CHAPTER THREE: CURRENT LEVELS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
While the focus of this evaluation was to obtain views on the series of Making the Difference leaflets, it was useful in the first instance to obtain an understanding of the ways in which parents are involved in their children's schooling. This chapter focuses on views of parental involvement in general, and subsequent chapters examine views on the Making the Difference series of leaflets specifically.
All school based respondents were asked to what extent they had noticed an increase in active parental involvement, either at a formal or informal level in their school over the course of the past 12 months or so. As Chart 3.1 shows, 53% commented that parental involvement had increased (15% said it had increased a lot and 38% said it had increased a little), while 45% were of the opinion there had been no change. Only 1% said it had decreased a little.
Chart 3.1 Extent of any increase in active parental involvement in last 12 months or so
Notes to Table
Source: Q1a
Base: All School respondents (248)
Those respondents who had noted an increase in parental involvement in their school (130) were then asked to say in what ways they had noticed an increase. As Chart 3.2 shows, the highest proportion (30%) specified there had been increased interest in parent forums, councils, boards, the PTA and fundraising groups. This is perhaps not unexpected given the changes bought about by the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 which introduces Parent Forums and new Parent Councils that will be recognised in law from August 2007.
A similar proportion (28%) noted that more parents were working with / helping their school by getting involved in school activities and 22% noted that there are increased opportunities / events / activities for parents to be involved with. Smaller proportions noted parental involvement in attending school events or parents' evenings (17%) or that there were more enquiries / interest / communication from parents (14%).
Chart 3.2 Ways in which parental involvement has increased in last 12 months or so
Notes to Table
Source: Q1b Values below 5% not presented
Base: School respondents who stated an increase in parental involvement (130)
At the beginning of the focus groups, parents were asked to say the ways in which they were or had been involved in their children's school life and a range of different activities were mentioned. Most were on a formal basis such as helping out in the library, reading to children or accompanying children on school trips. Only a small number of parents had involvement in formal parents' groups such as the PTA or school board. Of those that were not involved in formal parents' groups, there tended to be little interest in this type of involvement and lack of time or fear of formal arrangements were the 2 key reasons cited for this.
There were differences between parents who had children at primary and secondary school. Most involvement was mainly when children were at primary school and this tended to decline either when the child went to secondary school or within the first year at secondary school. As a result, parents were less likely to help out in the school, although they retained an interest in terms of checking homework, attending parents' evenings and so on. Numerous reasons were offered for this decline. A key reason was that parents felt their children at secondary school no longer wanted them to be involved in their school life and actively discouraged parents from continued involvement.
"I don't get involved very much now because he's [my child] past that stage. I did do the PTA and the School Board when he was in primary school but now when I mention anything about the school, even going to see the teachers, he has a fuzzy fit. Don't come anywhere near the school."
(Glasgow, Female, C2DE)
Because primary schools in the main will have relatively small catchment areas and most pupils will live locally, they generally have more of a fit within the local community. As noted by one of our respondents,
"This is a really small community we live in and most parents have helped out at the primary school while they've had kids there. It's kind of part of the community and everyone gets involved. My eldest is at secondary school now and he doesn't want me to be involved at all and the school doesn't ask for your help either."
(Highland, Female, C2DE)
Some parents also noted that primary schools were much more likely than secondary schools to actively request help from parents. There were also a small number of comments from parents that they did not want to have to go through the disclosure process that might be necessary in order to be involved in some activities.
Across these focus groups, parental involvement was generally greater on the part of mothers than fathers and this often related to working patterns and / or a perception that one parent acts as the representative for both. In families with two parents, while both might attend a parents' evening, it was generally only one who would be involved in less formal activities. Some parents also noted that when they had children at more than one school, they have to ensure their time is spread evenly.
For many parents, contact was on an infrequent or irregular basis and most relied on school newsletters to receive information about what was happening in their child's school, although a small number of parents indicated that they did refer to school websites to stay in touch with activities at the school. While the "school bag" remained the preferred option to receive newsletters and other information about life and events at primary schools, there was an acknowledgement that this does not always work at a secondary level. As a result the key preferred means of receiving information from secondary schools was information being posted directly to parents. Some of our parents noted that when schools have relied on secondary children to deliver information, they often failed.
In summary:
- A majority of schools (53%) have noted an increase in parental involvement and only 1% a decrease;
- Increased interest has come from parents in relation to parent forums and parent councils or generally helping with school activities and events;
- The qualitative data showed that parental involvement is more likely to be on an informal basis and is more common at primary school level;
- For most parents, there was a heavy reliance on school newsletters to keep them up-to-date.