Family
F
il E
Engagementt
in Learning
g at St Clare’s
Maria Mercadante and Julie Di Noto
St. Clare’s Primary School
What did staff used to believe about
engaging families in learning
 To
o
be involved
o ed parents
pa e s had
ad to
o be p
present,
ese , a
and
d
if they weren’t present they weren’t interested.
 Proof of success was based on numbers
attending.
 Teachers felt nervous to interact with families
beca se they
because
the tho
thought
ght the
they would
o ld be judged.
j dged
 A teacher’s role was in the classroom
educating children
 Parents are a resource for the school – how
can they
y help
p me?
• Withi
Within the
th SIP,
SIP family
f
il partnerships
t
hi
sat only within the School
C
Community
it Sphere
S h
• Parents valued homework and a
good
d education
d
ti
above
b
allll else
l
• Parents who we didn’t see at
school weren’t
eren’t interested
• It was the teacher’s right to control
the relationship on their terms.
terms
• Certain cultures were not interested
in partnering with us.
us
What did we do to shift beliefs?
 Within
the School Improvement Plan –
Family Engagement in Learning – is evident
and named in all Spheres
 Information Nights became Family
Engagement in Learning Opportunities.
They became interactive, fun and always
began with food sharing and included
prizes
 More regular and scheduled FENs in each
t
term
across Curriculum
C i l
areas: Literacy,
Lit
Numeracy, RE, Science, SEL, Cybersafety,
Social Emotional Learning
 School
S h l
resources opened
d up and
d
made available for parents to use e.g.
computer lab and lessons,
lessons library,
library
kitchen for cooking, English speaking
classes for parents
 Family Engagement in Learning
Newsletter fortnightly
g y and translated
 Monday morning conversations
addressing parent interest based
topics e.g. WWC, Uniform, Reports,
Learning Together at Home
 Commitment
to Strategic planning
and
d supportt for
f Family
F
il Engagement
E
t
in Learning by creating a POL for
this purpose
 Scheduled FEIL Staff Meetings and
Level PLTs
 Ensuring that we reflect on FEIL
opportunities in personal goal
setting and ARM’s to assess level of
impact