Parental engagement and groups
SUPPORTING LEARNING
We Must Work Together to Empower Our Children
Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children’s learning, and levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with better academic outcomes. Children can achieve better at school when their family and friends take an interest in their school-life. Getting involved, even in the simplest way, shows them that you care about your child’s education.
Never Too Late
Whatever your lifestyle or family situation, it is never too soon (or too late) to start helping a child develop a positive attitude towards learning.
ENCOURAGEMENT
Give encouragement and show appreciation of your child’s achievements, whether great or small – Talk with TRUST Download
LEARNING & INTERESTS
Allow them to make mistakes and to learn from them and encourage a variety of interests
EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
Give feedback rather than criticism, For example, rather than saying ‘you got it wrong’, try saying ‘it didn’t seem to work that way’. This can help them think about where they went wrong and try again
TOGETHERNESS
Learn together, do things together, visit interesting places, talk about things you’ve seen on television and allow your child to ask questions
PACE
Let your child develop at their own pace. Be realistic and avoid putting your child under pressure with high expectations
READING
Encourage reading by having books, magazines and newspapers in the home and let your child see you and other family members reading them – 7 Top Tips Download
ROUTINE
Create a regular routine and good home learning habits, but be cautious about giving direct assistance with home learning (particularly for older children).
GOAL SETTING
Encourage them to set goals, plan and manage their time and emotions. This type of support can help children to regulate their own learning, and will often be more valuable than direct help with home learning tasks – Home Learning Download
We Welcome Your Feedback
As a college, we are also always seeking to improve so if you have any suggestions or questions please get in touch. We must work together to empower our children to “develop their own solutions and shape their own futures
We want all students to be able to manage independently
We want all students to be able to manage independently but they will need support and encouragement whilst they learn to be organised and proactive. We have a range of ‘Information Evenings’ focused on the supporting parents with particular aspects of their school-life (e.g. health and wellbeing, revision techniques and university preparation). Please look out for dates on the college calendar. If you are interested in the latest research into how students learn, these two short podcasts give advice to support older students to plan their study schedule in a way that assures the learning sticks in their long-term memory. (There are lots of other useful resources on the ‘Learning Scientists’ site – just search ‘For Students’ or ‘For Parents’ to keep it focused on what you will find useful).
Ofsted Parent View
Parent View gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about your child’s college, from the quality of teaching to dealing with bullying and poor behaviour. The survey can be completed at any time. You don’t have to wait until the college is being inspected.