PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT
Meet the parents
Encouraging parents to be involved and active
in their child’s education can be a challenge for schools from day one and understanding the complex network of factors that make every pupil unique elevates a difficult task into the realms of the (almost) impossible. So, what can schools actually do to achieve the
utopian dream of a fully engaged, actively involved parent community? Throughout the course of 2018, I was fortunate enough to be involved in several outstanding presentations and webinars from guests of ours, sharing their knowledge and expertise on the subject with some practical guidance for schools – in this article, we’ll share some of the most salient suggestions for schools to consider.
T
his month, in the first of our features on parental engagement, regular Education
Today contributor Graham Cooper, head of education at Capita SIMS, explores the issues and offers some pointers for schools looking to encourage more interaction between parent and school.
Parental engagement is easy, isn’t it? You just send your pupils off with their homework and their parents naturally take an interest and get involved, providing encouragement, support and just the right level of input. Except it’s never really that easy, of course. As teachers we all want the best for our pupils
and it’s often been noted that children who receive support and encouragement from home are more likely to progress and succeed in their school lives. But achieving that kind of buy-in from families
with their own pressures, busy schedules and priorities makes it an extremely complicated objective to get right throughout all levels of education.
Avoid putting all the hard-to-reach parents in one box In the same way that all pupils need to be considered individually, it’s important to avoid taking all the parents that you have challenges engaging with and dropping them into a box marked ‘hard to reach’. Rather than trying to find a solution that works
for all the parents in this category, the schools that succeed in this area identify the individual barriers to engagement experienced by parents and families, recognising that one size does not fit all.
Now more than ever, families lead complex
lives, with a variety of different issues and pressures creating an ever-changing environment. By placing all parents who have proven difficult to access under one banner, schools run the risk of alienating those parents who actually need the greatest support and flexibility. For instance, take the example of a family
where one or more of the parents works shifts. If the school is only able to facilitate feedback via a set meeting time and date, asking a parent to give up a shift could affect the family’s income and heap extra strain where it could be avoided. In turn, this could lead the parents to feel isolated
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and that they have little opportunity to play a role in their child’s schooling. If schools can find ways to accommodate the
needs of as many of their parents as possible, the likelihood of accessing the ‘hard-to-reach’ is greatly improved.
Parents are mainly interested in their own children This might seem like an obvious statement, but it’s important to remember that most parents are more likely to be interested in and take a proactive approach towards the achievements and requirements of their own children. This is particularly important to focus on when
it comes to providing parents with updates – by making their children’s performance the main highlight of any communication, the likelihood of parents taking the level of interest that you’re looking for is greatly increased. Looking at the example of the traditional
parents’ evening, this has always been a significant date in the school diary and represents the most direct way for parents to communicate with teachers and engage in their children’s learning. However, they can be a drain on the precious time of both parents and teachers, so it can pay dividends for schools to find more efficient ways of providing the updates they entail. Technology can play a significant role in this
area with apps providing parents instant access to the information most relevant to their children, covering areas such as behaviour, attendance and assessment. By focussing in on what matters the most to parents, schools have the opportunity to make parents’ experiences of interacting with schools streamlined, efficient and flexible to their needs.
Take advantage of technology Speaking of technology, the growing prevalence of mobile devices, apps and the internet means that as individuals and school organisations, we
February 2019
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