Involving parents in education

Information about the school

Pencoed Primary School is in the village of Pencoed, in Bridgend local authority.  There are around 600 pupils on roll, aged from 3 to 11 years old.  Of these, 29 pupils attend one of the four learning resource units for pupils with a range of learning difficulties.  The school has 25 classes.

The three-year rolling average of pupils eligible for free school meals is around 16%, which is below the national average of 18%.  The school identifies around 29% of pupils as having additional learning needs, which is above the national average of 21%.  Very few pupils come from an ethnic minority background and very few speak Welsh at home.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school has a well-established family engagement officer (FEO) who has developed a comprehensive family and community engagement strategy over the past nine years.  She runs a wide range of events and programmes, which enable parents and family members to be fully involved in the education of their child.  Many of the family learning programmes offered are specifically targeted to ensure that parents are able to engage with their children’s learning and therefore focus on understanding and developing specific skills.  For example, ‘Beyond the Book Bag’ looks to support parents with their understanding of early reading skills, whilst ‘Funky Phonics’ and ‘Impact in Writing’ focus on developing pupils’ writing skills.  The ‘Family Forest School’ programme is run on Saturday mornings and provides opportunities for parents to complete outdoor learning activities developing collaboration, resilience and communication skills with their children.  In addition to weekends, some family learning programmes are available during the summer holidays to continue to support families.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

More recently, the work of the FEO has focused on further developing the links between the school, pupils and families and the wider community through ‘The Generation Games’ programme.  This promotes intergenerational learning and is based in the local residential care home, Glanffrwd.  Pupils from the foundation phase travel to the care home once a week, along with their parents or family members.  They are then “buddied up” with one of the residents at the care home and they complete different activities each week, closely matched to the needs of both the pupils and the residents.  The school’s FEO works closely with the events manager at the care home to devise the six-week programme and to ensure that stimulating and fulfilling activities are planned.  The activities build up over the course of the programme and allow for opportunities for both the pupils and the residents to communicate and to share information about their lives and memories, along with developing other skills including physical, creative, personal and social skills.  Teisen, our Pets as Therapy dog is also included in the programme and enhances the wellbeing of both pupils and residents.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The programme has fostered reciprocal learning relationships between different generations and has helped to develop social cohesion within our community.

The pupils involved have all reported a far greater understanding of the needs of others and have developed greater confidence in communicating with different generational groups.  The feedback from the parents and family members involved has been positive with some expressing an interest in continuing their support for the elderly following the completion of the programme.  The residents involved have benefited greatly, showing higher levels of well-being and stimulation.

Creating additional links, such as Pets as Therapy, has allowed the events manager at the home to expand the ongoing activity programme available to the residents and explore greater opportunities for collaborative working with a broader base of community partnerships.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school has been involved in a wide range of collaborative networks of practice where we have shared aspects of our Family and Community Engagement such as a professional learning alliance for the CSC consortium.  The school is currently involved in international professional learning with community schools in New York established through the British Council.  The FEO is involved in networks both within the local authority LA and beyond.