This is the final instalment of my five-part series in which I am sharing my ABC of equity in education. A stands for attendance, B stands for behaviours, and C – which we’re focusing on here – stands for community.
It takes a village to raise a child and a whole community to educate one. Schools are not islands, operating in isolation. Rather, they are part of their community – an integral part, but a part nonetheless – and live to serve that community.
Indeed, when I was a headteacher, I used to say that the school I lead was not my school but that I was merely its custodian, looking after it on behalf of the community.
Parental engagement is therefore key to building more equitable schools. An effective parental engagement policy should do two things:
- Set out clearly what parents and families can expect from the school.
- Set out what the school expects from parents and families in return.
We should always start with what parents and families can expect from the school. First and foremost, schools should show how they will make parents feel comfortable. It is far more likely that a parent of a disadvantaged learner will feel alienated by the experience of interacting with school staff. In our busy working lives, we can easily lose sight of this. Here are a few suggestions on how best to ensure your school’s parents feel valued and involved: For example, parents and families can expect:
- To receive clear and timely communication about their child’s progress.
- To attend parents’ information events which offer high-quality interactions.
- To receive documentation that can be easily understood.
- The school to treat them and their child fairly and with dignity and respect.
- School rules to be clearly explained and enforced consistently.
In exchange, the school should encourage parents and families to:
- Be understanding, supportive and communicative.
- Maintain a direct involvement in their child’s education.
- Attend events or make alternative arrangements.
- Positively contribute to initiatives that support their child.
- Be aware of and support any home-school agreements.
A parental engagement policy should also outline how school intends to communicate with parents and how it will consult with them on key decisions.
It may be useful to start with a statement of intent such as: “Our school, to be effective, must acknowledge, appreciate and respond to the views of parents. It needs to take informed decisions following consultation.”
Next, the school will need a clear strategy for communicating effectively and expediently with parents in myriad ways including, though not exclusively, through parents’ consultation evenings and other face-to-face events, through workshops and discussion forums, as well as parent-teacher associations or committees, through surveys and online reporting tools, and through newsletters, emails, text messages, and the school website.
Two-way communication involves parents hearing their voices reflected; they need to feel included and represented. We need more diverse voices in education to help disenfranchised parents feel that they belong and are welcome in school.
SecEd Series: Equity in schools
- Article 1: An ABC for building equity and addressing disadvantage in your school: Published September 2
- Article 2: The ABC of equity in schools: A is for attendance: Published September 11
- Article 3: The ABC of equity in schools: A is for attendance: Published September 17
- Article 4: The ABC of equity in schools: B is for behaviour: Published September 23.
- Article 5: The ABC of equity in schools: C is for community: This article
Engaging the parents of disadvantaged learners
There is a well-documented correlation between socio-economic disadvantage and levels of parental engagement. So, what can we do to reach the “harder-to-reach” parents of disadvantaged learners? Here are five tips:
1, Be clear
Schools can be daunting places and the way we communicate is important if we are break-down barriers – especially for those parents who had poor experiences at school when they were young, or who fear institutions.
It is therefore advisable to avoid confusing professional jargon and also formal language. For example, rather than offering “parenting classes” we could run a “Lads and Dads” session or a “Family Friday”. Rather than have a “family liaison officer” or “community worker”, we could have a “parent partner” or “family support”.
As well as softening our language, we can offer enticements, such as food. Parents are more likely to attend a parent information evening if we advertise it as a “pie and peas” night with a fun element such as a quiz before moving on to more educational matters, or a “bun and book” event where parents have afternoon tea and read with their child. And even then, we need to think carefully about making such events accessible.
We need to reduce the threat level. Many parents fear being asked to do something beyond their comfort zone or skill. So, rather than tasking parents with the job of educating their child by, for example, helping with homework, let’s make clear that it is our job to teach their child – all we ask of parents is that they talk to their child at home about what they are doing and learning.
Where we do want parents to play a more active role in their child’s education, we need to provide them with the tools required, ideally in the form of “one-side explainers” or “two-minute guides”, or even short-form TikTok-style videos.
2, Be respectful
We should always treat parents and families with dignity and respect and regard parents as equals who have a stake in our school. We should make sure that parents feel welcome into school, and we should be visible at times when parents might visit, such as on the morning and afternoon school runs, at lunchtime and during events such as sports days, school plays and after-school clubs.
In practical terms, being respectful also means we should start conversations with what we can do, not what we expect parents to do. We should ask parents what they need from us, then try to provide it, rather than put the onus onto parents.
So, what can we do for parents? We could:
- Run a breakfast club.
- Run a homework club.
- Offer a uniform bank.
- Accommodate a food bank.
- Host a community hub giving access to advice on housing and healthcare.
- Offer adult education classes.
- Run sessions to help with parenting.
Parent support sessions could include advice on how to handle challenging behaviour, encourage good sleep hygiene, manage social media use and screentime, help children stay safe online and so on.
The key is to ensure that such sessions are not patronising; that they do not work on the assumption that we know best and wish to dictate to parents.
Rather, we should frame such sessions as non-judgemental opportunities to share what we do and to listen to parents’ suggestions, in the hope the school and home can speak with one voice and adopt one approach – because consistency breeds compliance.
3, Be empathetic
It is tempting to assume that parents of disadvantaged learners lack the parenting skills needed to support their child, or that they simply don’t care. But this is rarely the case.
For example, if a parent doesn’t attend a scheduled meeting or show up to a parents’ consultation evening, though we might assume they can’t be bothered, there are in fact many reasons that often prevent them from coming into school. In my experience, these might include working a second job or unsocial shift patterns, not having access to or being able to afford a babysitter for their other children or a carer for other family members, not being able to afford the cost of transport to school, lacking self-confidence in formal situations, or being fearful of the school premises and the professionals who work there.
The answer: we should put ourselves in parents’ shoes. We should be empathetic, not judgemental; we should treat parents with dignity not distain. Our job is to support parents who may lack confidence, agency and solutions. We should try emboldening and empowering them.
To give an example, there is little to be gained by talking to a parent about improving their child’s attendance until and unless we are willing to offer them practical solutions, such as sourcing affordable transport, supplying uniform and other equipment, or helping establish good morning routines. We need to show parents that we are on the same side and that we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in supporting their child.
4, Be open
We need to be open to myriad means of communication. This might include enlisting volunteers from the local community, trusted figures who can act as parent ambassadors, passing messages between the school and home and encouraging hard-to-reach parents to take part in school activities.
It helps if the messages we share with parents are largely positive. The best messages are centred on the child and their learning. For example, we could start discussions with parents by asking how their child is feeling at school and what they like and dislike. We could ask parents to tell us what their child likes and dislikes outside of school, too, and what they are involved in or doing with their family. We could say we are having difficulty getting their child to read and ask if they have any suggestions that might help – reminding them that they know their child best.
Whatever we do to reach out to parents, we need to consider engaging fathers as well as mothers – this is particularly effective for improving outcomes for disadvantaged learners. To do this, we should be explicit about the purposes of any events and about the link between such events and improving outcomes.
5, Be flexible
We should try to make it easy for parents to engage. For example, we should take account of parents’ busy and complicated lives, including their work patterns, when planning events.
When scheduling events, we should check when the last bus leaves the bus stop outside school and/or help to arrange car-shares for families without their own vehicle.
We should offer alternative time slots for those who cannot attend after-school events such as parents’ consultation evenings and we should offer alternatives to face-to-face meetings, including video calls.
We could also offer to meet parents off-site in a place where parents feel more comfortable, such as in a local café or leisure centre, or indeed in the family home.
As I have already said, schools can be daunting places for some parents. Simply crossing the threshold is too big a barrier to scale. But we can help change this by rethinking our reception area. Rather than present our buildings as cold, clinical seats of learning decorated with shields and Ofsted ratings, prospectuses and rules, we could redesign the foyer as a warm and welcoming café area with comfortable seats, magazines, a water dispenser and perhaps even a coffee machine. And rather than silence – or classical music – we could play a friendly radio station to soften the mood.
- Matt Bromley is an education journalist, author, and advisor with 25 years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher. He remains a practising teacher. Matt is the author of numerous books on education and co-host of the award-winning SecEd Podcast. Find him on X @mj_bromley. Read his previous articles for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/matt-bromley