How to improve parental engagement in GCSE teaching and learning

Causes of lack of parental involvement in schools

Parental disengagement can present as a lack of interest but in reality, it could be due to a multitude of reasons. Causes of lack of parental involvement in schools could include barriers caused by their work commitments, a poor parent-school dialogue or even negative experiences of their own education. A struggle encountered by many parents is an unpleasant sense of competition when it comes to parenting. It is of course important to encourage parents to set their children up to learn and thrive in the way that best suits them, but it is also really important that parents know that there is no shame in reaching out for a bit of help and advice as every child is different so there is not one right way of doing things.

In recent years, figures including The Duchess of Cambridge have spoken about the rising cases of loneliness and isolation parents were feeling in lockdown, encouraging parents to find support within their communities. All of these things make it difficult for schools to connect with parents which can be so frustrating for teachers. It is therefore really important that schools recognise these potential barriers when communicating with parents so they can find the best ways to engage possible.

Encouraging parents to be involved in schools

GCSEPod makes it easy to increase parent engagement in schools in a number of ways:

• GCSEPod offers digestible learning bundles which make it easy for parents to understand the subject content their child is learning, regardless of curriculum changes.
• Parents can login to monitor their children’s homework, platform usage and can easily see the areas in which they may be struggling.
• Parents are able to track the progress of their child throughout the year with our built-in reporting.

We run parent webinars which focus on how each of our bundles can be used to support children’s learning with questions being answered by an GCSEPod expert. We also post daily help and support on all our social media channels, so encourage parents to give us a follow!

The importance of parental involvement in schools

Evidence shows that children whose parents are engaged achieve more, compared to those whose parents are not involved in their education. It also benefits the wider school community. Having an active parent body means that the school remains informed about what works best for the families of school children and also raises the standards of teaching.

A great example of parental engagement improving outcomes was at The Hollyfield School in Kingston-Upon-Thames. The school was experiencing as squeeze of their budget when new chair of the PTA, Tyrone Cano, took charge. After much deliberation they identified GCSEPod as a project they would like to pilot for Hollyfield so set about fundraising. The ability to succeed with a project like this is a great example of why having engaged parents is so important. If parents did not understand the value in this type of project then there would be far less chance it would be a success; understanding this value will largely come from being engaged in school activities. Mr Cano said: “As a member of the PTA it is certainly good to know that we have had a direct hand in the ongoing success of the school; it makes the job all the more worthwhile.” Find out more about Hollyfield’s success.

Building a strong school community benefits everyone. Not every parent will have the time and resources to be involved in all aspects of school life but trying to ensure parents are at least engage in what their child’s education is a great start to achieving that sense of community.