Parents as Partners
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Method & Rationale
Developing collaborations between families and schools to promote academic success and to prevent drop out has a long-standing basis in research. We will set up some mechanisms through which parental school involvement affects achievement and we propose a set of steps to adapt to any differences among parents and to meet the multiple perspectives and situations through which parents involvement may take place.
We understand parental engagement through parents’ presence in schooling, both in a formal school space or in more personal, informal spaces, including those created by parents themselves and also at home, where parents can participate in school using new technologies, together with their children.
With this measures we promote that teachers, students, school management team, the community where school is located and educational authorities change their mindset and start to think on any school issue also under a “parents perspective” in order to get parents commitment to school.
Description
- Welcoming activities for the families of new students: First meeting with the parents of the students in their last year in Primary School. The school Counsellor and the Head of Studies go to the Primary Schools to talk to the parents. The aim of this visit is to clear up the possible doubts and to reduce the parents‘ anxiety and worries before the change of stage and school.
- Welcoming day: The first day of the school year 1st year students’ parents are invited to go to the school and have a meeting with the school management team, the tutors and the school counsellor. They are given detailed information about the new stage and the running of the school as well as the role of the family to help students get a high level of achievement.
- Individual interviews with all the families of 1st year and the families of new students in other levels: During the first term, the school counsellor and the Head of studies have an individual interview arranged with the parents according to their availability. The main objective of this meeting is to create an atmosphere of confidence between the school and the families, what can increase their involvement and participation in the academic monitoring of the students.
- Meeting arranged by the tutor with the families of the students in his/her class. During the first term there is a meeting where the whole group’s parents and the homeroom teacher or tutor explains the peculiarities of the grade (subjects, teachers, timetable, assessment dates, gives tips and advice and information about the objectives of the school year.
- Meeting with the School Counsellor to assess the running of the group during the first term. This is a meeting with all the families of the group.
- Meeting with the families of the students who have failed five or more subjects (arranged and conducted by the tutor of each class).
- Individual meetings with the tutor or subject teachers to monitor students‘ performance.
- At least one open doors day to provide parents the opportunity to attend school lessons or activities of their children’s group.
- Special room for parents association, where they can meet and promote activities.
- Designation of specific teacher/s as a link between teachers and parents.
- Participation of parents association on the school website.
- Participation of parents in some curricular activities (lectures, lessons on topics and issues in which parents are qualified)
- Creation or maintenance of social networks, blogs and classroom management platforms where parents can participate and express opinion freely.
- Participation of parents in extracurricular activities, like field trips, celebrations or remembrance days.
- Any activity in the school must be considered under a “parents perspective” as well as they are already considered under a “students perspective”.
Partner schools can adapt or select this set of measures according to their special circumstances, arguing the reasons of that particular choice or adaptation.
