An Empowered System
In an empowered system, parents and carers:
•are recognised as the primary educators of their children and get the right support
•have the resources that they need to assist them in engaging with their children’s learning
•are engaged in ongoing and effective dialogue regarding their children’s learning and progress
•have access to family learning opportunities which meet their needs
•are involved collaboratively from the beginning of key policies and processes
•are supported to be fully involved in the life and work of their child’s early learning and childcare setting/school
•are recognised as a parent forum who have a statutory right to be involved in school decision making
•are an integral part of early learning and childcare setting/school decision making and in supporting the wider parent body.
Here is further information on empowering parents:
In 2019, a Thematic Inspection on the Empowerment of Parents & Pupils was published:
Engaging Families Toolkit
The ‘Engaging parents and families: A toolkit for practitioners’ is a comprehensive online resource which will continue to be reviewed and refreshed with new content. Each section of the toolkit is a standalone document to enable practitioners to select the specific topic they require.
https://education.gov.scot/resources/engaging-parents-and-families-a-toolkit-for-practitioners/
Strategic Framework for Parental Involvement, Engagement, Family Learning & Learning at Home
In October 2022, Education Scotland published this strategic framework to enhance the understanding of Parental Involvement, Engagement, Family Learning & Learning at Home.
The Sketchnote below provides a handy summary of these areas:
Learning Together
In 2018, an action plan was created to support local authorities & educational settings to better engage with families:
This document was updated in 2023
https://www.gov.scot/publications/learning-together-update-on-the-national-action-plan/
Family Learning
In 2018, a Family Learning Framework was created to support practitioners to create impactful Family Learning opportunities
This Sketchnote provides a helpful summary of the key features of effective family learning:
In 2021, a Thematic Inspection report on Family Learning was published.
