Course summary
This course empowers educators to build meaningful, lasting relationships with parents – shifting from one-way communication to genuine partnership.
Grounded in The Connection Curriculum, each short video lesson explores a key concept of sustainable connection, including trust, identity, student voice, communication, and whole-school consistency. These are not tips and tricks – they’re practices that support engagement, wellbeing, and learning outcomes.
With practical activities and reflection points after every video, you’ll leave this course with strategies you can apply immediately – whether you’re a classroom teacher, school leader, or support staff member.
Connection with parents isn’t an extra. It’s the foundation of shared success. This course shows you how to build it – and how to sustain it.
More courses with Matt Pitman:
- Connecting with Students: Sustainable Connection for Engagement and Meaningful Learning
- Leading with Connection: Creating a Positive School Culture Through Sustainable Connection
Video transcript
We know parent engagement matters. But in schools, it often ends up being reactive, inconsistent, or rushed.
This course is different.
Hi, I’m Matt Pitman, and I’ve teamed up with Cool+ for this course, which gives you a clear, practical way to build lasting, respectful, and meaningful connection with parents, without burning out.
Grounded in The Connection Curriculum, each short lesson gives you tools to move from one-way communication to real partnership. From student voice, to parent identity, to sustaining connection across a whole school.
Because connection isn’t an add-on. It’s how we build trust, improve outcomes, and create schools that parents truly belong to.
Let’s make that connection sustainable.
You will learn:
- the role of trust, identity, and belonging in building meaningful family–school partnerships
- practical communication and engagement strategies that centre student voice, parent insight, and relational trust
- sustainable, school-wide approaches to parent connection that support consistency, inclusion, and community culture.
Course time:
This course is expected to take between 30 to 45 minutes. Perfect for after work or during a spare period. You will have ongoing access via your user dashboard.
Accreditation:
This course is mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
- 7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
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Course Content
Connecting with Parents: Sustainable Connection for Stronger Family-school Partnerships
Course instructor
Matt Pitman is an experienced educational leader, a doctoral candidate researching connections across school communities, and the author of The Connection Curriculum published by Amba Press. Matt’s experience is varied, from the leadership of curriculum teams and programs to student wellbeing, student improvement and community engagement portfolios. He has led Positive Education and student support programs and has a passion for working with students, parents, and staff to develop new understandings of the needs of young people in the 21st century.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log this PD with my states teaching authority?
Yes! Our courses are mapped to the Australian Professional Teacher Standards (AITSL), and your completion can be logged as elective PD hours with your state's teaching regulatory authority. To do this, grab your certificate of completion from your personal dashboard once the course is complete.
How long will this take to complete?
This course is expected to take between 30 to 45 minutes. Perfect for after work or during a spare period. You will have ongoing access via your user dashboard.
Will I get proof of completion?
Is this course accredited?
All of our courses are mapped to the Australian Professional Teacher Standards (AITSL), and your completion can be logged as relevant, teacher-identified professional development activity with all Australian state teaching regulatory authorities. To do this, grab your certificate of completion from your personal dashboard once the course is complete.
- 7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
Who are the instructors?
This course is designed in consultation with teachers, principals, psychologists, counsellors, scientists, and all manner of experts in the education field.
Cool.org's curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum and best educational practice, so you can be sure your learning is at the cutting edge of education theory.
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