Increasing newly arrived families understanding of and engagement with school life

Background and context

Clifton Primary School wanted to increase parental understanding of the British Education system, to have better attendance at workshops and school events such as assemblies and for parents to understand the importance of engaging in school life.

What did they do

• Started a monitoring process so they could understand which parents were not currently engaging.
• Created registers for workshops and assemblies to monitor reach.
• Sent out ‘We missed you’ slips to parents who did not attend and contacted those parents who rarely or never came to workshops and assemblies.
• Sent simple information to parents explaining what each workshop or event was and why it was important to attend.
• Gave parents more notice when events were taking place
• Each session began with a brief description
• Carried out ‘confidence checks’ with parents pre and post to measure understanding and impact.
• Parents who attended received a Thank You from their child.
• Held a parents’ workshop on understanding the British Education system and the school curriculum and provided frequent updates through ParentMail.
• Created a suggestion box for parents to capture feedback and ideas for future sessions.

Alongside this they created a bespoke in-year transition process for newly arrive families.

• Before children start they receive a home visit from the Inclusion Lead to ensure that the school know as much about the family and their circumstances as possible, this provides vital information.
• On the child’s start date the school arrange welcome meetings for parents with a designated member of staff.
• The aim is to help them better understand the British education system and the expectations of the school.

They also take them through a local welcome pack created which covers a range of areas included healthcare, adult learning, finding work and leisure activities. The same member of staff then schedules a follow up meeting two weeks later to check on the parents’ progress and check whether they need any further support or signposting. They also ensure key information on the school website are available in community languages and have several multi-lingual staff who are available to translate meetings and workshops. They encourage an open-door policy where parents can feel welcome to discuss concerns or ask questions at any time.

What was the impact? What changed?

Over the year assemblies and workshop attendance have been monitored and since the beginning of Spring term, they have seen a large increase in the number of parents attending. After introducing the ‘Missed You’ slips they saw attendance double at some assemblies. They also focussed on engaging male carers after noticing that far fewer were attending and this has led to at least 6-8 male carers attending each assembly. Parents are speaking with school staff more about how they can access the curriculum and support children with their learning.

Staff survey responses to “Our school believes that all of our parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning” increased from 63% to 71%. Parents responding positively to “The school has lots of opportunities for parents to attend events at school” increased by 10% to 88%. Responses to “The school lets me know I am important to my child’s learning increased to 89%.