Working together at Easdale Primary

The pupils’ nickname for WOrking TOGether, WOTOG sees parents and carers join the classroom every Wednesday afternoon to take an active part in their children’s learning.

Easdale Primary has a roll of 34 children in two composite classes, and WOTOG started out as a time when the two classes got together in mixed age groups. Teachers witnessed the positive benefits every week, as pupils developed stronger skills in co-operation, peer learning and working together. The school quickly realised that this was an ideal opportunity for parents to support their children’s learning and become active participants in the school community.

Open doors help create community spirit

Easdale has been running its open door programme for three years now with great success. By inviting not only parents and carers, but also those without a link to the school, such as people who have retired, Easdale has achieved a real sense of community spirit. Parents have shown enormous enthusiasm for WOTOG, often changing their working arrangements in order to attend and regularly sharing ideas to enhance topics and activities.

The WOTOG topics are carefully planned by the teachers to complement the new curriculum, providing an ideal opportunity to inform parents of the principles of Curriculum for Excellence and encourage them to continue the learning at home. A recent school topic on creating a puppet show saw parents get involved by developing the children’s stories, creating a storyboard, designing and making the puppets and assisting at rehearsals. Their final responsibility was to be an enthusiastic audience for the big show itself!

Working together on stone skimming, Christmas and ceilidhs

The parents’ group has also contributed to community events, such as designing a logo for the annual Easdale Island World Skimming Championships, taking part in the Christmas craft fair and the St Andrew’s Day Ceilidh, helping out with a beach clean and decorating the village hall.

The WOTOG project has helped parents to support their children’s learning by giving them greater insight into how they learn at school. They can also enhance learning by sharing their own skills and expertise. The school benefits from having built such strong relationships with the parents and the parents themselves enjoy playing an active role in the school community and having the opportunity to form supportive friendships with one another.

Of course, the biggest benefit is to the children themselves, who love having their parents in the classroom. Teachers say that WOTOG is the highlight of the week for the pupils - a time so special that they have named a toy seal Wotog as a school mascot. They love creating imaginative stories and adventures about the toy, showing that WOTOG has truly captured their imagination and engaged them in the learning process.