| Parental involvement in children's learning |
| |
| Scotland: The experiences of a primary school and secondary
school |
| |
Charlie Jamieson
Headteacher St Fergus Primary School,
Paisley |
| |
Brian Miller
Headteacher Dalziel High School,
Motherwell |
| |
| This case study highlights the
ways in which two Scottish schools involve parents effectively in their
children's learning. Pupils at St Fergus Primary school are aged 5-11 and
those at Dalziel High School 12-18. In Scotland, pupils can opt to leave
school when aged 16, though most go on to study further at school or college.
The case studies, therefore, cover the involvement of parents with children
across the ages of compulsory education in Scotland. |
| |
| St Fergus Primary School |
| |
| St Fergus Primary School has
a roll of 250 and is situated in an area of multiple deprivation. The education
authority's priority was to ensure that the education service closely matched
local needs. Through local consultation with a wide range of community groups,
issues were identified and practical steps to address them set out. The
education strategy which was developed covered both primary and secondary
school experiences and was brought to reality with the support of all partners.
The following diagram was designed by a primary 6 pupil at St Fergus Primary
School to illustrate the education strategy. |
| |
|
|
| |
The aims of St Fergus Primary School include specific references
to the importance of involving parents and the wider community in their
children's education. For example, the school aims to ensure that:
- there is a welcoming atmosphere and a
positive ethos throughout the whole school, where all visitors and
users of the service feel relaxed, comfortable and at ease;
- a strong partnership with parents is established
and that parents are kept fully informed and involved in their children's
progress; and
- equality of opportunity is available to
all users of the service.
|
| |
| St Fergus Primary School has
worked closely with the local community to help meet the school's aims.
This consultation and communication has secured the involvement of key groups
in the community in responding to the needs of pupils, and those of parents
in learning how to support their children's education more effectively.
The extent of the partnership is illustrated by the following diagram. |
| |
|
|
| |
Through this partnership, the school has developed a very
wide range of initiatives to involve parents directly in supporting their
children. The initiatives include the following.
- Pre-entrant programme
- Home visits to all primary one children
- All parents of primary pupils involved
in class visits and a shared reading programme
- Parent workshops and training on structured
play, which led to parent involvement in school
- Parent prompts for helping children to
learn at home
- Curriculum workshops
- Parent workshops and training on helping
with reading which led to parental responsibility for the library
- Parent workshops in mathematics at P4
and P5 to support learning at home
- School Board involvement in policy making,
e.g. homework, positive behaviour
- Home visiting and a clear role for home
link visitors
- Improving attendance
|
| |
| Improving attendance |
| |
The whole school community, including staff, pupils, parents
and local businesses worked in partnership to develop a more positive view
of the importance of good attendance. Many factors which contributed towards
high levels of attendance and reducing truancy were identified and became
action points for all those involved in the partnership. These factors included:
- a safe and happy environment;
- a differentiated curriculum with appropriately
challenging tasks for pupils;
- a positive ethos;
- a caring, tolerant community; and
- high levels of expectation for good attendance.
|
| |
| The challenge was therefore to
help pupils reach their potential within a safe and happy environment, where
an appropriate curriculum is offered to each pupil according to their specific
needs. Work on many of the factors had already begun as part of the school's
planned developments to meet its aims. |
| |
In addition, a shared value of the immense benefits to be
gained from relations with parents was promoted through:
- an open door policy;
- establishing a parents' room;
- user friendly communication;
- a strong Parent-Teacher Association and
School Board;
- sharing the school aims with the local
community; and
- regular social events.
|
| |
The school set a target for attendance of 94% for the school
year. Parents were informed of the target and encouraged to support the
school. Approaches to impoving attendance included:
- monitoring and reward structures;
- informing parents of improvements in attendance
through regular updates;
- involving children in discussing attendance
at school assemblies and awards ceremonies;
- involving staff in setting a positive
tone and in absence monitoring procedures;
- awards from local businesses to children
who achieved 100% attendance throughout the academic year;
- initiating a Joint Assessment Team and
Home-School visiting arrangements; and
- involving the Attendance Council and Reporter
to Children's Panel only when all other steps for improving a pupil's
attendance had failed.
|
| |
| The school found that through
setting a clear, shared objective, and by working in partnership where everyone
involved understood their role, significant improvements could be made in
raising the level of attendance in a large primary school. |
| |
| Dalziel High School |
| |
| Dalziel High School has a roll
of 950 pupils. A large proportion of the pupils are from Areas of Priority
Treatment. There is a Hearing Impaired Department in which all pupils are
fully integrated into mainstream classes. The involvement of parents was
identified as one of the key elements in a successful school where all pupils
achieve their maximum potential. A range of strategies are in place for
involving parents. |
| |
| Initial Steps - Getting Parents Involved |
| |
| Before pupils transfer to Dalziel
High School from the primary schools each August, a number of events take
place. |
| |
- Learning support staff, guidance staff
and subject staff visit the associated primary schools (at regular intervals
throughout the session) to obtain information on individual pupils,
including their strengths and areas of difficulty.
|
| |
| 2. Every parent is issued with
a school handbook which sets out and encourages involvement in many aspects,
and at each stage, of their children's learning. |
| |
| 3. Each year, a promotional video
is made of Dalziel High School and given to all primary pupils who will
be transferring to the school. Families can then watch the video and learn
more about the school, how it will build on the child's experiences at primary
school and what new experiences can be expected. |
| |
4. Every parent is invited to a meeting in June, at which:
- a brief talk is given by the headteacher
on the opportunities to become involved in their child's education and
the expectations of the partnership between the school and the home;
- they tour the school and
- meet their child's teachers
- see examples of the work that s/he will
be doing; and
information leaflets are distributed on matters
such as attendance and homework.
|
| |
| 5. The parents of hearing impaired
pupils, and also those with specific learning difficulties, discuss individually
with specialist staff how the parents can help in the education of their
child. |
| |
| Building the partnership |
| |
When pupils begin their first year at Dalziel High School,
they are issued with a Student Planner. Homework must be marked up in the
planner as it is given. The Planner is checked every week by staff at school.
In addition, parents must sign the relevant page weekly to ensure that:
- their son/daughter is regularly completing
homework; and
- that they are happy with the amount of
homework given.
|
| |
| Parents are also encouraged to
check the homework and tasks in other exercise books to ensure that aspects
such as handwriting and neatness are of a suitably high standard. They are
encouraged to contact the school if they have any questions or concerns
about homework or any other matters. |
| |
| A monthly newsletter is sent
to all parents informing them of news items and important events, such as
parents' evenings or examinations. |
| |
| Support for pupils |
| |
| Individual pupils, previously
identified at primary school, receive specific help to support their learning.
Their parents are informed and are invited to visit the school to have the
strategies explained and to find out what they can do at home to complement
the work of the school. |
| |
| Within their first few weeks
at the school, every pupil has an individual interview with his/her guidance
teacher. After two months, a very brief report is issued to parents to let
them know how their child is settling in to the school. Each teacher comments
on effort, behaviour and general attitude in class. The guidance teacher
provides an overview of how well the pupil is coping with the new school
and the headteacher reads and signs all the reports. From the very early
stages of first year, the school establishes very clear communications with
parents to encourage partnership. |
| |
A member of the school senior management team and the guidance
staff, in liaison with the whole school staff, use the information gained
from these reports to identify other pupils who may require specific or
extra attention. The school has a range of strategies to help identify and
meet the needs of these pupils, for example:
- the Extended Learning Support team;
- the Joint Assessment Team;
- Reading Buddy scheme;
- Maths Pal scheme; and
- the spelling club.
|
| |
| Parents are closely involved
in any decisions to offer additional support to their child. Their thoughts
and views are taken into account in the final decision on the type of additional
support to be provided. |
| |
| Reporting to parents |
| |
There is a carefully planned and structured system of:
- reporting to parents on their children's
progress; and
- Parents' Evenings where parents can meet
their son/daughter's teachers and discuss progress.
|
| |
| After the brief 'settling-in'
report early in the first year, all other reports are highly detailed and
give a very full account of the individual progress made by each pupil in
the subjects s/he studies. The timing of reports and Parents' Evenings are
organised so that there is regular contact between the school and home for
every pupil throughout his or her school life. |
| |
|
|
| |
| (R) Report |
| (PE) Parents Evening |
| |
| Helping parents - with no knowledge of, or ability in,
subjects to become involved in children's learning |
| |
The school recognised that parents may have difficulty in
understanding some of the work their children are studying, particularly
as the level of study rises. Parents are therefore provided with:
- information on the curriculum content,
for example, through subject guides which explain the topics their children
will study each term;
- detailed overviews of each course offered
when children select their courses;
- an opportunity to discuss future careers
and courses with their child, teachers and specialist staff; and
- information on important Assignments and
Investigations in each course, published in the Student Planner. Letters
are sent home to parents of those pupils who fail to meet the completion
dates.
|
| |
| Teachers can send notes of concern
or praise about pupils' progress to guidance staff who will keep parents
informed and advise of the steps to be taken if there is widespread concern. |
| |
| School Board |
| |
| As the elected representatives
of parents, the School Board has an important role to play in helping to
involve parents in key aspects of children's learning and in the wider aspects
of the school's work. The headteacher and School Board therefore work very
closely together. |
| |
The School Board is involved in the formulation of all school
policies. Two recent examples were:
- the review of the School Homework Policy;
and
- the policy on Promoting Achievement.
|
| |
All parents receive helpful leaflets
about the school's work, prepared and agreed by the school and School Board.
For example, parents are issued with a leaflet which explains, using plain
language, the answers to questions parents frequently ask about homework:
- Why have homework?
- Why is homework a complicated issue?
- What form does homework take?
- How much homework is given?
- Are pupils taught to study on their own?
- What if your son or daughter finds difficulty
in completing a piece of homework because it is too hard?
- How can parents help?
|
| |
| Parents' Association |
| |
All parents are free to join
the Parents' Association. As well as raising funds for the school to help
to improve the comfort and facilities for the pupils (not curricular resources),
it arranges for specialists to give talks on educational issues. Recent
examples include:
- the ways in which the Careers Service
works with pupils and present and future job 'trends' in the local area;
and
- the school guidance staff who outlined
the approach taken to drug education.
|
| |