FEATURE: PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT
example, text messages and social media are better for urgent communications.
Make learning visible The more parents understand about their child’s learning experience, the more engaged they will be and the better they are able to support their child's learning. This requires teachers to make sure that parents can access their child’s curriculum and learning resources. It’s also important for parents to understand the progress their child is making and the challenges they face. A continuous reporting approach - using technology to share learning goals and achievements on a rolling basis rather than waiting for the school report - will deliver big benefits in the long run, allowing parents and teachers to collaborate more effectively in the learning process.
Support parents with home learning Parents aren’t education experts, but schools can bridge this gap by setting out expectations for them and their children clearly and concisely. Provide parents with a clear structure and resources and give them some tips and advice on how to support their children with their learning at home.
Get their feedback Understand the value of listening to parents. Good communication is a two-way process and people are more invested if they feel that their voices are heard. Many schools have a variety of forums for this sort of process, such as a PTA, but it is not always easy to get the thoughts of the wider parent community on a regular basis. Understanding the concerns of the school community allows schools to be more proactive with their communications, to head off issues before they escalate, and to track the impact of school strategy. Regular surveys will ensure that parents feel that they have a voice, and a stake, in the success of the school.
Communicate consistently Too often, school communications are reactive rather than proactive, a matter of firefighting rather than a steady stream of ongoing communications to ensure that parents are reassured and kept up to date. Schools need to make it clear to parents when, and where, to find the information for their child.
Plan around weekly and termly communications Newsletters, published at the same time every week, go a long way to keep parents up to date with what’s going on at school, as do communications to mark the start and end of each term. Parents welcome these reminders. They don’t always have the time, or the inclination to access online school calendars or trawl through letters and forms. Modern technology does the sorting for parents, filtering emails for sets, year groups, genders, and activities, so that parents receive only what is relevant to their child. The alternative is bombarding them with a barrage of irrelevant information.
Make communications readable Let clarity and brevity be your watchwords. Parents are busy. Say too much, and you’ll
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overwhelm and lose many of them. Structure emails so that the most important information is prioritised. Highlight key details so that they can be understood at a glance, especially if action is required. The capacity to send targeted SMS messages to inform parents about last-minute cancellations or a minibus that’s stuck in traffic on the way home saves teachers and parents a lot of time and frustration. Simple guidelines can enhance readability no end. Bullet points, bold text, capitalisation, and other presentational features are easy to implement and hugely helpful to parents. Photos bring messaging to life and make it all the more memorable. Encourage departments to save time setting up and sending out communications by using templates with the same design, logos, and brand guidelines.
Make parents feel part of school life School life goes far beyond the classroom. It is the richness of activity that engages students, and sharing this with parents will help them understand how the school is supporting their child’s development as an individual. This can sometimes be the hardest aspect of schooling to make visible to parents, but technology means we are no longer constrained by paper newsletters that go out once a term. Video and audio can bring a report on the school production to life, and a school e-zine, curated and edited by students, can bring a new and exciting dimension to news and updates. Where possible, give parents the chance to contribute to school news, perhaps through the PTA. Like any community, schools thrive on an atmosphere of openness and communication. When everyone is working towards a common goal, the greater the likelihood of success and, even more importantly, the healthier the relationship between home and school.
Outline clear expectations for a learning partnership Parents want to get involved and join the learning conversation, but they don’t always know how. Outline clear expectations. Parents can help their children by establishing clear boundaries and routines, as well as goal setting and time- management. They can also monitor reading, revision, and homework activities. As a school you
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can help parents with easy access to timetables, shared resources, and exam specifications. Clear communication circumvents a hundred questions and misunderstandings about what’s on a particular course or exam.
Take a long-term view Communications with parents should be seen as an act in itself: not a bolt-on or by-product. It is, therefore, something to plan and schedule. You can start by critically reviewing your overarching communications policy: its aims and current approaches. The planning cycle will include a timetable of key calendar events and announcements: parents’ evening, examinations, sport fixtures, music, and drama. An approval system is useful for auditing key communications before they’re sent out.
Next steps A new e-book, “Communicating effectively with parents: A guide to engaging your greatest advocates” has been published by Firefly. It contains a wealth of tips and advice drawn from Firefly’s experience of working with more than 600 schools and is available at
https://fireflylearning.com/communicating- effectively-with-parents/
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