Over the course of the year, Exeter Primary will be developing a policy for engaging with families. Currently, the Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) is updating their ‘Together with Families’ resources. These resources will support the school in implementing an approach to engage more parents/families in student learning.

The Australian Research for Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) define parent and family engagement in learning as “the capacity of families, in partnership with schools, to support student learning and achievement by promoting interactions with children and young people that nurture positive attitudes towards learning, confidence as learners, and the development of subjective learning resources’.

Fifty years of research tells us that parent engagement in children’s learning makes a difference. When parents engage with their children’s learning, particularly out of school, attendance increases, behaviour in school improves and overall children’s achievement tends to improve.

Parent and family engagement in learning is based on an understanding that while children learn in all kinds of different  environments, at the centre of these interrelated systems  is the dynamic between parents and children. Child-parent  interactions that nurture positive attitudes towards learning resources, equip children to succeed.

More information will be shared as we progress through this process.