Educating the parents

Neston High School is a large comprehensive on the Wirral. It has 1,600 pupils aged 11 to 18, who are drawn from the village of Neston and the surrounding areas of Cheshire and the Wirral. The school, a specialist college of science and the visual arts, has taken a proactive approach to getting parents involved in their children's education. Teachers sat in on a conversation between three of its staff, all with differing experience, to discuss how Neston works with parents.

Don Dawson is head of maths. He has been at the school for 32 years. Alwyn Peart is head of business education, and has been at Neston for 10 years. Sandra Barnes-Ellis teaches home economics, design technology and health and social care. Sandra returned to teaching three years ago after a long career break working in both private and public sectors.

Communicating with parents

Alwyn: We have a colour-coded card system, similar to traffic lights, for letting parents know what's going on: green is good, yellow is a warning and red, trouble.

Don: We send out a lot of yellow cards, often for missed homework, and the parents will phone, usually to see what they can do to help. As head of department, I take calls like this on a daily basis. If necessary, I'll ring parents up or email them if I can.

Sandra: The parents' forum is trying to set up an email contact list. Unlike letters, the students can't get rid of an email — there's no 'getting to the doormat first' scenario!

Alwyn: Yes, letters don't always get to parents. Email is a good alternative. The only other option is ringing them — and then it's about finding the time when you're not going to be disturbed.

Making parents evenings work

Don: We get a very high turnout for parents evenings — over 90 per cent. Forms are sent home asking parents which teachers they want to see, and we chase up non-respondents. Teachers are also asked if they want to see any parents in particular, and we will ensure they are invited.

Alwyn: The main thing we try to get across is that parents evenings are not a grilling — they are there for the parents to ask us questions.

Don: Yes, sometimes it can be intimidating, especially if the parents themselves weren't very good at school. We make sure everyone has appointments, and the kids are encouraged to come too, especially the older ones — it's as much for them to hear what we've got to say as for their parents.

Helping at home

Sandra: New subjects can impact as much on the parents as they do on the students, especially going from Year 9 to 10. Often, they don't know where to start with all these new subjects.

Alwyn: To help, we give parents an information booklet in Year 9, telling them the basics of what's involved in the subjects and showing them how it relates to life.

Don: We also do coursework evenings, where teachers show parents what's involved in their subject. I do a piece of GCSE coursework with them — I might have 250 parents sitting in the hall and I treat it like a class, asking them questions. They join in and we have a good laugh. It makes parents aware of what coursework involves. We also do a stress evening for GCSE pupils and their parents, using an outside speaker. This helps parents learn not to put too much pressure on the children.

Sandra: We're trying to get through to parents what works for their children. I think some find it really difficult to know how to get involved and what level to come in at. The process of revision has changed since many parents went through it; for instance, many students are successfully able to revise with music on nowadays.

Alwyn: When I was at school it was all about rote learning. We don't want the kids doing six hours of solid revision — it isn't just knowledge that gets you through exams now. Higher-level skills are involved and this is where the parents can help. For example, my subject covers the effect of inflation on a business, an area that parents may well be knowledgeable about.

Sandra: Parents have got so many skills that they don't realise they have. In some ways, it would be good to have a list of parents and their jobs, so we could draw on their expertise.

Don: Communication is not about bombarding kids with questions about school and homework as soon as they get in the door. We tell parents to just talk to them about anything. 

How to engage parents

• Develop a parents' area on your school website, or send a paper newsletter or e-newsletter, highlighting what's new in the world of education, examples of parents who have helped their children, and news of forthcoming events, like parents evenings
• Invite parents to the school to talk about their jobs — this puts many subjects into context
• Take advantage of extended school opportunities with in-school training courses, e.g. English lessons for parents who don't have English as a first language, ICT lessons or coursework evenings
• Encourage parents to become school governors

Words: Deborah Mulhearn  Pictures: Dave Young

FOR MORE INFO

www.parentscentre.gov.uk

www.teachernet.gov.uk/workingwithparents The Impact of Parental Involvement in Children's Education paper can be downloaded from the research and case studies section.

This content was published in May 2005 and may not reflect current policy