For many children, going to school is the first step towards independence. It is a place where they can learn new things and make new friends. So it is with great excitement that they welcome their parents into school on parents’ evenings, to share the work they’ve done.
Argyll and Bute Council has been working with a group of schools to support them in engaging parents in their children’s learning. This project builds on developments in active learning - which sees pupils learn through play, exploration and experience. Schools are trying out ways of not only keeping parents up to date with new developments in active learning, but also providing opportunities for parents to become ‘actively’ involved to the extent of working in partnership with parents to plan pupils’ learning.
This is a really exciting time in education
Download Adobe Flash Player to watch the video online.
'This is a really exciting time in education when the whole landscape is changing,' explains Elspeth, Headteacher of Cardross Primary. 'Curriculum for Excellence is coming in, and we’re looking at what we can do to make our teaching and children’s learning more effective. We want to harness that and one way of harnessing it is to involve parents as much as we can.'
Teachers from the schools met to discuss and share ideas. They were joined by some parents, who shared their experiences and provided valuable insights from their perspective. Each school came up with their own plan for how they could move forward.
Parents and teachers work together to make things better
Two new ways of working which proved particularly interesting and have now been tried in some schools are:
- Shared Start or Soft Finish: Parents join the classroom each week at a regular time, either first thing in the morning or at the end of the school day, to work with children and enjoy an informal chat with staff.
- Planning Together: Parents are invited to help plan class topics, brainstorming ideas and discussing possible key learning outcomes with staff. In addition, newsletters keep parents up to date about the progress of the topic.
These initiatives have been welcomed by staff and parents alike. 'The projects give parents a chance to meet teaching staff, other parents and their children’s friends,' says Maureen, a P1 teacher at Rhu Primary. 'It offers opportunities to experience first-hand the activities children participate in, interact informally with children in the classroom, and just enjoy a little bit of time with the children.'
What's the verdict? It's fun!
The school was also delighted to see so many dads getting involved. One dad who has got a lot out of the experience is Iain, whose son attends Rhu Primary.
'To see them learning through fun, you can relate that to when you’re trying to teach them things at home,' he says. 'Instead of saying ‘Do it this way,’ and being quite pedantic about it, you realise that they do learn through play. If I ask Callum what he learns at school he says ‘I was playing’ and I think that’s a wonderful thing. If they’re learning and it’s not a chore they’ll benefit from it more.'
And the children’s verdict? 'It’s fun!'
Keep up to date