Despite the number of communication channels available - from parents evenings to emails, after-school meetings to online reporting and learning platforms - Becta’s research shows that the majority of parents are not in frequent contact with their child’s school:
- Over half of parents contact their child’s teacher just once a term or less
- Of the parents who rarely get in touch with their child’s teacher, more than one in five (22%) say they don’t see any benefit in regular parent-school contact and 22% say they don’t want to add to the teacher’s workload
- More than one in five (22%) school staff feel they do not have enough contact with parents at present
And whilst many teachers say they’re happy with the level of contact they currently have with parents, a significant proportion would like it to be more, with over a third (37%) preferring to have weekly contact at the very least.
However, there is a clear demand from schools for the right balance, as nearly one in 10 (9%) teachers say the level of contact they have with parents is ‘too much’. By setting up good communication channels and informing parents, schools can ensure that the majority of teachers’ time is not taken up by just a few, demanding parents.
Taking a back seat: the ‘invisible’ parents
59% of parents admit to being in contact with their child’s school just once a term or less
Although it has been proved in numerous studies that parental involvement is key to a child’s educational success, it seems that many parents aren’t aware of just how positive a role they can play.
Of the parents who admitted they rarely made contact with their child’s school, more than one in five (22%) said they did not see how being in regular contact with their child’s school has any benefit for their child. The majority (67%) of school staff questioned said that these parents simply do not realise how important their support is to their child’s development.
Confidence issues
42% of teaching staff say ‘invisible’ parents lack the confidence to approach them to discuss their child
There are other reasons some parents stay in the background – whilst many parents feel positive following conversations with their child’s teacher, a significant proportion reveal they think they are dismissed by the teacher as a ‘worrier’ (11%) or that they’re ‘imposing on the teacher’s time’ (11%) whenever they get in touch.
School staff are aware that this can be an issue: of the parents they don’t have regular contact with, 42% of teaching staff said they feel these parents lack the confidence to approach them to discuss their child and 43% even admit that parents might find them ‘difficult to approach sometimes’.
Too Busy to Help?
Three out of five teachers believe the reason some parents are not in regular contact with them is because they think their job stops at the school gates.
This is reflected by some parents who say they rarely get in touch with their child’s school because they ‘believe teachers… not me’ should be in charge of their education.
Why? It appears school staff think time is the key factor in some parents’ disengagement - the majority (54%) said they thought parents were just ‘too busy’ to engage with the school and their child’s school. However, just 8% of parents say the reason they don’t get in touch regularly is because they ‘struggle to find time’, suggesting that there are other factors behind their lack of engagement.
'Pushy’ Parents
36% of teachers say they often come across parents who need ‘constant reassurance’
More than one in 10 (11%) said they feel dismissed as an ‘overly demanding’ parent and 11% say they are made to feel that they are imposing on the teacher’s time when they try to make contact.
A third (34%) of teachers admit they often come across parents who ‘try and influence decisions’ about their child, such as which class they go into or where they sit in a classroom and admit that half (50%) of parents that they have the most contact with are those who make themselves available to speak to the teacher at the end of the school day.
What parents and school staff are telling us…
The majority of school staff (54%) say that the relationship they have with pupils’ parents is mixed, varying greatly from parent to parent. Staff are also keen for schools to provide tools which can help them have more informed and effective discussions with parents.
This and the survey’s other findings highlights a need for better communication channels between parents and schools that generates open and honest discussions which help a child progress, whilst also managing the impact on the teacher’s workload to ensure the most efficient use of time.
Opening better communication channels
The vast majority - 89% - of parents say technology helps them get involved in their child’s education, or it could play a more powerful role if they better understood how to use it.
- Over a third (37%) of teachers would welcome practical advice given to parents on how they can communicate more effectively and over a third (39%) said it would be helpful to show parents who are already contacting them how they might do that in a different way that is more beneficial to parents and schools.
- And parents would welcome help too - 37% say they’d like advice on how to improve relations with their child’s teacher