At Whitehouse, we stongly believe that children's education and access to their rights is a partnership between school and home. With this in mind, we regularly provide formal and informal opportunities for parents/carers to visit the school and play a full part in their child's education.

Parental Engagement is one of Whitehouse key priorities this year and we are all working hard, as a team, to restore it to what it was pre-pandemic. See our map of planned parental engagement for the Academic Year 2022-2023.

At a time when families are not only dealing with the psychological impact of the COVID outbreak but are also struggling with the cost of living, we, as a school, are acutely aware of the crucial role we play in supporting individual parents/carers minimise the disruption the above may cause to children’s education as illustrated below.

Continuing to provide individual support & a welcoming environment for families

• Pastoral and SMT team available on playground before/after school dealing with parental queries.
• 26 EAL children were personally welcomed to Whitehouse in Aut1; half of which were Romanians/Romas. In addition, the EAL Lead supported 16 Y6 children with their high school applications (paper and online).
• Plans are in place to schedule Parents’ Evening appointments for some families and to interpret at Parents’ Evenings for parents/carers with little English.

Maximising parental engagement

• Staff worked together to map out Parental Engagement events for the year in a live Google Sheet. Colleagues were encouraged to plan a variety of engagement levels to reflect parental preferences.
• This information was used to produce a live database which teachers will update throughout the year.
• 83% of EYFS parents are active on Tapestry and 90% engage with weekly homework in that manner.

Continuing to provide families with important information about the Curriculum

• Family Connect Workshops attended by between 8-12 EYFS parents.
• SATs Information Sessions delivered on 10/10/22 & attended by 20 Y6 Parents/Carers. Highest figure ever.
• KS1 - Parent/Carer Reading Share Session took place on 19th October. 
• Y3 Reading Afternoon held before half-term. 45 parents attended the event.
• 55 parents attended the Y4 Fruit Salad event on 14th October. After the food tasting and evaluation, staff did a presentation to explain reading expectations relating to quizzing

Continuing to promote good behaviours for learning including attendance

• Excellent class attendance celebrated in Weekly Bulletin and regular reminders inserted about importance of good attendance and consequences of poor attendance.
• 17 parents took part in the EAL Coffee Morning on 6th October which covered attendance; medical appointments/holidays, notification of absences, correct PE kit and the RE Curriculum. Primary carers asked pertinent questions to the invited guests (CET Attendance Officer + Mr Jordan).
• 7 fixed-penalty notices awarded for unauthorised holidays and 5 for unauthorised absences in Autumn 1.
• 188 letters sent out to parents to warn them that their child’s attendance is 95%; thus, reducing the risk of them becoming “persistently absent” at 90%.
• New report format trialled for November Parents’ Evening which includes information about attainment/ effort, engagement with homework, attendance/behaviour with average scores provided for reference.

Continuing to offer childcare whilst ensuring children do no start the day on an empty stomach

• A range of before and after-school clubs continued to be provided with free spaces on the Active and Quiet Breakfast Clubs/Thrive Breakfast Club/Read and Feed etc being offered to vulnerable families.

Alleviating financial pressure on vulnerable families

• 48 primary carers attended a Helping Hands event on 20th October which provided families with food parcels, uniforms, bed linens and blankets. Similar event planned for December.
• 60 food parcels delivered in Autumn 1 to individual families.

Regularly signposting parents to other services

• Raising awareness of transition events: Open Evenings, Afternoon Tea, applications for high school places.
• Free School Meals Vouchers, County Council help, church events providing warm meals, October half-term activities, Brownies, School Nurse etc.