BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

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(No Transcript)
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• BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
• BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES
• Anne Page
• Policy Manager
• National Family and Parenting Institute
• www.familyandparenting.org
• page_at_family andparenting.org

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ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME?

• Charles Desforges influential research for DfES
  his review was about parental involvement in
  childrens learning and showed that the one key
  thing its important for parents to do is to talk
  with their children
• In the context of childrens services, extended
  schools and Every Child Matters, should we be
  asking what is the key to children and young
  peoples well-being (health social care) and
  learning (educational attainment and
  achievement)?

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FIRST LEARNING FROM RECENT RESEARCH

• Preliminary findings from the
• NFPI parent-school partnerships
• research project
• funded by the Esmee Fairbairn foundation

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PRACTITIONERS CONCERNS

• Established ways of working with parents many
  new initiatives since 2000
• Concern about the speed of the introduction of
  new initiatives
• Danger of throwing the baby out with the
  bathwater, or on the other hand, continuing with
  established ways of working that only suit some
  parents/continue tradition/rely on one energetic
  or charismatic person
• Concern about the place of nurturing the whole
  child in new initiatives, over concentration on
  targets and in schools on testing
• Evidence to the Family Commission 2005 about work
  with parents in schools key to taking forward
  is to ENGAGE with parents as a starting point

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SCHOOL PARENT POLICIES

• LA support for children/families with special
  needs parent partnerships
• Parents as consumers right to choice and
  information
• Home-school agreements
• Parental involvement in childrens learning
• Parent support implies deficit model of
  parenting?
• Partnerships between families and schools and how
  it fits with the development of extended schools

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SCHOOL-PARENT PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

• A qualitative research project
• to explore established and innovative ways of
  schools working with parents and families
• to explore the commonalities and differences in
  the perspectives of parents, children and school
  staff
• to explore what terms in current use mean in
  practice

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WHAT WORKS WELL ON THE GROUND TO ENGAGE PARENTS?

• Text, e-mail, phone calls, school website
• Encouraging parents to become classroom
  assistants, take qualifications, work at the
  school
• Home-visiting
• Onsite services, before and after school
  activities
• Regular multi-agency meetings
• Energetic (and tired) individuals who make things
  happen quickly

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CHALLENGES

• Parents feel done to by professionals
• Parents and schools both feel it can be difficult
  to communicate with each other
• Parents busy lives
• Some aspects of family life are outside of the
  schools influence and families may want to
  preserve switch off time to spend together
• Children have a role to play in telling their
  parents about school life

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LIMITATIONS

• Need for clearer definitions of the variety of
  approaches being used in schools multi-agency
  working, parental involvement, family learning,
  PTA/governors, extended schools menu
• Tensions between school ethos and community
  climate
• Parents disengaged with schools or any kind of
  formal learning
• Funding, time resources

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THE RESEARCH STUDY

• Five schools three secondary two primary
• Two rural three urban
• Two with a mix of ethnic origin
• One with 90 plus minority ethnic population
• Two struggling to build stronger links with
  parents
• Three with established links with parents and
  wanting to build on existing strengths family
  learning, parents association, fathers group,
  learning creche

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• Total of 125 interviews
• 50 parents in five discussion groups completed
• 50 children and young people in five discussion
  groups completed
• 12 staff in individual interviews currently
  being completed
• Follow up interviews 6 months later with a
  smaller sample of parents and children

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• Definitions of partnership between families and
  schools
• Triggers for developing positive relationships
  between families and schools
• Barriers to effective relationships between
  families and schools
• Overcoming barriers
• What has to happen for parents and families to
  feel part of the school community?

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PARENTS PERSPECTIVE

• Good working relationship rather than partnership
• Clear roles and communication channels
• Information about school diary, uniform, trips
  and so on how the school is organised
• Support for the transition into secondary school
• Appreciate being welcomed into school and
  consulted

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• Family learning builds confidence and improves
  relationships with children
• Coming into school and meeting other parents is
  enjoyable, helps forge real friendships
• Parents and grandparents as a resource eg
  entrepreneurs, local business people, crafts,
  local history could broker links with schools
• Existing structures eg PTA, school governors
  dont reach the majority of parents
• Parents give time and help to their own children,
  but may get lost in the school structures,
  especially in large secondary schools

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PARENTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

• Once parents come through the door and see its
  a laid-back atmosphere within the school, then
  youre half-way there. I think for a lot of
  people if theyve got that feeling where, I dunno
  if I can go to school, the headteacher thereOnce
  youve got past that, if you can get them into
  school, theres usually no stopping them.
• Parent volunteer,
  primary school

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• ..there should be meetings where they (parents)
  come and find out ways of how to deal with their
  child or other children that are disruptive in
  class or, you know what I mean, they know how to
  deal with it and how to approach another
  parent.When somebody goes up to you and says,
  Your child has really been provoking my child,
  sometimes theyre shocked for a period and then
  backed up and theyre like, Well, you know, but
  theyve probably had enough, thats why theyre
  going up to parents so if they sort of had these
  meetings and stuff like that and you know theres
  a procedure you go through and you can talk to
  the parents and say well likeAnd lots of times
  were not united and the kids can play up one
  parent to another and tell lies and stuff like
  that, you know.
• Parent, secondary school

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• ..Ive been here when parents have broken
  downjust come to the door and theyre just in
  tearsI try and tell the parents that whatever
  theyre going through in their life, theyre not
  on their own..Some people havent got
  grandparents, families, friends they can rely
  on.
• Its interaction with other parents. We sit down
  and we problem-share. Somebodyd been up all
  night with a little un, shed say, Well I tried
  so and so, that works for me.
• Parent creche worker, primary school

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• I dont need to ask. As soon as they (the
  children) sit down, as soon as its gone quiet,
  you can guarantee one of them will say and
  today. Ill sit there for about ten minutes
  while they tell me about school and their friends
  and whats happened. Its fun sometimes, but
  sometimes it goes on and on and on.
• Father, primary school

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• partnership? I mean Ive got four children and
  half the time I dont have time to go to the
  toilet. Each child has one to one time with me.
  We want more of a working relationship than a
  partnership really.
• Mother, secondary school

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• In this community its always been that the dad
  has not looked after the childrenIt used to be
  years ago that the father went out and earned the
  money, and the mother stayed in the house. And
  now roles are changing, I mean theres more women
  going back to work and going on courses and what
  have you. I cant argue, cos my wife owrks here
  (at the school). But thats the element of it
  that I mean and more men are now getting involved
  with their children, because their wives or their
  partners are going back to work or going to work.
• Father in dads group, primary school

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• The school works very good because every time
  there is a new thing they will let me know by
  writing and sending home. Every time she is
  involved in the programme they will let me know,
  every time there is a new thing, every
  information they will, the school will let me
  know before I find out myself.Even though she
  (daughter) tries to hide I will getting it by the
  end of the daythe school will let me know that.
• Parent, secondary school

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• My son came home and said, Oh Ive got the day
  off tomorrow, Mum. Are you sure? So I rang the
  school and asked how come I wasnt sent a letter
  to say? Oh, we dont do that any more, its in
  the front of the logbook. As year seven parents,
  we dont know that. It wasnt the way it used to
  be. So youre relying on your child telling you.
• Mother, secondary school

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CHILDREN YOUNG PEOPLES PERSPECTIVE

• Appreciate more cheering on from parents and
  family
• Would like to see parents come into school for a
  taste of classes and school life reality TV
  show where swap places for a day
• Bullying/building self-confidence continues to be
  an issue
• Real pressure in exam years

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• Parents dont understand what school is like now,
  what grades for work and effort mean, how the
  school works
• Parents help with problems
• Parents talk about school most days
• Busy parents can still keep in touch by phone
• Parents can be embarrassing in school

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CHILDREN YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN WORDS

• When youre in school you can talk to your
  friends, mess around and do what you want to do.
  But when parents are around you, youre just
  quiet. Thats why they say like Im quiet, but
  Im actually not that quiet at school.
• Secondary school student

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• Well first of all they (parents) ask about like
  relationship and Im like,Mm, no, I dont have
  any boyfriend. And just like make all this story
  up like bad boyfriend, got dumped, got another
  one. So its actually quite annoying to like
  argue with them about school, education, stuff
  like that. And they always like tell me, Go
  upstairs and study, which I will do, but they
  just dont believe me studying because they say
  Im too lazy and the only thing Ill do is go
  upstairs, play guitar, listen to music and drum.
  Which is not actually quite true. I think school
  is the only place if you want to reach your
  dreams, you can start from going to school, learn
  about it and then you got to try harder and you
  can get what you want.
• Secondary school student

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• You could have a day when you swap places with
  your parents and they have to do all the work and
  everything.
• they could tell us all the answers.
• theyd see what other children do and how much
  strain it is.
• .they would know what a simile is.
• Primary school students

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School staff in their own words

• So re-establishing that idea that education is
  a good thing and that your children are
  worthwhile, you know, and that you ought to spend
  time, be more involved with them, is a critical
  thing as far as this school is concerned. Every
  school and every headteacher will tell you that,
  you know what I mean, it trips off the tongue,
  you know. I just wonder sometimes about how
  serious if you like they are about it, you know.
  When I established the dads group herea good
  friend of mine and a headteacher, he said to me,
  Whats this, youve got a dads group? I said,
  Thats absolutely righthe said, What do you
  want to bother with a dads group? Havent you
  got enough trouble with the mothers?
• Headteacher, primary school

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• There are some parents whose children are, they
  really are facing exclusions ..and so youve got
  to try and get that message across that actually
  this is a problem..Im trying to get support for
  you but then where do I go with it because
  theres very few groups that are able to do that
  and one of the ideas that I had was somehow
  trying to get the parents to support each other
  for parentsbut I dont think weve got the
  culture for that yet, I dont think weve got the
  forum for doing it.
• Deputy head teacher, secondary school

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• Well I would say if another schools thinking
  about starting something like this, then to go
  for it. Cos initially you havent got the ideas
  there, once you start meeting, the ideas just
  come and one thing leads to another. And then
  like three years down the line youve got you
  know, youve got your little team to carry on
  doing stuff that the teachers need doing, but
  havent always got time to do. And its nice to
  feel that the parents can be asked to do
  things..You just need someone with enough
  confidence to say, Well come on, do it.
• Parents group volunteer co-ordinator,
  primary school