Parents as Partners (How to turn challenging parentsinto helpful partners in school transformation)

Babar Mirza,

Vice-Chair & Director of Education, Nida Trust

b.mirza@nidatrust.org.uk07961 047832

Aims of workshop

• Explore positive effects of parental engagement on pupils, parents and school

• Highlight some of the reasons why schools do not engage with parents

• Develop strategies for overcoming barriers and engaging with parents

• Explore key areas for parental engagement in schools and identify examples of good practice.

• Parental Engagement Toolkit

Starter Activity (5 mins)

How can parental engagementhave positive effects for thepupils, parents and school?

Activity 1 (15 mins) Reasons for Not Engaging

What are the reasons why you wouldn’t want to, or find it difficult to, engage with parents?

What are the barriers?

Activity 2 (15 mins)

How can we overcome the barriers and engage

parents?

Activity 3 (15 mins)

Five key areas for parental engagement in schools:

• Communication• Pupil learning• Parenting• Volunteering • School decision making

Suggestions for good practice

Parental Engagement Toolkit

• To clarify key factors involved in parental engagement

• To assess the level of parental engagement in the school, in each of the five areas

• To identify areas of relative strength in parental engagement

• To identify areas of relative weakness in parental engagement

• To help plan for improved parental engagement

Thank you

&

Jazakum Allah khayran