Reflective questions

• What is the current level of family engagement at your school?
• What are the specific needs and preferences of the community?
• How could you build a welcoming and inclusive environment for families?
• What communication channels work best for families?
• What resources and supports can be provided to families?
• What are the barriers to families supporting their young person/ being involved in the school community?

Downloads

PDF file: Family engagement in secondary schools (359 KB)

What was done?

Intelligence gathered from a range of sources identified the need to develop a resource which would support the secondary sector with family engagement.

Braes High School, Lornshill Academy and Dunoon Grammar School were identified as being sector leading.  All three schools were approached and subsequently agreed to work together and develop this resource.

Within the resource each school has shared their own school’s strategies, programmes, top tips, as well as a case study.

Why?

The Parental Involvement and Engagement Census indicated a lack of opportunities for parents to be actively and meaningfully involved in the wider life of the school and their child’s and their own learning.

Parents indicated strongly their request for more opportunities to be involved and engaged with their child’s school and learning.

Research highlights that this can be more challenging to achieve in the secondary sector for a number of reasons including: work commitments, childcare, language barriers, lack of confidence, timing of events, cost and travel.