Reflecting on Planning and Collaborating

I have filled out this bone diagram based on how I feel we're presently working at in the pre-school I teach at. 

Just to put it into context, we have 4 groups of between 6-9 students. The groups are organized according to ages at the beginning of the year, with some mixing occurring while monitoring student ability over the year. Each of the 4 teachers in the class have a group, and we rotate the group we're working with each week. The school I'm working at at present is not an IB school and therefore the PYP curriculum is not implemented there. I shall be working with the PYP curriculum as of August. Therefore not all practices are applicable (I have an N/A there). 

If I were to rate how we're working at each practice: 

1) Collaborative planning and reflection addresses the requirements of the programme(s). 3

2) Collaborative planning and reflection takes place regularly and systematically.  1.5 

3) Collaborative planning and reflection addresses vertical and horizontal articulation. N/A

4) Collaborative planning and reflection ensures that all teachers have an overview of students' learning experiences. 2.5 

5) Collaborative planning and reflection is based on agreed expectations for student learning. 1

6) Collaborative planning and reflection incorporates differentiation for students' learning needs and styles. 1

7) Collaborative planning and reflection is informed by assessment of student work and learning. 2

8) Collaborative planning and reflection recognizes that all teachers are responsible for language development of students. 3

9) Collaborative planning and reflection addresses the IB learner profile attributes. N/A

At my present pre-school, the two things I think need to be worked on the most in order to encourage student learning are:

      1) Parental Ignorance or familial problems.

       2) Lack of communication between the teachers.

Parental ignorance and familial problems are a huge deterrent in my current workplace. This is largely due to parents working long and extended hours and students not being able to spend enough quality time with their families. This is hindering students’ progress because their main sources of interaction are their nannies. These nannies are largely non-English speakers and cannot engross in productive conversation with the students. There is therefore no continuation from what students are learning in school and what they are doing at home. Many parents are ignorant of what their children are learning in school, they don’t follow up with teachers and often do not have the time to attend any parent-teacher-student interactive sessions.

There is also a lack of communication between the teachers. While we discuss what needs to be done the following week, we do not discuss how to better the learning environment for particular students. The groups are largely age and ability based, however no differentiation takes place for students because the work we do is largely centred around worksheets and workbooks that are required to be complete before the end of a term. Students therefore zoom through the books without really understanding. Progress is monitored based on progression in the workbooks as opposed to making certain that students are leaving with a strong foundation.