NPFS seminar

National Parent Forum of Scotland

Seminar

www.nationalparentforum.org@parentforumscot

facebook.com/parentforumscotland#npfs2014

Background

1988 School Boards introduced

2006 Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act

2007 Parent Councils introduced

2009 National Parent Forum of Scotland created

2014 New partnership with Children in Scotland, Education Scotland and Scottish Government established

Parents as partners in learning

‘Parents, carers and families are by far the most important influences in a child’s life. Parents who

take a supportive role in their child’s learning make a difference in improving achievement and

behaviour’

‘When parents and schools work together children do better’

Guidance on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006

Parental Involvement Act

• Scottish Government and local authorities have a duty to promote parental involvement in education.

• Parent Councils provide a means for parents to get involved in their child’s school and have their say about education matters.

• Parent Councils help schools, parents and local authorities communicate with each other

What is a Parent Council?• All parents and carers of pupils at a school =

the ‘Parent Forum’. Parent Forum decides if they want a Parent Council and what type of Council they want.

• Parent Councils are made up of members of the Parent Forum, but can choose to bring in other parents (‘co-opted parents’).

• PCs provide support and information so that Parent Forum can participate and have their views heard by the school and the local authority.

What rights do Parent Councils have?

• PCs should influence decisions, be listened to and be taken seriously. Should be involved in important decisions e.g. school’s improvement plan and recruitment process for the head and deputy head.

• PCs have the right to receive information and advise the school and the local authority.

• PCs have the right to receive support from the local authority – e.g. funding, services and accommodation.

What should Parent Councils do?• Suggest ways to get parents involved in children’s

learning to improve their levels of achievement

• Help build positive relations between parents and schools

• Advise on consulting with wider parent forum on decisions about the school

• Ensure that school events are enjoyable, encourage parental participation and suit the needs of parents.

• Keep Parent Forum informed about the work they’re doing.

• Encourage communication between the school, parents, pupils, nurseries and the wider community.

Curriculum for Excellence•

The four capacities:

• Purpose of CfE is encapsulated in the four capacities - to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen and an effective contributor.

• CfE aims to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they will need if they are to flourish in life, learning and work, now and in the future.

Curriculum for Excellence•

Curriculum for Excellence•

• Attributes and capabilities can be used as a guide to check whether the curriculum for any pupil sufficiently reflects the purposes of CfE.

Developing the four capacities

• Experiences and outcomes: set of statements which describe the expectations for learning and progression for each of the eight curriculum areas.

• Importance of the quality and nature of the learning experience in developing attributes and capabilities and in achieving active engagement, motivation and depth of learning. An outcome represents what is to be achieved.

• Experiences and outcomes for each curriculum area build in all the attributes and capabilities and so develop the four capacities.

Curriculum for Excellence

The eight curriculum areas are:

•Expressive arts

•Health and wellbeing

•Languages

•Mathematics

•Religious and moral education

•Sciences

•Social studies

•Technologies

National Parent Forum of Scotland role

• Provides an independent voice for parents and carers

• Communicates with parents and Parent Councils

• Builds partnerships at national and local levels

• Parent representation on national committees and working groups

Providing information for parents

Resources• Nationals in a Nutshell• Highers in a Nutshell• Revision in a Nutshell• Assessment in a Nutshell• Progression in a Nutshell• Skills in a Nutshell• Learner Journey• Pointers for Parents• Let’s Talk• Sharing Learning, Sharing Assessment• Plus e-newsletter, policy briefings, focus group reports…

Questions?