Partnering with parents: five strategies for stronger school communities

Effective parental engagement benefits the entire school community. It boosts pupil achievement through improved motivation and attendance, fosters stronger home-school partnerships and supports a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

When parents are actively involved, it enhances understanding between home and school. This is especially important for pupils with additional needs. Parents offer valuable insights about their children that help staff tailor support strategies.

Prioritising open communication with families creates a positive ripple effect, improving pupil outcomes, staff morale, mental health and the overall school culture.

Firstly, consider the barriers

Below, I’ve outlined some common barriers that can affect how parents engage with school. Some may resonate with your setting, several might apply, or perhaps none at all. What matters most is taking the time to reflect on how these barriers might be affecting the parents in your own setting.

• Lack of knowledge: Some parents may have limited knowledge and understanding of how schools work. This lack of awareness can make it difficult for them to effectively engage with the school and support their child's educational journey.
• Communication barriers: Language barriers, cultural differences, or limited communication channels can impede effective communication between school staff and parents. Inadequate or ineffective communication channels can lead to misunderstandings, frustrations, and a lack of engagement.
• Negative past experiences: Previous negative experiences with the education system or feeling unheard and unsupported in the past can make parents hesitant to engage with the school. These negative experiences can create a lack of trust and affect their relationship with the school.
• Time constraints and other responsibilities: Just like us, many parents have multiple responsibilities, including managing their children, working as well as other family commitments. These time constraints can make it challenging for them to attend school meetings, and events, or engage in school-related activities.
• Inaccessibility of school environment: Physical barriers, such as inaccessible buildings or limited accommodations for parents with disabilities or lack of transportation options.
• Additional needs: Some parents may themselves have additional needs or mental health issues that hinder their access to school.
• Lack of confidence or empowerment: Some parents may feel overwhelmed or lack confidence in their ability to contribute effectively to their child's education. They may feel intimidated by the school environment or unsure about how to navigate the educational system.

 

Five practical strategies for schools

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach as each education setting is unique, but a good place to start fostering stronger bonds with parents can be to consider these key areas:

1. Adopt acceptance and non-judgement

You have no doubt come across a vast array of parents through your career and even when you think that nothing will ever surprise you again when it comes to parental opinions or requests, a curve ball will appear! From those who are a challenge to get in contact with when their child is unwell, to those requesting a blow-by-blow account of their child’s education, as well as everything in between.

Encouraging staff to adopt an attitude of acceptance means respecting a parent’s feelings, personal values and experiences as valid, even if they are different from staffs own or they disagree with them. By taking time to imagine themselves in the parents’ place, staff can be more genuine and empathic.

Staff may find it useful to consider these tips below on non-judgemental listening when it comes to conversations with parents. Schools can also download Education Support’s helpful poster BUILD poster for active listening to share with staff.

Non-judgemental listening tips

• Reflect on your mindset: ensure you are calm, open, and ready to listen without judgment before approaching any challenging conversations.
• Adopt acceptance, genuineness, and empathy: respect the parent’s feelings and experiences, and try to see things from their perspective.
• Use verbal listening skills: show you’re actively listening by asking questions and avoiding interruptions.
• Consider body language: avoid doing any other tasks if possible during serious conversations, face them to show you are engaged with what they are trying to tell you.

2. Reframe the ‘hard to reach’ parent label

Language matters. The words we use not only reflect our beliefs but also shape how we interact with others. Describing a group as ‘hard-to-reach’ can subtly influence attitudes, fostering assumptions or stereotypes that deepen the disconnect between schools and the very parents we want to engage. This framing overlooks the complex, and often systemic, barriers that many families face - such as socio-economic challenges, cultural differences, previous negative experiences with education, or language barriers. By shifting towards terms like ‘underserved’ or similar, we can reframe the conversation in a more inclusive and empathetic way, acknowledging the barriers that exist and positioning the school as a positive influence in bridging that gap.

You may want to start by:

• Not making assumptions about parents’ experiences. You could share a parent questionnaire for each child, as siblings’ experiences in school can be so different
• Consider offering alternative methods of participation. Can you offer virtual meetings or online forums, to accommodate parents' schedules and accessibility needs? Is it possible to get an interpreter in some cases?

3. Hone your home-school communications

How are you communicating with parents? Are you using the appropriate channels for those in your unique setting? How regularly are you sharing communication expectations with parents and staff? What about technological advancements? Read on for an overview of how to hone your home-school communications:

• Home-School Communication Policy: while many schools have a policy, its effectiveness can be compromised if not regularly shared with parents and staff. If they are not familiar with it, implementation can be challenging, and staff boundaries more easily crossed. It’s a good idea to review your Policy annually, get it signed off by Governors and ensure it covers the topics listed in the next resource.
• Regularly share your Policy: Use this home-school messaging for practical ways to share your Home-School Communication Policy with your school community, including all staff to ensure they are on board with it before it goes out!
• Get a technology strategy: With the increase in different ways parents can use technology to communicate with school, it is advisable to develop a technology strategy to support staff wellbeing - but remember to update it regularly as technology inevitably changes.

4. Utilise your wider community

Some of you may have already been inspired by ‘Parklands: A School Built on Love’ by Chris Dyson. where Dyson, head of a successful primary school in Leeds sets out how he involves the wider community to help support families and parents at his school, many of whom experience extreme poverty.

Through matching up needs in the community, Dyson has shown how you can collaborate with community organisations and support networks to provide additional resources and assistance for parents, which has a positive impact on their relationship with the school and child's learning. This can be a really powerful way to reach parents from diverse backgrounds and build trust.

A fantastic example demonstrating the benefits of working with the wider community was recently shared in a focus group facilitated by Education Support with senior leaders:

“We've got really, really powerful group relationships that we've built over the last four years...  one is with Somali Women's Network group and that has been absolutely transformational in terms of relationships with our Somali families and consequently, the progress that lots of our Somali children have made. Those links and relationships are really crucial for us.”

5. Support staff with parental challenges

If staff who are struggling with any type of parental behaviour, feel they can ask for help when they need it, without fear of shame, judgement or putting their career and reputation in danger, then they will likely do this sooner. This is better for everyone, including pupils, colleagues and parents.

To support staff:

• Foster psychological safety: staff are more likely to seek help in psychologically safe environments. Education Support’s psychological safety guide explains what psychological safety is, why it matters in schools and how leaders can create it.
• Use a psychological safety audit: this 5-minute audit helps assess how safe your school feels. Use it with teams or school-wide, encouraging open feedback and action on suggestions.
• Check in regularly: clarify who staff can turn to for support in your home-school communication policy, and ensure senior leaders are checking in and reinforcing that help is available. Make sure managers and senior leaders know who to turn to for support as well.
• Share expert resources: Education Support offers free, expert-led tools and a printable emotional support helpline poster to support staff-parent relationships:

• Emotional support helpline poster
• Better together: building positive relationships between parents and teachers
• Getting the most out of parent-teacher relationships
• Building better parent-teacher relationships
• How teachers and education staff can say no
• Setting boundaries: a guide for teachers and education staff in schools
• Managing disagreements at work: a guide for teachers and education staff

Sources:

• Five tips for non-judgemental listening, mental health first aid UK
• Don’t call me ‘disadvantaged’, Positive Young Minds

Lynn How is an accomplished SENCO, educational consultant, and writer with over 24 years of experience in the education sector in a variety of roles including assistant head and ITT lead mentor. Passionate about inclusion, she specialises in helping schools create supportive environments for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Lynn is also an advocate for staff wellbeing, offering practical advice for SENCos, school staff and school leaders around stress, burnout, and work-life balance. She shares regular insights