A warm partnership with vulnerable parents
How can schools commit to a warm partnership with vulnerable parents as a function of equal educational opportunities? Working together with parents increases the chances of school success. A methodology with 12 keys provides a stepping stone for thinking about this and getting started in concrete terms.
With the project Little Children, Big Opportunities, we are focusing on equal educational opportunities. This sub-project focuses on establishing a warm partnership with the parents of pupils from vulnerable contexts. Social inequality was only exacerbated by corona. Parents were suddenly no longer allowed to attend school. High time to get back to work on this! Because research shows us that working together with parents increases the chances of school success.
Together with four primary schools, we will work on the theme of 'warm partnerships with vulnerable parents, as a function of equal educational opportunities'.
In each school, we will start with a parent survey. What do parents think of the parent-school collaboration? The team is also surveyed. Once we have a picture of this, strengths and also opportunities for growth are identified.
With the 4 schools, we share inspiring stories and good practices and listen to testimonies about warm partnerships with parents.
Then we will start a coaching process with the 4 schools and draw up an action plan. How do we now want to continue working on good cooperation with vulnerable parents? Here, we use the methodology of the '12 keys for good parent-school cooperation'. These keys were developed by parents in poverty and teachers in a King Baudouin Foundation project.
The good practices and inspiring examples are shared via a website. The classification is done according to the 12 keys. With this, all schools can start working themselves on committing to a warm partnership with parents. We do believe that there is a greater chance of success if the whole school team is involved in choosing a strategy or key.
I would like to get more information about the children. Now I only get that during parent contact or when the children are late. I would like to have more contact. For example, they could call me or organise a parent contact more often. Now I am only invited from a negative situation, which is not always good. You are never invited 'just like that' once.
I think accessibility is very important. I emphasise that during my info evenings, if there is anything please email me. I also always say the same phrase: 'I am also a human being, not a robot, I also make mistakes.' I really try to be as accessible as possible.
How do you establish a warm partnership with parents?
Our 12 keys offer school teams inspiration to make work of a warm partnership with parents.
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