This is the Parents as partners presentation used at Scottish Learning Festival 2012, delivered by the National Parent Forum of Scotland's reps, Joanna Murphy and Margaret Leitch (file uploaded by Kiran Oza)

1. Parents as partners
Working together to deliver
Curriculum for Excellence
Joanna Murphy - Glasgow rep
Margaret Leitch – Falkirk rep

2. Your presenters today
Margaret Leitch – Fundraising Coordinator at Victoria Primary School Falkirk
Parent Member of Falkirk Parent Focus Group
Falkirk Council Representative for NPFS
Early Years Working Group and Curriculum for Excellence
Mum to MacKenzie – Primary 2, Murray – Age 2 and a Mystery!
Joanna Murphy - Parent Council Chair at St Bride’s Primary Glasgow
Parent Member at Holyrood Secondary
Vice Chair Glasgow Parent Council Forum
Glasgow City Council Representative for NPFS
Parent member -CfE - Management Board
Mum to Emily in S6, Alice – S3 and Katherine in Primary 5
And both working parents

3. The history
∗ 1988 – School Boards introduced
∗ 2006 – Parental Involvement Act Scotland
∗ 2007 - Parent Forums and Parent Councils established
∗
∗ 2009 – National Parent Forum of Scotland established

4. Parents as partners in learning
‘Parents, carers and families are by far the most
important influences in a child’s life. Parents who take a
supportive role in their child’s learning make a difference
in improving achievement and behaviour ‘
‘When parents and schools work together children do
better’
Guidance on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006

5. What do we mean by parental involvement?
∗ Learning at home - schools and others recognising the
importance of the home environment and providing support for
learning
∗ Home/school partnership - Schools, parents, carers and the
community working together to educate children
∗ Parental representation - Listening and taking account of
parent and carer views

6. Why should parents get involved?
∗ ‘Parental involvement has a significant positive affect on
children’s achievement…’
Desforges, C. , & Aboucher (2000)
∗ ‘… the most important ‘parenting factor’ is the parents’
relationship with the school….’
Research by Joseph Rowntree Foundation

7. Why should parents get involved?
∗The more engaged parents are in the education of their children
the more likely their children are to succeed in the education
system.
∗School improvement and school effectiveness research
consistently shows that parental involvement is one of the key
factors in securing higher student achievement
“Review of best practice in parental engagement: Practitioners summary”
Goodall, J. , and Vorhaus, J. , with the help of Carpentieri, JD. , Brooks, G. , Akerman, R. , and Harris,
A September 2011
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllPublications/Page1/DFE-RR156

8. PISA – Let’s Read Them a Story!
The Parent Factor in Education
∗ telling stories or reading books to children when they are very young is
strongly related to how well they read and how much they enjoy
reading, later on.
∗ talking about social and political issues, or about books, films and
television programmes with adolescent children is related to better
reading performance at school.
∗ children whose parents have more positive attitudes towards reading
are better at reading, themselves, and enjoy reading more.
OECD (2012), Let's Read Them a Story! The Parent Factor in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264176232-en

9. PISA – Let’s Read Them a story!
The Parent factor in education
∗ More receptive to language
∗ More skilled at planning
∗ More skilled at setting goals
∗ Followed through in their studies and individual
projects
They have learned how to learn
OECD (2012),Let’s Read Them a Story! The Parent factor in Education, PISA< OECD
Publishing

10. Challenges to parental
involvement
Take a little time to consider the key
challenges to parental involvement in
your own setting.

11. What parents say
Parents ‘ Views on Improving Parental Involvement in Children’s Education Scottish Government publications /2005

12. So where do parents come in
Engaging with parents gives them the
opportunity to understand the vital role that
they play in their child’s learning and
development at all stages of education.

13. National Parent Forum of
Scotland

14. Providing Information for parents
www.parentforumscotland.org

15. Parents as partners
Parents are vital partners in Curriculum for Excellence.
We are all :
∗preparing our children and young people for jobs that
don’t exist
∗to using technologies that haven’t been invented
∗to solving problems of which we are not yet aware
Shift Happens: www.flemimg.myzen.co.uk/shifthappens-Uk.wmv

16. Curriculum for Excellence

17. Parents supporting
Curriculum for Excellence
∗ Shared reading
∗ Golden time
∗ Science week
∗ Supporting outdoor learning
∗ Sharing learning – QR codes

18. Parents supporting
Curriculum for Excellence

19. Parents supporting
Curriculum for Excellence

20. Parents supporting
Curriculum for Excellence
“Food for Thought” was dreamt up by Primary 6 & 7’s when they
were learning about Global Citizenship.
It has developed a sense of community and is raising money for
their sister school in Ghana and other local groups.
Pupils have gained and used many skills during this opportunity such
as literacy during marketing and PR, numeracy during ordering
stock, pricing and keeping their accounts and IT skills for Graphic
Design, invite design, newsletters, Twitter and blogging.
Critical Success Factors - enthusiasm, commitment, going above and
beyond, keep it manageable and have a good business plan – it’s
essential.

22. Parents as partners
‘A hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of
car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much
you had in your bank account, or what your clothes
looked like.
But the world may be a little better because you were
important in the life of a child.’
Margaret Fishback Powers

23. Further information
∗ glasgow@npfs.org.uk
∗ falkirk@npfs.org.uk
∗ www.parentforumscotland.org
∗ http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/