers and the wider community have a role to play in modelling respectful behaviours and creating an environment where everyone feels safe, respected and valued.
Building a relationship with your child’s school – includes tips on how to build and maintain strong relationships.
Find out how to raise a concern about your child’s school.
Managing difficult conversations with your child’s school – advice about how to manage difficult conversations.

Extra parenting support services and resources

Department of Families, Fairness and Housing – services and support for families, including:

Strengthening Parent Support Program – a free program for parents and carers with a child from birth to 18 years, with a disability or developmental delay
Regional Parenting Services – support for parents and carers of children from birth to 18 years located in regional Victoria.

Child, family and relationship services – family support services to help parents raise their children.
Raising Children Network – guidance on supporting school-age children, including resources, videos, articles and apps.
Parenting ideas – resources about raising confident, happy and resilient children.
MyTime program – support for parents and carers of children with disabilities. Skilled facilitators guide to help access local services and reliable information.
Triple P Parenting program – ideas and strategies to help parents and carers including ways to set routines, manage behaviours and how take care of yourself

Victorian schools are safe places for teaching and learning. School communities play an important role in creating a better environment for children to grow.

We are looking for stories to help raise awareness about how partnerships between parents/carers and school staff can benefit children.

The stories could focus on the different ways that you have collaborated with your child’s teachers to support your child to reach their goals, which could be:

overcoming a fear
increasing self-esteem
realising their potential with a new interest or skill
becoming more engaged in their learning
any other outcome that positively benefits your child’s learning, wellbeing or development.

The stories will be shared with school communities and on our social media channels to highlight the important role school staff and parents and carers play in supporting students to achieve their goals in social, academic, behavioural and co-curricular areas, through collaboration and the building of strong relationships.

How to submit your story

Share your story (about 200 words), and email it to us at safer.school.communities@education.vic.gov.au.

We’ll contact the staff member and school before sharing any stories.

Education & training Parents & carers

Updated 26 March 2026

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Building a positive relationship with your child’s school

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Respectful Behaviours in the School Community Policy

Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy

Build a positive relationship with your child’s school

Extra parenting support services and resources

How to submit your story

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