Power point presentation on supporting schools to engage with parents and the wider community. CASE Education provides training materials and an audit toolkit to help schools work out what they are doing well and what could be developed to embed parent partnerships in whole school ethos.

1. CASE Education
Staff Training
• Welcome & Introductions
• Background Information
• Assessment Toolkit Outline
• Where are we now in terms of community and
parental engagement?
• Where would we like to be?
• How will we get there?
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

2. Background Information
Mairi McLeod
Community Education Consultant
Teacher
Trainer & Resource Writer
Facilitator
Parent
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

3. What is the Assessment Toolkit?
A working document that :
• Helps schools identify areas of strength and areas for
development within school and community
• Supports schools to evidence reasons for adopting
certain community strategies
• Allows staff to work together to find solutions that
meet the needs of their own school and community
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

4. Parental Engagement
Ofsted January 2014
• Ofsted January 2014
• The following statements are taken from the
Ofsted framework 2014 and demonstrate
clearly the significance of involving parents in
their child's education
• Leadership and management will not be
judged as outstanding unless they are satisfied
with evidence of positive parental
engagement
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

5. Ofsted 2014
• Ofsted will analyse views of parents and
qualify relevant complaints
• School inspections will support and promote
improvement by: Clearly identifying strengths
and weaknesses
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

6. Ofsted January 2014
• Focus on pupil and parents needs by :
• drawing on pupils and parents views to inform
judgements and outcomes of inspections...
• Taking account of pupil and parents views in the
planning and conduct of the inspection....evaluating
the extent to which schools provide an inclusive
environment which meets the needs of all pupils
irrespective of
age, gender, disability, reassignment, race, religion or
belief, sex or sexual orientation
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

7. Areas covered in Toolkit
This tool kit focuses on 10 key themes of
community & parental engagement in school
practice. There will be some aspects that sit in more
than one theme and these can be altered to meet
the requirements of each school :
• Ethos, Policy and Practice
• Parents & Family Learning
• School Environment
• Staff Practice & Parental Inclusion
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

8. Toolkit
• Communication
• Leadership & Collaboration
• Governors
• Perceived Barriers to Parental Engagement
• Planning for Effective Engagement
• Setting the Vision
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

9. Task : Group Reflection- What is parent
involvement?
• What are you currently doing to include parents
in school life and their child’s education?
• Work in Key Stage groups to identify the
strategies that you are currently using to engage
with parents
• Consider initiatives in class, after school, home
school partnership?
• What other strategies are being adopted as a
whole school?
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

10. Could we do more?
• Discuss as a staff the outcomes of your group
brainstorming session?
• What more could be done?
• Are there any barriers to parental
engagement?
• How can these be overcome?
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

11. Out of the Box
• What simple, practical things could you
provide to enable parents to support their
children beyond the classroom?
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

12. How welcoming is your school?
• What strategies are being used to welcome
parents and visitors to your school?
• Is your information clear and accessible to all
parents?
• Is there a friendly face in the playground each
morning
• Are there photos of class reps on display?
• How multi cultural are your signs- are they
reflective of the community?
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

13. Working with parents to raise
achievement
Why communicate with parents?
A few reasons!
Family Learning Works
• “Involving the whole family in learning can boost educational
attainment across generations and should be integral to
schools..
• Family learning could increase children’s development by as
much as 15% in disadvantaged groups…” NIACE 2013
http://www.niace.org.uk/news/every-school-must-make-family-learning-
work
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

14. Education Endowment Foundation / Sutton Trust
Ongoing Research and Evaluation
What we should know
• Focused approaches which support parents in
working with their children to improve their
learning are beneficial
• The challenge is in engaging and sustaining
such involvement
• Involvement is often easier to achieve with
parents of very young children
• Parents of older children may appreciate short
sessions at flexible times to involve them
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

15. Education Endowment Foundation /
Sutton Trust
• Schools can be daunting places for parents so it is
important to establish a welcoming environment
• Parents may be anxious about their own
educational achievements and it is important to
discuss with them the ways in which they can
support their children’s effort which do not require
a high level of ability (e.g. by ensuring that
students have an environment where they can
work at home, or by asking them to explain what
they learned at school and how they learned it
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

16. Planning for Parental Engagement /
Community Involvement
Task :
• Staff work together towards creating a whole
school parent and community engagement
statement which summarizes school
commitment to community / parental
engagement
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731

17. Embedding the community message
• Planning for effective community
engagement– please bring long term planning
to meeting
• What has changed since last session?
• What more can be done?
• Consultation
CASE
Education, www.educase.co.uk, educase@
hotmail.co.uk, Tel: 07939001731