35
Engaging parents
The appointment of a vibrant and energetic parent was of great importance in making
the project happen. Personal contact with parents by this person and a core team of
parent helpers was also most important.
This really did seem to be a joint enterprise of the Principal and the parent co-ordinator
where decision-making was genuinely shared.
The activities were tailored to what parents had said would interest them, so again
listening to parents' needs was important, as was the provision of an enjoyable venue,
a good meal and an interesting speaker.
Researcher's observations
The major driver for this project was the president of the parent club who worked
closely with the Principal and with a core group of four or five parents. The project
co-ordinator is a social worker and was able to bring some of those skills into her work
with the parents, and in organising a number of activities that involve parents and the
school.
The Principal fully supported the initiatives of the core group of parents. She also
noted that the other staff members were fully supportive of the project. The forum
where the guest speaker addressed the parents seemed an outstanding success. The
issues addressed were those that the project co-ordinator and the Principal had spoken
of earlier as being of concern in their particular school and community. Of particular
interest was the way that these two women worked with a group of 10 or 12 parents for
between-forum activities. This follows a successful professional development practice
of trialling strategies in the home and classroom, and then reporting back to the next
session for discussion, evaluation and further development.
The school seems to have met all the objectives it set for itself in this project and is
now looking for ways to take them further. The conferences/forums were an excellent
idea, and they were very well supported by parents not just from the town but some
of the surrounding areas and schools. Each conference attracted 50-plus people. The
conferences/forums were very professional, with the venue being attractive and the
catering excellent. Many books were ordered, at the speaker's suggestion, for the
parent library.
A major reason for the number of parents attending and remaining involved was
the one-to-one invitation and talking to individuals that the project co-ordinator,
in particular, and the core group of four parents undertook: personal invitations to
parents; encouraging them to attend; and highlighting particular aspects of the forum/
conference that the parent might find interesting. It was very time-consuming but it
was also effective. They are trying to gradually extend relationships by using the core
group of parents to work in the wider school community.
CASE H
Personality
, Resilience and Lear
ning Styles- Understanding Our Children and Ourselves
Summary :
35 Engaging parents The appointment of a vibrant and energetic parent was of great importance in making the project happen. Researcher's observations The major driver for this project was the president of the parent club who worked closely with the Principal and with a core group of four or five parents. A major reason for the number of parents attending and remaining involved was the one-to-one invitation and talking to individuals that the project co-ordinator, in particular, and the core group of four parents undertook: personal invitations to parents;
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