Working with Parents to Impact on Students Learning

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King Edward VI School
Bury St Edmunds

• Working with Parents to Impact on Students
  Learning

Geoff Barton Headteacher, King Edward VI
School PowerPoint available from
www.geoffbarton.co.uk
www.king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk
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• About us

King Edward VI School
Bury St Edmunds

• 13-18 upper school
• Mixed town / rural catchment
• 61 5A-C (with English Maths)
• Sports College focus on participation, health,
  leadership development
• Training School focus on micro-skills of
  teaching, leadership development, workforce
  remodelling
• 3-session day and Active Citizenship.

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• Some starting-points

King Edward VI School
Bury St Edmunds

• Parents will have far more influence over their
  childrens development than we ever will
• No parent wants to see their child fail
• Some parents are unsure how to support their
  child, especially after Year 7
• Many problems in school are a result of parents
  and school giving out mixed messages
• Some success is better than no success.

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1 Parents Evenings

• Less Stalinist
• Always involve student
• Always refreshments team
• Always 2 key messages
• Always evaluated and published.

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2Target-setting/Review days

• 1 day of review and targets per year
• Customised timings from tutor
• Data-rich
• Embrace learning in its widest sense (eg
  out-of-hours, leadership)
• Models good practice pre- and post-interview
  tasks.

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3 Parent Network

• Interventionist pastoral team
• Parents being invited into school is one of our
  main approaches
• Frequent contact through letters and calls
• Target our most elusive parents
• Sessions on Coping with adolescence, Family
  Quiz, Supporting your childs learning.

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4 Parent Learning

• Coordinated approach to engaging parents across
  27 partner schools
• Funded through Extended Schools
• Map out ways that parents can support their
  children - make good practice explicit
• Share via booklet (8000 per year)
• and website.

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5 What if
data could tell us to the nearest 6 houses
which children are most at risk of
under-achievement and exclusion? we could plan
systematic interventions through primary, middle
and upper school? we could engage parents
through ICT and face-to-face support? we could
find sensitive ways of modelling good parenting
practice in homework support, literacy, eating,
etc?
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ACORN What is it?

• Geodemographic tool
• Central to business intelligence
• Used at population and individual level.

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ACORN Categories

• Wealthy Achievers
• Wealthy Executives
• Affluent Greys
• Flourishing Families
• Urban Prosperity
• Prosperous Professionals
• Educated Urbanites
• Aspiring Singles
• Comfortably off
• Starting Out
• Secure families
• Settled Suburbia
• Prudent Pensioners

• Moderate Means
• Asian Communities
• Post Industrial Families
• Blue Collar Roots
• Hard Pressed
• Struggling Families
• Burdened Singles
• High Rise Hardship
• Inner City Adversity

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NEXT STEPS

• Sharing knowledge across the cluster
• Intervening at earlier stage
• Showing continuity across transitions
• Investigating funding for getting target parents
  actively involved
• Wanting to develop a research project
• Wanting to break the link between wealth and
  achievement.

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King Edward VI School
Bury St Edmunds

• Working with Parents to Impact on Students
  Learning

www.geoffbarton.co.uk
www.king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk