Parental Engagement

There is plenty of evidence and research confirming that Parental Engagement is crucial if children are to reach thier full potential.

Despite the introduction of designated staff in Schools whose focus is solely on improving engagement many Schools continue to find this problematic. Often there is too little time and resource focused on improvement. My keys to success are:

• Allow enough time for focussed and persistent outreach to ensure that the vulnerable families in targeted areas of need are included.
• Provide services in responsive and flexible ways and at flexible times.
• Tailor activities to make them appealing to parents who make less use of early years and school provision, for instance fathers.
• Respond to the support needs of individual parents – other issues such as financial worries or depression may need to be addressed before or at the same time as helping parents to support their children as learners.
• Use the expertise of voluntary organisations that have links with the local community.
• Be clear about your expectations and what you want to get from the engagement