FEATURE: PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT Key stats and facts from the research


• 98%of secondary teachers have approaches to help parents understand what their children are learning


• 3 out of 5 parents were not able to see their child’s homework and assignments online


• Email is the most popular way of receiving information for parents


• Videoconferencing, online portals and email are the top 3 communication methods for teachers


• 18%of parents don’t feel confident supporting their child’s learning


2. Avoid assumptions. When designing your research tools, such as survey questions or interview questions, try to avoid making assumptions and provide opportunities for parents/carers to provide their own opinions to better understand their needs. In surveys, as well as having pre-populated


answer options that respondents can select, ensure there is space for parents to select an ‘other’ option and provide more qualitative detail. Open text boxes are useful to gain perspectives you may not have considered. When speaking to parents/carers, summarise


your understanding and check this regularly. For example, “My understanding from what you’ve just said is…. Is this correct?” Ask clarifying questions or for precision where statements are unclear.


3. Reach out. Ensure you reach a representative sample of parents/carers through inclusive practices to better understand parents’/carers’ needs – needs that are likely to be as varied and diverse as your pupils. Advertise the opportunity widely and through


different methods to ensure that a wide variety of parents are aware of the opportunity. Consider how you can offer parents in different


situations the opportunity to participate in research – for instance, by offering different times of day to participate in an interview, via phone calls or in-person as well as online meetings if possible. Identify any gaps in the characteristics of


parents/carers (and their children) that you have gathered data from and try to address these to ensure a representative group of voices are heard.


4. Feed back. Thank parents/carers for contributing their time to participate, and make sure they know how you will be following up on the findings of your research. Sharing a summary of findings and what


actions you plan to take or have taken on the school website or by newsletter will show that you value the inputs of parents/carers and encourage future engagement in research.


How can communications with parents/carers be improved? Our research showed that more personalised


February 2022


information about their child’s progress was the most important improvement for parents, with more regular communication and more information on how to support their children in their learning also very important.


Here is a selection of suggestions and questions you can ask to reflect on your current practice and use as starting points for discussions at your school on how to improve parental engagement:


• Identify barriers. These are starting points to developing better communication channels and engagement plans rather than insurmountable barriers. Make a plan for families who are struggling to engage and sell parents the benefits of engaging. As a staff team, discuss and address any unconscious bias around parents and how they engage in their child’s learning. Feed these discussions into your communication and engagement plans.


• Understand parents/carers. Find out their expectations – and barriers. This will help you to reach them in ways that are more likely to get them to engage with their child’s learning. If you have a parent group, use their knowledge and influence to help drive engagement. And when you have a new cohort of parents make sure they understand the school’s expectations around communications and supporting their child’s learning.


What parents want from engagement with teachers


• 43%wanted information about where and how their child is doing well, and where they need more support


• 21%wanted more personalised information regarding their child’s learning


• 38%valued being able to communicate directly with teachers


• 35%felt that regular communication was important, with 22% expressing a need for the communication to be timely


Download the new research report from Firefly, How well are schools helping parents to support their child’s learning? atuhttps://fireflylearning.com/parent- engagement-free-report/


www.education-today.co.uk 35


• 3 out of 5 teachers report that parent voice feeds into school strategy


• 83% of parents stated that their child’s school met or exceeded their expectations


• 67% of teachers felt the school was meeting or exceeding expectations


• Use tech creatively. Use technology in ways that can help break down barriers and make it easier for parents/carers to understand the what, why and how of supporting their children’s learning. Can you find one delivery method that can be equally accessed by all, or do you need to plan for several delivery methods? Parents like email - our research found it was their preferred communication method - but it is less popular with teachers. Offer a generic school address, or year group address, and manage expectations about how often that will be monitored. Make sure parents can find relevant contact details easily.


• Communicate clearly. Use plain English and avoid jargon, academic language, or Ofsted inspired terminology. Not all parents/carers will have the same language skills, so identify ways to make communications accessible to everyone. Do you separate your communications for pastoral, administration and learning support issues, and can they be sent out using different methods? With parent/carer engagement firmly on the


roadmap for all schools, it is more important than ever to learn from each other and take the learning experience forward for everyone. Whilst the report highlights that there are things that we can all do to improve the way schools and families work together, there are also many examples of good practice, and most encouragingly a real determination amongst all parties to get it right.


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