January 2015

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Edsys

The Workforce Management System provides myriad of possibilities. Tracking attendance, marking leaves and paying manually requires a lot of effort and time. As a single solution for all these requirements, the Workforce Management System helps school managements to manage their workforce with ease.

Any new staff member of an organization can be enrolled in to Workforce Management System online portal without difficulty. Each staff member is provided with a profile along with unique login-id and password for privacy. By using the ID, each member can login to the profile and mark attendance. Manually entering attendance, leave and other details leaves space for errors. Automating the process can make it easier to maintain a far more reliable record.

The advantages are numerous. Calculating monthly salary becomes easier and applying leaves can be done through individual profiles (which makes managing pre-planned leaves easy). These are but just two of the benefits offered by WFM.

Watch the video below to understand how Workforce Management Software works.

Advantages of switching to Workforce Management System

Attendance

Teachers and other staff members can punch through the biometric system or the attendance menu of the workforce management account. The punch in and punch out time is calculated by the system, making it handy to calculate the working hours of each person. If a person does not punch-in for a day, an automatic email is generated to the concerned person, after marking leave for the day in the profile.

(i) Attendance history is handy

(ii) Each Monday, the attendance details of the previous week is sent to the person

The punch details will include:

Date
Status (whether present, absent or if it was a day off )
The punched in time
The punched out time
The working time duration in hours and minutes

Leave management

Managing leave becomes easy with the Workforce Management Software. Through the web-portal, an employee can easily apply for leave without the confusion of paper works. Public holidays are marked in the calendar provided, which makes it easy to pre-plan the leave. The page will show the remaining leave and its category. The pre-planned leaves consist of the sub-menu option which shows the status of the applied leave. The principal of the school or the head of the department can approve or decline the leave application through the portal.

The leave application includes:

The date on which leave is applied
Details of the employee
The type of leave (casual, medical, earned leave, loss of pay)
Number of dates leave applied for
Reason for the leave
Contact details of the employee including address and phone number

Productivity

To evaluate each individual’s contribution in building up and sustaining an organisation, regular tracking of productivity is vital. Merely calculating the working hours of an employee doesn’t show the exact contribution. Workforce Management System comes with timesheet, where teachers and other staff members can enter the productivity report daily.

The timesheet provides special facility for the principal or the concerned person to assign projects to teachers and staff members. This allows them to fill in the projects with activities and the time taken for each corresponding activity. My Diary is a feature that shows the daily details of each employee.

Payroll

HR managers hold the responsibility of calculating the salary for employees every month. It takes a lot of time and energy to calculate hours worked, number of leaves taken and other factors of each employee and then prepare a pay slip for each. Manual calculations are prone to errors and does not ensure accuracy. A single mistake can ruin the whole calculation process.

With the help of Workforce Management Software, HR can generate digital payslips. The employees can view their salary details as well. By logging in through their respective accounts in the web portal, salary details can easily be retrieved on monthly basis.

More advantages that comes with Workforce Management Software

Employee productivity tracking
Performance evaluation
Privacy
Transparency
Better management with less effort
Save time, energy and paper

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Edsys

Let’s look at the following situations:

Child losing money sent with him to buy food, stationary or to pay fees
Children having to remember and carry all kinds of cards including bus pass, library card etc.

You may get angry at your child for some time for losing the money/card or may be punish them. But does that form a permanent solution? Definitely No!

Smartcard solutions by Edsys are tailor-made to avoid such situations. From tracking students to fee payment, purchasing from canteens to book store and library management, smart cards makes student life a lot easier.

Check out the video to know more about the working of Smart card solutions by Edsys.

Here’s a list of situations where smart cards come handy from both students and parents:

1. You don’t know what your child is doing in school and would like to know his/her whereabouts as soon as they step out of home or your child has complained of overspending and you want to report it at school, but where do you get the driver information from?

Smart cards! They help you keep track of your child right from the time he/she enters the school bus and the also all details regarding the student, parents, school bus and its driver.

2. Your child has the habit of losing money that you give him/her to purchase food from the school canteen or purchase stationary items from the school book store
Smart cards by Edsys obviously! They offer cashless payment and when your child buys food or beverages from the school canteen or stationary items from school book store, the appropriate amount of purchase would be deducted from the Point of Sale and you will get the statement of purchase.

3. You go to pay your child’s school fees but when it’s your turn to pay the fees, you don’t remember any information about your child such as the roll number or the division he/she is studying in.

It’s a common scene in fees counters of schools where parents go on a hunt in their bags to get information about their child that is necessary to pay the fees. Forget the struggle by using Smart cards by Edsys. You have all your child’s information stored in there which can be easily used for fee payment. Also you can top up the smart cards from the school’s fee counter.

4. Your child goes to the school library to borrow or return a book but suddenly remembers that he/she left the library card at home
Since Smart cards have all student information stored in them, it can be used in school libraries to borrow or return books. They can be used to mark library attendance too.

Apart from its use in the educational field, about a billion Smart cards are used across the globe for various other purposes.

In many countries, payphones are equipped with card readers thus freeing you from carrying coins or remembering long access codes

Smart cards can be used to properly identify and bill a mobile user

Smart banking cards can be used in place of credit cards, debit cards etc. for secure and cashless payment transactions

Smart cards can be used for payments while making purchases and also in taxis or buses

Smart cards can be used in health sector for verifying patients or to access information about the patients

Smart cards can be used for verification processes and can even tore information such as user’s photograph or fingerprints

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Edsys

‘Bullying’ is not a strange word now. Everywhere, children are facing bullying. Majority of the students in the world are facing bullying from school, from home or through online.

Definition

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated or has a potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as threatening, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally and excluding someone from a group with purpose.

Bullying in schools

It’s a type of bullying that takes place in an educational institution and it can be physical, sexual, verbal or emotional nature.

Main characteristics of bullying at school

It is deliberate and with an intention to harm; not accidental.
It may cause psychological, social or physical trauma in varying degrees to the victims.
It has a potential to happen again and again; it is persistent.
It is motivated by the perceived benefits of their aggressive behavior.

Types of bullying that happens to students

Physical bullying: Any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim. It can be identified easily.
Examples: punching , pushing, kicking, tickling , inappropriate touching, fighting or using any object as weapon.

Emotional bullying: It won’t harm the body but the mind. It causes damage to the psyche or happy mood.
Examples:

Spreading rumors
Keeping someone out of the group
Avoiding or ignoring someone purposefully
Harassment
Making fun of others

Verbal bullying: It includes any statements or accusations that cause distress to someone.

Using foul language at someone
Using derogatory remarks or terms about a person
Making negative comment on the person’s appearance
Mocking, teasing, belittling etc.

Cyber bullying: It is the most threatening type of bullying and difficult to find out.
“ Cyber bullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipments such as cell phone, computers and tablets as well as communication tools including social media, text messages, chats and websites.”

How is Cyber bullying different?

It can happen at any time and anywhere.
Messages or images can be sent anonymously
It threatens the victim about publishing pictures or messages to a wide audience. It is very difficult to find out the source unless we inform the authority.
Once the bully deletes the message, it is difficult to catch them.

Sexual bullying: it is also a very dangerous type of bullying that happens to school going children. Sexual bullying is “any behavior, whether physical or non physical that is based on a person’s sexuality or gender.”
It is commonly directed at girls but boys are also not spared from this nowadays. It is very difficult to detect this kind of bullying because of ignorance and fear about the threats from the bullies.

Power imbalance : a main cause of bullying at schools

Power imbalance is always there behind every bullying. The bully might have supremacy over the victim with size, gender, age or colour. Children find motivation to bully others in their weakness like not fitting in, physical weakness, short temper, who their friends are, overweight, facial appearance, the clothes they wear,academic status etc.
Students who bully others usually have an unpleasant atmosphere at home. The suffocation that they feel at home and the attempts to make them over disciplined will make them more violent. A bully is often someone who was bullied in the past or has witnessed bullying.

Role of children in bullying

Children have different roles in bullying:

Children who bully others
Children who are bullied
Children who witness bullying
Children who assist or support bullying
Outsiders who just watch bullying
Children who defend

How to identify the victims if they are unspoken?
There will be drastic change in the behavior of the child if he/she is bullied. Some of the following symptoms can be noticed:
• Injuries
• Anxiety
• Change in eating habits
• Declining grades
• Self injury
• Sitting alone
• Insomnia

How to deal with it?

• Talk about bullying. The parents and teachers must be very friendly to them. Their talks should enable them to identify the situations of such harassments
• Talk to them about ‘what is bullying?’ and ‘how to escape from it?’ Make them understand it is not acceptable. Make sure that they know how to get help
• Always listen to them, know their friends, activities and interests
• Promote them to follow what their mind says
• Be a role model for your kids
• If any of the signs are visible in your kids, inform teachers about it using Parent portal. The teachers also can do the same so that they can give more attention

Prevention at Schools

• Find out bullying in schools and take necessary disciplinary actions against it.
• Create rules to report bullying.
• Choose a good School app with which the parents and teachers can trace the bullies
• Build a safe environment.
• Arrange supervising cameras if necessary
• Find out those who are bullied and bring back as normal students by counseling etc.
It is best if we can find out bullying at the earlier stage and find a solution to it. If we can create a safe surrounding where bullying won’t occur, it is far recommended than finding a remedy.

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Edsys

So many researches and studies are going on about the relevance of our gradation system in schools. There had been various discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of gradation system in schools. This is a very important area that is to be studied seriously. Whether to stop or to continue this gradation system is an ongoing debate for the last few years.

Get Best Free Student Apps (Check it Now)

What is the purpose of gradation system?

The main function of the grades is to inform the parents, guardians and others how the student is performing in studies. This is to be done with at most attention and care and without any prejudice or partiality. It is a very private thing; unfortunately, it is done in a very public way.

Advantages of gradation at school level:

Helps in self improvement to some extent
Enables students to fix a target and to work hard to attain it.
Makes the parents aware of the performance and standard of their children at school. That helps the parents to give necessary attention for them.
Makes students more objective.
Gives students competition spirit.

Disadvantages of gradation at school:

It is incomplete. It is not possible to asses all the learning and skills of all students using the same scale. Some skills cannot be measured.
It creates inequality among students.
To get higher grades, some students choose tasks much below their capacity. They won’t dare to be creative or innovative in their assignments.
It de-motivates students.
Those who get higher grades may feel proud and tend to deviate from studies.

How gradation psychologically affects students?

Our present gradation system announces the quantified results in the public. It really affects student’s psyche. Receiving a lower grade and everyone knowing about it, is really matter of shame. No one would like to show the low grades they received to others. If they are getting low grades continuously, they may feel that they are out of track and sometimes, they may quit education.

The low grades students receive in schools make them feel inferior to their classmates and that make them depressed. A division is created between the students who obtain higher grades and lower grades and an attitude of superiority and inferiority gets developed in them.

In the fear of getting lower grades, the students who obtain higher grade won’t take risky or innovative tasks and choose simple tasks, much below their caliber. This keeps them away from learning or experimenting new things. Actually, it makes them cowards.

The comparisons made by parents and teachers about the grades students got will affect them badly. It can even make them detached from the society.

How to solve this issue?

It is not possible to stop gradation in all levels. But the educators must understand that all results cannot be quantified and all learning cannot be assessed. They must inform the parents about the child’s performance, thereby, making the parents a part of this assessment or grading, as well. They are also responsible for the success or failure of the student.

Give them a qualitative feedback than a quantitative report card. Make it a weekly activity if possible. Let the parents also take part in these feedback sessions as far as possible. This can be done easily with Parent Portal.

Parent Portal

Edsys provides Parent Portal which makes parent-teacher communication an easy task. Every day, the teacher can inform the parents about the performance of the student. No need to wait for months or terms. So, the parents can guide or help the child to improve. It will be far effective than punishing after a terminal evaluation. Parents can also give their feedback though the Parent Portal.

Get Best Free Student Apps (Check it Now)

The parents can always have an eye on the students’ activities at schools using the Smart Cards for schools. It helps them to track their attendance in class and school bus. It helps the parents to know about the books they borrow from the library, the time they spend there, the purchases they make from the school store etc.

A proper intervention of parents at the proper time can reduce the shock given by the low grades. Nowadays, we have so many ways to do that. Parent Portal, School Apps, Smart Cards etc. are very useful for this purpose.

Also Check: Latest Updated Educational Apps Directory List

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Edsys

If the beginning is good, everything else will be fine. So, always start the education of your child with the best team. Early years are always very important because it decides the future. To select best for your kids is the parents’ responsibility. Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning development and of children from birth to five years.

All the early education providers must adopt EYFS. This will surely help the parents and teachers to trace the path of development of their child. EYFS supports a new and integrated approach towards early learning and care. This sets some common principals and ways or routine for all the practitioners who provide early education and childcare.

Edsys provides EYFS Management Software which makes it easy to follow the EYFS system for parents and teachers. Once we adopt EYFS system, there are a lot of advantages.

EYFS system helps the teachers to understand and evaluate each child separately. The teachers can keep separate profiles for each child with all the minute details of their development. That will provide equal attention for each child
This will help the teacher to explain the activities of the child at school to the parents. The teacher will take pictures or videos of a child’s activities and they can keep it as a record of the child’s developmental stages. Those pictures and videos will communicate with the parent more than verbal discourses
Both the providers and parents can add comments and grades to the photos. They can have discussions about their child with the support of this data
The providers with the help of these images will help the parents to understand the different tastes, abilities and caliber of their own child. So, the parents can easily design their future according to their taste and ability
Some children may have some special skills in some particular areas like drawing, manufacturing, singing, dancing, by-hearting etc. So parents can help their children to polish their skills
Just like the kids are having some good skills, sometimes they may have some inabilities or weakness. That can also be identified in EYFS system. The early identification will help to find solutions for such problems easily.
If the teachers use advanced technologies with EYFS, they can easily share data with parents with e-mail or Bluetooth. The software introduced by Edsys to support EYFS activities can be used even with a Smartphone.
Connecting EYFS software with Parent Portal will enable easy parent-teacher interaction. The information of a particular child can be visible to the parents too.
When some details of a child are necessary, it can be collected easily and completely. That makes developmental evaluation properly and systematically.
With the lively moments captured in the classroom, the teacher can make collages and post cards which is also a part of EYFS curriculum.
Following the EYFS curriculum in a systematic way, the teachers can easily make the monthly or yearly reports in the form of PDF. With these reports, the evaluation of learning and other developments of the child can be easily conducted.

Moreover, EYFS curriculum follows child-led learning and it is play-oriented. That makes the children more creative and energetic. They will start loving education. It gives them much freedom and exposure. It will enable them to have a wonderful personality.EYFS curriculum has very good perspective to make the future generation smart and active. Now it is followed by early education providers mainly in UK. But can be tried everywhere. Following its standard is necessary for the success. We can develop a wonderful young generation by adopting EYFS curriculum.

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Edsys

There is an English proverb that says, “The soul is healed by being with children”. What if the very lives of these children are in jeopardy? It is a fact that ragging has been in the society for some time now and its intensity worsens every year. Though numerous anti-ragging squads and bodies exist, we haven’t been able to eliminate these practices completely.

It is hard to believe that bullying has tormented Indian school students for some time now, and it is just recently that we have started taking it seriously. What is the difference between bullying and ragging? None, they are practically the same. While there are strict laws and punishments against ragging, bullying has none whatsoever. And it is this very fact that makes bullying far more dangerous than ragging.

Other than the lack of laws against it, the fact that a very young age group, mostly in between 12 – 16 years is affected makes it more hazardous. It is said to be the very age which nourishes mental capability and invokes behavioral build up in children. Bullying is said to cause psychological traumas, from which children find it difficult to recover. In some cases, they even find themselves mentally scared for life.

5 Steps to Curb Bullying

1. Know your children

Parents need to maintain an open and deep relationship with their children so that they will be the first to know if something goes wrong. In most cases of bullying, the victims are traumatized for months before the parents or teachers come to know about what was happening. The lack of confidence that they will be helped is what holds them back. Children should feel free to talk to their parents at any time.

2. Know your students

School is said to be the second home for a student. If so, then teachers occupy the roles of responsible parents. This means he/she has not just the role of a teacher, but also a parent. So, just like parents they must also possess a sincere relation with their students. The student should feel safe and confident in talking with the teachers on his/her issues. The large number of students in a single classroom, probably beyond what the teacher can keep track of and the lack of good teaching staff, has only made it difficult to build teacher-student relations.

3. Friends can also help

In situations where a student finds it difficult to disclose the issue to a parent or teacher, he/she could get the help of a dear friend. The friend could in turn address the issue to a teacher or someone in charge. For this to happen, children should first be made aware of the seriousness of such situations.

4. Actions need to be taken

Laws against bullying will take time to come to full effect. Within that time, schools can play it’s part to help the cause. Schools across the world have adopted several methods to cope with the issue of bullying. Once bullying was at its worst in the USA. Ensuring participation of students in open discussions and conducting seminars on possible bullying problems and how to tackle them has brought down bullying to a large extent. So the question is, if they can do it, why can’t we?

5. Social awareness

Bullying and ragging are social issues. So, the society itself needs to come together for the purpose of fighting against it. Rather than thinking of it as another person’s issue, think of it as an entire society’s responsibility. Educate and prepare your children to hold on their own under risky situations.

Policies Taken

Recently, former HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju had formed a committee of academic and mental health experts to review the scale of ragging in schools and recommend preventive measures.

The committee headed by CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi is learnt to have submitted its report to the HRD Ministry. It has described bullying in Indian schools as a serious problem and recommended regulations to bar the menace in schools on the lines of UGC’s regulations to curb the menace of ragging in Higher Educational Institutions notified on June 17, 2009. The committee commissioned a survey of schools and found the extent of bullying to be “serious”.

Bullying is an issue that comes into existence at the school level and needs to be dealt with in schools itself. Otherwise it may result in a socially handicapped and mentally injured generation.

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Edsys

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has launched a seven year UAE National Agenda leading to the UAE Vision 2021. It was developed by over 300 officials from 90 federal and local government entities. It includes a set of national indicators in the sectors of education, healthcare, economy, police and security, housing, infrastructure and government services.

A report that appeared in Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) website, which was titled “Inspection Handbook 2014-15,” recommends that schools must focus on fulfilling the agenda put forward by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad, regarding the UAE’s ranking in international assessments.

The two main objectives of the Agenda:

UAE should reach in the list of top 15 countries in TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study)
The UAE will be among the 20 highest performing countries in PISA (Program for International Student Assessment).

For helping the schools to obtain these objectives, Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB) of KHDA has provided workshops to assist schools to raise their standards.

What Schools Must Do to Meet This Goal?

Schools must raise students’ performance, says KHDA. If they plan on meeting UAE’s national agenda, private schools in Dubai must raise pupils’ performance level in mathematics and science.

Director-General of KHDA, Dr Abdullah Al Karam said, “We have been witnessing linear progress, what we need to meet this target is an exponential growth. It is no longer about making parents or students happy, it is about making parents or students happy, it is about putting Dubai on top.”

How It Can Be Done?

Student performance can be increased by giving more attention to individual students and by making learning interesting by using modern techniques. Teachers should focus to utilize the school hour maximum in a pleasing way. The students must be given the chance to do things as their own.

Mathematical and scientific learning skills can be increased by constant practice and application. The increase in student performance in mathematics and science means their ability to apply their knowledge in real life situations. So the teaching must be focused on practical applications.

The curriculum has to be modified according to the needs. It must provide time for using mathematical concepts, facts, procedures and reasoning, and to interpret and evaluate mathematical outcomes.

While learning science, students should be able to describe, explain and predict phenomena based on scientific knowledge, interpret and communicate evidence and conclusions.

To improve student performance, we can get help from modern technology.

School Apps

Opting for a good school mobile app is the best way to improve student performance. Today, children are masters in using Smart phones and tablets. If we choose a perfect school mobile/tablet app for them, it will really benefit a lot for improvement. So, choose an app that is relevant, affordable, easy to use and motivating. It must provide entertainment along with learning. It should help them to think creative.

Early education is really important in this point of view of development. Edsys has introduced EYFS Managing software, which helps early education providers to pave way for student development. With the help of EYFS Managing software, the teacher can understand the mental development of the child and they can also help the parents to know about their child’s growth. Smart apps for preschoolers can also be used.

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Edsys

Mrs. Leela is a teacher loved alike by students, teachers and parents at her school. But, unfortunately, the school management had a different opinion about her. They termed her as “greedy” and “selfish”, which forced her to resign. I tried to find out what exactly caused Mrs. Leela to quit her job, for she loved her students and enjoyed teaching them.

The reason I discovered was not entirely surprising, but it was unexpected.

Despite her immense contribution to her school for over a decade, Mrs.Leela was being paid a meagre amount for her services. The school management has not bothered to hike her salary one bit and Mrs. Leela, being a single mother, was finding it difficult to make ends meet and to pay the fees for her children’s college.

This is not just the story of Mrs. Leela but also of several other teachers around the world.

Teaching is a highly respected job, since no one else can mould the best generation for future than teachers. Teachers have largely influenced the lives of people right from ancient times.

They are responsible for building a civilised society, introducing you to the world of knowledge and preparing you to face the world.

Most teachers have chosen the career path due to their love for children and the joy they find while imparting education. But, for all the efforts they put, do they really earn what they are worth? No one bothers to ask.

Let’s have a fact check:

If you are a teacher, you may agree how the figures given above are true, even if you teach in a private school or a government-run school. Job satisfaction alone won’t feed the teachers’ families; for that, they have to be paid better. Also, for the teachers to stay committed to their job, they should be paid what they are worth.

Now, when people who are equally qualified get paid better, why are teachers still underpaid? The answer is simple!

Their efforts go unnoticed

The average school hours may be from 9 to 5. But it is a fact that teachers work beyond those hours, which often goes unnoticed. Most teachers take their work such as notebook correction and evaluation of answer papers home. Also, they spend many hours at home, preparing the lessons to be taught the next day, or pondering over innovative teaching methods. And, it’s not just teaching that the teachers do, but any job that can be advantageous for the school. In most schools, teachers are also involved in encouraging the students to participate in various cultural events and making the school proud by winning laurels. But they are never acknowledged for their efforts. If it is a corporate job, you may get paid for even every moment you think of work. But for teachers, they are paid with 1 question:

What big work have you done after all?

It’s time that school managements recognize the efforts put by the teachers for the betterment of the school, adding to its reputation and pay them deservingly.

There are various software such as the Work force Management System by Edsys where teachers can enter their daily activities, that helps the school managements to understand their efforts and pay them better!

Also Read: Geography Quiz For Kids (107 Questions and Answers)

As for school managements, better paid teachers would be happier and more productive. The staff retention rate would also be high. At a time when getting quality teachers are getting harder, it would make sense to retain existing talent.

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Edsys

Many researches exist about parental involvement in education. All the results of such researches point out that parental involvement not only positively affect student achievement, but it also contributes to the better performance and higher quality education of the schools. It is not easy to make a positive involvement in our child’s education. Now with the advancement of technology, parents find it easy to get involved in their child’s education. Edsys introduces Smart Cards, School bus Tracking System and Parent Portal etc which enables parental involvement in the education of their children.

Get Best Free Parental Apps (Check it Now)

When and where should parental involvement take place?

The best time to begin your involvement is when your child starts his/her education! The earlier it begins, the more powerful will be the effect. The best form of parental involvement is parents joining the children in their studies at home or while doing homework.

Schools also support and encourage parental involvement. They make parents feel welcome at school, involving parents in decision making and implementing programmes to provide information about parenting skills and community resources.

Types of involvement

Communicating regularly with teachers is the best way for the parents to be involved in education. Consider the teacher as a partner in managing the education of our child. With proper guidance and support from the teacher, the parents may become more involved in home learning activities and find themselves with opportunities to teach, to be models for their children and to guide them.

Sometimes, schools demand children to practice reading at home with parents, and then children gain more information. Some parents read out stories and books for their children and spend time with them, which contributes a lot to their achievement.

Some activities that can be practiced for better involvement of parents

Having a family routine, providing calm and quiet atmosphere to learn- being strict about bedtime and having dinner together
Regularly checking the Parent Portal to know children’s performance at school or to get teachers’ remarks about them
Check their regular attendance in class and in school bus. Always have a look at their expenses and whereabouts. With the help of the Smartcards this can done without much effort
Enable the School bus Tracking System for knowing their routes to school and to know the school bus timing
Monitor activities after school.
Setting a control for watching TV, observing them always and giving supervised care.
Be a good model to your kids and let them learn the importance of discipline and hard work in life
Enable them to set a good ambition which is high and realistic.
Encourage their achievements and progress in school and visit their school once in a while
Promote reading, writing and participating discussions among family members

The benefits of parental involvement

For children:

There will be drastic improvement in all the fields of the child’s life irrespective of the racial or ethnic background, socio-economic status, or parents’ education level and occupation
Their academic status will improve; they achieve better grade, test scores and attendance.
They will always complete their homework
It will increase their self esteem and they become more self-disciplined
When parents and teachers work together, it will bridge the gap between the two cultures – cultures at home and at school
They tend to show more interest towards school

Get Best Free Parental Apps (Check it Now)

For the parents:

Constant interactions with their kids enable them to know their calibre and tastes better. It will make them confident in parenting and in making decisions about their children
They get more knowledge about their child’s development
Parents’ perceptions about the institution and teachers will improve and there will be a stronger tie and commitment with school
When they become more aware of the curriculum and policies, they can also contribute to the decision making process

For the educators:

Parental involvement will increase the morale of the teachers.
Parents will show more respect towards the teachers and the institutions
The schools will receive a better support
The teachers will be able to understand families, cultures and their diversities

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Edsys

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five years. Since it is not so common outside UK, the world is still dubious about it. Even in UK, studies and researches are going on about the standards and settings of EYFS. Since education in the early years is very important in a child’s life, there will be so many questions that have to be answered.

It was in 2008 that EYFS came into effect as a statutory body and in 2010, a group of scholars from the Institute of Education, University of London had conducted a research on ‘Practitioners’ Experience of the Early Years Foundation Stage’. It was a study by gathering views from the practitioners working in all sectors of children’s EYFS. The findings of the research were able to give answers to so many major questions. Here are five common questions that are frequently asked.

How does EYFS influence the daily life of children?

EYFS has a play-based and child-led guidance method. Since children have the upper hand, EYFS has great influence on their lives. It influences many aspects of daily practice. Teachers and parents observe the children and provide them opportunities to perform. Teachers capture each and every development of the children as photographs or other data and share them with the parents. It enables the parents to identify the inborn talents of their kids and they can nourish the skills with proper guidance.

How does EYFS support improvement in care and education offered by practitioners?

According to the EYFS standards, every stage of development of a child has to be noted. It is the child’s development that matters, so the providers have to be very careful and alert. The care and education the providers provide will make the children smart. There will be parental involvement at each stage of a child’s development and that makes the providers more responsible.

What are the obstacles that providers face?

The main obstacle that the providers face is that the people refuse to accept the child-led and play-based format of EYFS. Many people believe that this format is not effective as the previous system. Some believe that with the EYFS standards, no learning takes place.

The other obstacles include need for more trained providers for managing a single classroom since each and every action of all the children should be observed. Also, data collection and sharing of data take lots of time with just one provider in a classroom.

What are the benefits for children?

Children learn a lot before the age of five. If they are given more freedom and proper guidance at that age, it will surely give wonderful results. EYFS gives them timely appreciation and encouragement. It reveals their tastes and skills to parents that help the parents to focus on it in the future studies.

How simple is it to use?

Edsys has introduced EYFS Management Software to help EYFS providers and parents.

While practicing EYFS, majority of the time is spent on collecting and compiling data and sharing it with the parents. This can be done easily using EYFS Management Software, which also helps in saving time. Postcards can be created using the photographs and then, sent to the parents.
Data can be easily shared with this software.
It can be easily used with Smartphones
Separate profiles for each child can be made available. Evaluation and grading thus become easier.
Making of annual reports in PDF format are done easily.
The pictures taken during the sessions can be posted with comments and grades can also be added to them.