Parental Engagement Objectives for session Colleagues will understand

Parental Engagement

Objectives for session Colleagues will understand: • why parental engagement is so important • parent’s attitude to phonics • how to get parents involved • feedback from parents • how to reach out to particular parents

‘Parental engagement has a large and positive impact on children’s learning. ’ (Review of best practice in parental engagement, Df. E 2010)

Why parental engagement is important Children whose parents who are involved are: • • • often more engaged in learning have a higher self-esteem more motivated more positive about their attitude towards school more likely to get better results

Why parental engagement is important Parents who are involved in their childs’ education: • have a better understanding of current educational policies • have a better understanding of the curriculum • feel more equipped to support at home • have an understanding of the role of the teacher and the school setting

Why parental engagement is important How educators benefit from parental engagement: • establish a good communication and trust between all parties • gain an understanding and knowledge of family culture and background • better community support

Parent’s attitudes towards phonics • Mixed – can be supportive (but teaching their children misconceptions) – can be sceptical – can feel embarrassed that they don’t understand it – want to know more about phonics – it is something their children do at school – are all knowledgeable (but not really)

Ways to get parents engaged and onboard

Workshops – Over a six week period (30 minute sessions) – Based on what the children are about to learn – Comfortable environment (if possible) – Hands-on – Videos of lessons or children learning – Resources, refreshments and creche provided – Led by SLE?

Workshops – A one-off workshop delivered by the class teacher before each phase or beginning of each term (offering two different times) – based on what the children are about to learn – Hands-on – Videos of lessons or children learning – Resources, refreshment and creche provided

Stay and Play sessions – First session of the day (6 times a year) – 30 minutes of parents playing phonics games with their children – Creche for siblings – Sneak in a short phonics session beforehand – Activities linked – Games to take home and be circulated

Parent Portals – Phonemes being learnt that week – Key words – Recordings of the children saying the phonemes and how they segment and blend words correctly – Share children’s achievements – Offer ideas to support

Phonics lessons – Parents visiting different classes to see a phonics lesson – Children to be phonics ambassadors – Free resources if attending

Parent Questionnaires School context: – set in a large village – 189 pupil intake – a combination of single or mixed ages classes – a range of different families from professional to parents of disadvantaged learners

Parent Feedback Key trends: – Majority of parents feel that their understanding of phonics is satisfactory or needs improving – Majority of parents would like to attend a one off phonics workshop (instead to a series of workshops) – The time of day is more important than a creche – Parents want free resources and a book list – After drop off was the most popular time – Most wanted a presentation and hands on workshop – Most parents would like to be part of phonics lesson with their child

Parent Feedback Parents phonics knowledge – Ability to sound out phonemes – some of them – Understanding of phonics phases – some idea – Games to support at home – some idea – Confident to support with phonetically decodable books – not always – Understand the Phonics screener – not sure

Parents who are difficult to engage There may be a range of reasons that parents don’t want to or can’t engage with school. – Own negative experience of school – Are not part of the parents community outside of school – Logistics – Work schedule – Feel that the school is their child’s only educator – Home life – Unmotivated – Mental Health

Small changes: – Ensure that staff feel confident in engaging parents – Neutral locations for workshops such as community centre – Communicate regularly 1: 1 – Offer (where possible) opportunities to work in a small group environment with a teaching assistant

Getting parents engaged Ideas from SLEs

Tips and hints • Make events such as phonics workshops compulsory – provide 2 dates for parents to sign up to and keep a record of it • Regular face to face contact especially less engaged parents • Provide online links e. g. Mr Thorne does phonics

Tips and hints • Next steps stickers in reading records • Reading/teaching assistant to read with their child and model effective strategies to the parent • Questions in front of reading records • Opportunities for parents to see teaching in action and then discuss what they have seen and how they can support

Tips and hints • • Whole school Phonics afternoon Offer a £ 5 voucher linked to a supermarket Term open morning Social media