At New Hope and King David Complex, We recognise the importance of ensuring we have a strong partnership with parents, and value parental involvement in the life of the school. Throughout this policy the term ‘parent’ is used to refer to parents, guardians and carers.
We believe that education is a collaborative enterprise involving parents, staff, children, governors, the Local Authority and a range of other agencies. We are committed to establishing and maintaining an effective and purposeful working relationship between home and school.
We aim to:
- empower all parents to have an ownership of our school and their child’s learning
- have a strong partnership with all parents
- ensure that all communication with parents is effective, clear and jargon free
- actively involve parents in the education and progress of their child
- make good use of parents’ expertise and willingness to enhance their own learning and that of their own child and other children and to actively involve them in school life
- provide an effective induction for all groups of parents
- establish, and act upon, the views and opinions of parents
To have a strong partnership and good communication with parents/carers informing them about what is happening in school, we:
- ensure that all written communication is “user friendly”, useful and informative.
- publish regular informative whole school newsletters
- maintain and develop our school website, ensuring that it is updated on a daily basis
- have an open door policy for parents to visit the school
- hold parent consultations meetings each term
- hold an Open Day for prospective and established parents annually
To actively involve parents/carers in the education, progress and well-being of their child we:
- hold Induction Meetings in reception and for new parents
- hold three parent consultation meetings each year (one each term)
- hold three IEP consultation meetings each year (one each term)
- send written annual reports at the end of each year
- hold annual workshops on reading/literacy, mathematics
- seek to ensure that all relevant school policies are effective and easy to read; key policies are available on our website and as hard copies
- request that all parents sign a home/school agreement
- involve parents in supporting their child’s behaviour and well-being (refer to our Behaviour Policy)
- encourage all parents of children in the Early Years and KS1 to come into school with their child each morning to settle them in, support their learning and speak with staff if necessary
- work closely with carers to maximise attendance and minimise lateness
To make good use of parents/carers’ expertise and willingness to enhance their own learning and that of their own and other children and to actively involve them in school life we encourage parents/carers to:
- volunteer to support in school
- attend school performances, events and celebrations
- become involved in school projects
- join or support our FOWS Fundraising Group
- volunteer to be part of our skills bank organised through our FOWS Learning Group
- use opportunities to have informal discussions with staff members
- become parent governors
- engage in further study and to offer student placements across our school
To provide good induction for all groups of parents/carers we:
- ensure that our prospectus is detailed, informative and up to date
- ensure that our website is detailed, informative and up to date
- ensure that our School App and Twitter account are detailed, informative and up to date
- provide opportunities for all prospective parents to find out about our school
- provide opportunities for parents to discuss all transitional decisions
- ensure information is produced and distributed appropriately, taking account of parental needs and views
To establish the views and opinions of parents/carers of the school we:
- provide bi-annual opportunities for parental questionnaires and inform parents of the results
- ask parents to evaluate key events in school
- seek parental consultation on key issues in school
- consult on key policies and procedures (e.g. this policy, our Dress Code, our Sex and Relationships Policy etc).
