As teachers, we want to do everything we can for the young people in our care. That’s why we work hard to support them and build good relationships with each student. We know our business perfectly, but we don’t know it best. These are obviously their parents and guardians. That’s why it makes sense that we work hard to build positive relationships with entire families and support children together.
But how can we involve parents and encourage them to play an active role in their children’s education? This question is asked all the time and there is no easy answer.Often it is not that they do not want to be involved in their children’s school life, but it is almost impossible for them.
The cost of living crisis has had a huge impact on our families, as has Covid of course, and many other families are struggling to cover themselves and their children’s basic needs. All the schools I know are working tirelessly to support families during these difficult times, and many have even opened their own food banks and thrift stores to ease the financial burden where possible. However, this is an ongoing issue and we will continue to support
in any way we can.
ADS
So what can we do to make it a little easier for parents to connect with kids?How can we encourage more parents and carers to attend our schools?
Flexibility
Try to be as flexible as possible at parents’ evenings and meetings and offer a wide range of meetings. Of course, it is not always possible to meet everyone’s needs, but holding a parents’ evening later on a given evening may mean that parents are more interested. This can result in working parents being able to attend classes later and therefore being able to take less time off than in the middle of the day. I know it’s not ideal for us teachers, especially when you have your own family to come home to, but if we want more parental involvement, we need to offer more options
Family Learning
Offer parents the opportunity to work with their children through workshops or family education sessions. It is a great opportunity for parents to spend time with children and teachers and build positive relationships. It’s also a good way for parents to find out what their children are learning and consider things like teaching phonics or specific math strategies to better support their children at home. This is a great way to get parents involved, but as mentioned, there will always be those who cannot attend due to work commitments. Our school welcomes not only parents, but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings or other family members who can accompany us if a parent is unable to do so.
Communication
Find different and meaningful ways to communicate with parents and keep them up to date on what is happening at school.The more informed parents are about what is happening at school, the more involved they will feel in their children’s education. Most schools have some sort of newsletter that is very useful for parents and helps them see what is happening at school. However, think about how you can send him home. Sending information and letters via email can be a great way to communicate because people can open the information at any time and access it from anywhere on their phone. Hard copies of Bulletin
and all other letters and reports should also be provided to parents upon request, as they may have additional needs, such as dyslexia, and may find reading on a physical piece of paper easier.
ADS
Does your school have a social media account?If so, consider how you can use this information to keep parents informed about what is happening at school and communicate what they are learning in school. I love following my son’s school on Twitter and seeing what each grade level is doing. It’s also an easy way to reach a large audience at once.
Relationships
Be available and build relationships with parents and guardians as much as possible. Spend time at the door to meet her in the morning or at the end of the day. This daily contact can go a long way toward making parents and guardians feel more comfortable reaching out to you with questions or concerns. Show that you are really listening by speaking. Active listening is extremely important and sometimes parents just need to feel listened to and listened to.Then you can start taking things apart together.
Parents and guardians are the most important people to the children you work with. If you can work effectively with them and involve them in your work, you will make great progress in children’s academic as well as social and emotional development. They need our support as much as we need theirs, so communicate where you can.