Parent Engagement

Parental Engagement, Partnerships with School and Student Success

WHAT?

• Engage means “to come together and interlock”. Engagement indicates doing with.

• Parent and school partnerships are the key to parent engagement.

• Parents are welcomed, heard, and involved in the decision-making process.

• Outcomes are optimum and produce impactful benefits.

WHY?

In fifty different studies on parental engagement, educational researchers found:

• Students with greater parental engagement, have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly and have better social skills.

• It is the extent to which the family creates an environment that supports and encourages learning at home that determines student success and not family income or social status.

• Students whose parents communicate high expectations to students and support them in achieving these goals experience greater motivation and a higher success rate at school.

HOW?		WHEN?
Read with your child for 15 to 30 minutes		Before going to bed.
Talk about school. Discuss highlights of the day, success, and failures		At the dinner table or while cooking or doing the dishes. (Make eye contact at regular intervals. Your child knows you are busy but appreciates your attention.)
Download the school communication app and stay up to date with what’s happening. For example – Class dojo for our class		Download and connect at the beginning of the year. Look at pictures and read updates during the day so that you are ready to discuss things with your child or celebrate your child’s success.
Help with homework, assignments and other tests to help prepare your child for the next day at school		​After school or before dinner.

Attend parent teacher conferences as scheduled.