Involving parents in achieving excellence

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Parents as Partners in their Childrens Learning

• Involving parents in achieving excellence

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Comhairle nan Eilean SiarCo-labhairt Chinn Sgoile

• Lorraine Sanda
• Celia Burn
• Parental Involvement Coordinators
• Learning and Teaching Scotland

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The Act

• Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006
• Passed in May 2006 with a phased implementation.
• Transition year to enable parents and schools
  develop their Parent Councils
• All elements of the Act now fully commenced from
  August 2007.

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Purpose of the Act

• To modernise and strengthen the framework for
  supporting parental involvement
• To engage parents meaningfully in the education
  of their children and in the school community
• To support parents to work in partnership with
  staff
• To encourage parents to express their views on
  school education

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Why involve parents?

• Parental engagement helps raise pupil achievement
  where parents and teachers work together the
  gains are significant.
• Parents influence is greatest in supporting
  learning in the home.
• A two way relationship is important and schools
  giving the message that parents matter.
• Support for parents needs to recognise their
  specific needs. (Engaging Parents in Raising
  Achievement Do parents know they matter.
  Warwick University July 2007)

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What do we mean by parental involvement?

• Three elements
• Learning at home
• parents as first and ongoing educators of their
  own children
• Home/School Partnership
• schools, parents and the community working
  together to educate children
• Parent representation
• parents have an opportunity to have their views
  represented

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What difference do parents make?
Children spend only 15 of their time in school
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What difference do parents make?
85 of the language we use as adults is in place
by the time we are five years old and 50 is in
place by the time we are three years old.
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What difference do parents make?
Most differences in achievement by 14 year olds
in English, Maths and Science are due to home
influences.
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What difference do parents make?
When parents are actively involved in reading
with their children at home their childrens
reading scores improve, on average, by between
12-18 months.
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What difference do parents make?

• Doing homework regularly through their years at
  school has roughly the same benefit as an extra
  years schooling.

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Implications of the Act for schools

• Need to review current parental engagement and
  identify key areas for improvement audit in
  Toolkit
• Parental engagement to be integrated into school
  development plan
• Barriers identified and addressed
• Whole school approach
• Joint working with new Parent Council
• Identify CPD needs of staff

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Group Discussion

• Where are you up to and what are your key issues
• - setting up Parent Councils
• - widening parental involvement
• - included in planning/evaluation

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Taking the Act forward

• Actively involving parents in supporting learning
• Taking greater account of the views and
  aspirations of parents and children
• Taking account of childrens wider experiences
• Using skills and experiences of parents

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Parents as partners in childrens learning
Confident individuals
Successful learners
Involving parents to enable all young people to
become
Responsible citizens
Effective contributors
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What is an AifL School? A Place Where Everyone is
Learning Together
Our pupils and staff help to set their own
learning goals
Our pupils and staff identify and reflect on
their own evidence of learning
Our pupils and staff practise self- and
peer-assessment
ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING
Learning and Teaching
Curriculum
Our pupils, staff and parents are clear about
what is to be learned and what success would be
like
Staff use a range of evidence from day-to-day
activities to check on pupils progress
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
Our pupils and staff are given timely feedback
about the quality of their work and how to make
it better
Staff talk and work together to share standards
in and across schools
Staff use assessment information to monitor their
establishments provision and progress, and to
plan for improvement
Our pupils and staff are fully involved in
deciding next steps in their learning and
identifying who can help
Assessment
Our classroom assessment involves high quality
interactions, based on thoughtful questions,
careful listening and reflective responses
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Assessment is for Learning

• Assessment for Learning
• Learning and Teaching
• Our children, staff and parents are clear
  about what is to be learned and what success
  would be like.

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Resources

• Guidance
• Toolkit
• Making the Difference leaflets
• Welcome Pack for Parent Councils
• CD-Rom-resources, video clips examples of
  practice
• Journey to Excellence

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Useful Websites

• Parents as Partners in childrens learning
• http//www.ltscotland.org.uk/parentsaspartnersinl
  earning/index.asp
• Parentzone website
• www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk
• Parent Institutewww.parent-institute.com
• www.hmie.gov.uk
• www.scottishschoolsgetonline

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Parent Prompt - Toolkit page 35/36

• Purpose
• Provide information/activities to parents on
  what is being taught in school
• Enable parents and others to support specific
  areas of the curriculum

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What works

• Communication is a key issue this needs to be a
  two way process what opportunities exist for
  parents to feedback to school?
• Using more than one method of communication found
  to be effective
• Most successful parent participation
• - offers a variety of roles and asks parents
  directly to be involved.
• - enables parents to choose from a range of
  activities- is arranged at a variety of times to
  suit parents needs and preferences.

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Developing Partnership - Activity

• In pairs list all the different ways you
  communicate with parents and they communicate
  with you. Identify the 3 most effective.
• How can we better link learning at school with
  childrens learning at home?

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Top tips (from EPRA)

• Have a member of the senior leadership team with
  specific responsibility for parental partnership.
• Share with all partners the importance and impact
  of parental engagement.
• Analyse the impact of all events and activities
  on pupil achievement.
• Embrace work with parents with enthusiasm and
  passion!