Here at School-Home Support we know from our work over the last 30 years that to really impact on children’s education, the very best thing to do is to engage their parents. If you can do that you will change attitudes and aspirations inter-generationally; parents will often return to learning themselves. The Institute of Education researched SHS’s work supporting the parents of children on reading and maths recovery schemes, and found longitudinal improvements. It concluded that, as a result of these children engaging with their education from an early age, their own children will not need additional interventions.
Our work tackles the underlying issues children from disadvantaged backgrounds face, such as poor housing; adult worklessness; mental and physical ill-health; debt; alcohol and substance misuse; domestic violence and not least, poverty.
It is very hard to prioritise getting your child to school if you are about to be evicted. It’s very hard to concentrate in school if you are worried that your father will be unconscious when you get home. It’s hard not to respond with a violent outburst when peers tease you, if you’ve watched your mother beaten the night before.
Targeted thoughtfully, the Pupil Premium can have huge benefits for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but there is no point in putting on extra literacy support if the very children who need it most aren’t attending school.
One of the most effective uses of the Pupil Premium is targeted family support, getting children into school, ready to learn. This may mean collecting them from home, providing a school uniform and feeding them. Once they are in school, returning to their home to talk to a parent will expose the underlying problems. Support to help sort those out will not only change the life chances of the individual child but also their siblings and the generations to come.
We welcome this report from the Education Select Committee, particularly the recognition that “More work is needed to understand what interventions can be most effective in improving parental engagement, early language stimulus and other home based conditions which can set children up to succeed in school and in life.”
The evidence base of School-Home Support practitioners shows clearly what can be done in this respect.
Jan Tallis SHS 