Learning without limits

Childwall launch parental engagement programme

Childwall Sports and Science Academy (CSSA) recognises the benefits of working closely with parents to support their children’s learning.

Its Parental Engagement Programme is designed to help parents to support their children to succeed in school.

Janette Vincent, headteacher at CSSA said: “The aim of the programme is for parents to become the real partners in their child’s learning journey and become actively involved in their education.

“We are giving parents a real insight into what their child is learning and how they are being taught. This approach ensures that we foster further a love of learning within our Childwall community.”

The sessions take place remotely after school. There are four sessions delivered as part of the programme:

• Specialist subject vocabulary – what does this look like in different subjects?

- The academy is aware that children transitioning from primary to secondary school take a huge leap in the amount of specialist vocabulary they are exposed to almost immediately.

• Reading strategies:

- Reading is a key priority in school. The academy wants reading at home to complement strategies taught in school.

• Discussion at home:

- Encouraging parents to talk to their children and engage in conversation about their learning. The academy offer suggestions on how parents can support learning at home.

• Revision strategies:

- The acadmey share a toolkit to help parents support each child during assessment windows in school.

Janette said: “All teachers and parents involved to date have found the experience invaluable. Parent feedback has been positive with comments such as: “It has helped me think of the questions I need to ask my child about what and how they are learning during their time at school” and “Until I attended these sessions, I had no idea the number of different words my child has been exposed to. I can now start using them at home.”

One student commented: “It’s useful that my mum understands a bit more about my science lessons. She asks me about new words all the time now.”

So far English, science, history and geography departments have delivered the programme. The maths programme will start in January 2022.