New (School) Year Resolutions – engaging parents for student success!
We’re sure you don’t need to be reminded that the new school year is already upon us – where did the summer holidays go?! The year may seem to stretch ahead, however research reveals that good practices put into place at the beginning of a school year are invaluable in building a strong framework for the upcoming terms.
One sure way of ensuring a successful outcome for your charges is to encourage parental engagement throughout the school year. Numerous studies have demonstrated that one of the most important factors in student success is involved parents. This may seem self-evident in a stable family environment, yet according to research, “parental engagement is even more significant than structural issues, such as single parent households”*.
Enable student-parent conversations
Parental engagement is not only one of the most important factors in predicting successful learners, it also delivers a wider benefit to the school and community as a whole. With evidence pointing to self-confidence and well-adjusted character as additional advantages to higher degrees of parental involvement, this is clearly a goal to strive for within your educational environment.
A word of caution, though – while a cosy chat about last night’s must-watch TV engenders bonding, meaningful conversations around a range of subjects have the most beneficial impact on a child’s behaviour and learning ability. With this information in mind, a teacher’s role can be invaluable in facilitating parent-child conversations.
Schoop puts parents in the loop!
Schoop offers an indispensable method for enabling such effective school-to-home communication. Far more powerful than a yearly or termly parent-teacher conversation, we provide educators with the tools to pick up classroom conversations and place them directly in the family home. Delivered via an app that is downloaded onto parents’ smartphones, Schoop offers the possibility of initiating open-ended parent-child discussions by delivering relevant and informative facts about their day-to-day school experiences.
With such a strong body of research pointing to the benefits of parental engagement, can your school afford not to communicate in an easy, effective and efficient manner? Book a Schoop demonstration now and see how we can transform your school to parent communications!
*John Hattie (2009) Visible Learning; a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge
