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Virtual Learning Environments
with the parents’ portal we could log on and look at the and simple and provide benchmarks so parents can compare
homework log and figure it out together.” their child against others. Remember not to bombard parents
“Without having to nag or pester their children, parents can with too much information,” she adds.
discuss assignments, already knowing what it may be about Most schools find that there is a core of parents who can
and when it must be completed by. Many mums and dads always be relied upon to participate and communicate. The
have told us that they feel their children really appreciate the most exciting aspect of the VLE is that it allows the flexibility and
fact that they are taking an interest in their school life,” adds convenience necessary to establish closer links with “invisible”
Mark Leighton. parents who may be unable to attend parents meetings or who
Once you have parents logging on regularly, achievement may not be confident enough to make contact with the school
data helps further develop home-school support. General in any other way. The internet is a great leveller, but it is essential
school news finds a good home online and events can be to ensure that everyone has access to it – especially if the school
publicised more easily. Examination dates and times are also is looking to go down the route of paperless reports.
popular with parents, particularly information on what revision There are various schemes operating around the country
has been set, so a parent can see everything they need to where children are loaned laptops or computers are leased to
support their child. families. Birmingham has a student access-at-home scheme
Schools have also found that parent/teacher evenings have that has been running for two years, and more than 18,000
become more valuable as a result of parent portals on the VLE, pupils have received computers and there are now plans to
as parents arrive already briefed on the basics of their child’s create a city-wide wifi cloud to create free internet access. "I
behaviour and progress and therefore a deeper analysis of call it 'the classroom in the bedroom'," says Andy Jackson,
goals and targets can be achieved. head of service delivery at Birmingham city council. “"The
But what of those families that may still not have access to a secret is to keep things simple,” he adds That includes going
computer? “About 20% of pupils - that's 2 million [young for one type of computer, so that servicing and support are
people] - can't go online at home and that figure has cheaper and easier, “My motto is: Don't spend money twice.”
plateaued," Valerie Thompson, chief executive of the E- The classroom in the bedroom will provide a learning
Learning Foundation told the Guardian. "Unless something curve for everyone – local authorities, schools and parents as
happens, that digital divide will remain.” well as students. But it is a great opportunity for parents to Using the internet
Gary Swabel, business development director of ICT provider be able to use the internet to get closer to their children and can give your life
Redstone also believes that schools have a duty to train parents their education. greater flexibility
how to get the most out of the VLE. “Schools should be
thinking hard about home access, not just in terms of the
hardware and software, but the processes involved: what
information should be made available to the different
stakeholder groups - pupils, parents, teachers, governors and
how? It's not enough to simply offer home access - people
need to know how to use it,” he says.
Val Cameron, headteacher at The Park Lane Primary and
Nursery School (which has gone live with online parental
communication using Capita) has this advice for schools
looking to use their VLE to strengthen links with parents.
“Ideally have one system to record all your information on
children. It’s time to get rid of all the different spreadsheets
around school. My recommendation is to use your
management information system. This will make it easier to
share data on your pupils.
“When class teachers enter information about pupils they
need to ensure that it is correct and appropriate to be shared so
that no data cleansing is required. For example, if a behaviour
incident occurs then parents should not have access to the
names of other children involved. Understand that everyday
data for school use may be confusing for parents. Make it clear
November 2009 www.education-today.co.uk
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