Bradley Stoke Community School

Teachers are from MarsParents are from Venus

EPRA…

2007-9 Engaging Parents to Raise Achievement SSAT initiative Research based & funded Explored links between parental engagement and raising achievement Over 200 case studies (see SSAT website) Led to Parental Engagement Quality Standard (PEQS)

Key question for us…

Why do schools keep on putting 100% effort into addressing 20% of the problem?

Home

80%

School

20%

A journey…

Involving parents

Engaging parents

Informing parents

Don’t forget…

DAMASCUSDAMASCUS

• An opportunity to discuss school-specific issues

• Learn from each other’s practice• Develop a ‘tool-kit’ of practical strategies• Model a CPD activity for use in your school

Aims for this session

Group ONE

Dealing with difficult parents.

•How do you de-escalate a situation?•Discuss and describe strategies to reduce parents from a rampant boil to a gentle simmer…

Activity

Group TWO

How can we identify and better engage ‘hard to reach’ parents?

•What makes a parent hard to reach?•What do we currently do to reach this group?•What can we do differently?

Activity

Group THREE

What are the obstacles to parental engagement at your school?

•Discuss the obstacles•Offer some solutions

Don’t get bogged down discussing ‘hard to reach’ parents

Activity

Group FOUR

Imagine you are mentoring a new colleague. What guidance would you offer when dealing with parents?

•Discuss the issues•Write a checklist for new staff for use at parental consultation events

Activity