Journey To Excellence
Developing parents' support for their children's learning
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'Like an extended family. From the minute they walk in we're all on the same side.' Depute headteacher
| A school is good to the extent that… | A school is excellent to the extent that… |
|---|---|
| Staff invite parents to events in school and ask them for information on their children’s care and welfare needs at transition stages. Parents receive a settling-in report and can contact the school to make an appointment to discuss their children’s attainment, achievement and progress. They listen to parents’ views about their children’s learning and progress. | Staff take active steps to encourage parents to engage with the school and, in particular, to reach out to those who may need help to overcome barriers of various kinds. They discuss a range of issues with parents, for example arrangements for learning, individual aspirations and expectations, learning targets and approaches to learning. Staff maintain particularly close contact during settling-in and vulnerable periods. |
| Where necessary, staff from the school or partner agencies engage in a less formal way with parents, holding workshops, delivering handbooks and visiting homes. Staff make themselves available, where this is possible, at other times beyond planned parents’ evenings. Regular newsletters detail school and community events, classwork, teaching approaches, learning activities and curriculum developments, and celebrate successes. | Workshops and resource packs illustrate work in curriculum areas and teaching approaches. Staff encourage parents to take active roles in contributing to their children’s learning and to discuss approaches to learning and teaching. As far as possible, staff meet parents at times which are most convenient for parents. |
| Parents receive regular and up-to-date information on aspects of their children’s attainment, achievement and pastoral needs, the progress they are making, and their strengths and next steps. A school handbook provides information on all the school’s policies and procedures. | Staff help parents to understand assessment procedures. Parents have easy access to their children’s current levels of performance. They understand options and progression routes and staff check that their aspirations are being met. |
| It provides information to parents about their role in helping their children to learn. | As a result of strong partnership with the school, and, in particular, the quality of support and information they receive, most parents help their children to engage with learning, sustain their attention and develop their confidence. |
| Most parents feel included and involved in the school, and are confident that they could approach it if they had any problems. Staff make efforts to tackle disaffection. | Staff establish a culture of inclusion, acceptance and positive discipline. They particularly reach out to enable disaffected young people and their families, enabling them to experience success and acceptance. They maintain a particular focus on learners for whom there is little consistent support at home. |
| In residential learning environments, key workers show interest in what young people have been doing during the school day. | In residential learning environments, key workers are knowledgeable about young people’s learning needs and are committed to supporting them in the residence and in the classroom as appropriate. |