The Family in School

Why is parental engagement and 'parental presence' important for schools?

Research suggests that the engagement of parents has a bigger impact on a child or young person’s academic learning than any other factor, including the quality of the school. By bringing parents and teachers together in schools, the child is provided with a trusting circle of adults who will support them. 'Parental presence' means that parents are actually present in the school for some time -

What can schools do to encourage parental engagement?

The multi-family approach brings parents, teachers, children and mental health professionals together in school with the aim of helping to change and improve the children’s emotional wellbeing and behaviour so that they can be more settled and better able to engage with the teaching and learning opportunities on offer. By focusing on school-related behaviours parents find the school-based family groups easy to access. Parents say that they like the family group because it allows them to meet other parents who are ‘in the same boat’. That is, parents welcome the opportunity to share experiences and ideas with others who may have struggled with or suffered from similar difficulties to their own. It has been shown that changes initiated in the group transfer very well into better behaviour and learning performance in the classroom.

What is a multi-family approach?

• They are set up and run by a member of the school staff and a suitably qualified psychologist, social worker or mental health professional • 6 - 8 families meet together weekly in school with the two group leaders • Students' progress is monitored daily against emotional wellbeing or behavioural targets; every six weeks overall progress is measured against goals such as improved attendance, behaviour and independent learning. • A Family Group has a clear structure based on Targets, Planning, Action Reflection and Transfer

To remember…

• Parental engagement is more successful when initiatives are embedded as part of a whole school approach to mental wellbeing, which has the backing of the school’s senior leadership. • To be sensitive to the fact that some parents will have had a challenging time at school themselves, so the prospect of coming into the school could be daunting