Teach Primary Issue 18.7

FOUR BARRIERS TO PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT 1 INADEQUATE ACCESSIBILITY: School communications that are only available via computer (but not mobile or vice-versa) or in one language may be disregarded by a large percentage of parents. So, it’s important to ensure that your school communications provider has a web portal as well as parent apps to ensure the two-way flow of information. Keep an eye out for translation services that are available on most web browsers and ensure that these services are communicated to parents. 2 TOO MANY TOOLS: Try to ensure that everyone from school who communicates with parents uses the same tools. Having to interact with a variety of messaging platforms can leave parents feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. 3 OVERUSE OF BUZZWORDS: Parents may not be familiar with certain terms that teachers use, so it’s important to check that any parent communications are free of jargon, otherwise they will fall flat. 4 EXCESSIVE (OR FRACTURED) COMMUNICATION: Don’t overdo it! Communications from various sources can cause parents to miss vital information and make it difficult for them to filter through and prioritise. daily demands of the job. So, how can teachers ensure that their efforts towards greater parental involvement can help narrow the attainment gap even when they might hit roadblocks with hard-to-reach parents? DON’T UNDERVALUE PERSONAL CONTACT • Prioritise personal contact with parents to demonstrate appreciation for their feedback. • Use informal parent engagement tactics. For example: greet and engage parents when they bring their children to school; prioritise Megan Morris is head of brand for cashless payments & parental engagement at ParentPay. With 4+ years in ed-tech, she has valuable insights into the challenges schools face with parental engagement and cashless payments, whilst understanding effective solutions to support modern educators. parentpay.com F EATURE PA S TORA L opportunities for parents to meet educators in the classroom; ask teaching assistants to show parents strategies for improving reading at home. KEEP COMMUNICATION CHANNELS OPEN • Provide parents with clear, detailed, and focused information. • Use ICT to provide parents with information and interaction possibilities. • Set clear expectations for families and children. The ‘structured conversation’ established by Achievement for All can help with this ( tinyurl.com/ tp-structured ). • Consult with parents regularly and communicate your findings promptly. GIVE MORE OPTIONS • Consider logistical challenges for parents when designing activities – fees/cost, time, and transportation could be some of the things to look out for. • Provide universal services to decrease stigma. • Use a variety of strategies for engagement and let parents choose the activities they wish to participate in. You could use workshops and courses to encourage parents to become involved in their children’s education. Some examples could include family literacy classes, involving parents in the classroom (e.g. listening to pupils read) or inviting them to volunteer in extracurricular activities. COLLABORATE Sometimes, it can be too challenging as a teacher to deal with difficult behaviours with the limited resources available. In situations like this, collaborating with parents to address the issues. There are several evidence-based behaviour and relationship intervention programmes available that can enhance child literacy and manage difficult child behaviour effectively. These are especially effective when employed during the early years. Building and maintaining partnerships Teacher–parent collaboration can enhance schools’ ability for improvement while offering benefits that cannot be achieved alone. Parent partnerships must be built on trust, dedication, and drive, supported by skills and knowledge on both sides. These partnerships should also be capable of connecting parents to the school’s work through a sense of belonging. In short, successful schools are those where parental engagement is central to the school’s character rather than on the periphery. Parent communications play a huge role in establishing that trust between home and school. Parent engagement solutions power up parent communications for your school so that you can build stronger partnerships with parents. If you would like to read more about how to employ effective parental engagement strategies, have a look at Schoolcomms’ Ultimate Guide to Parental Engagement ( tinyurl.com/ tp-ParentPay ). TP www.teachwire.net | 73