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Majority of Teachers Emphasise Importance of Parental Support in Child Development


WEBWIRE

Forty-two percent of teaching staff say ‘invisible’ parents lack the confidence to approach them to discuss their child, whilst many parents feel positive following conversations with their child’s teacher. A significant proportion of parents reveal they think they are dismissed by teachers as a ‘worrier’ (11 percent) or that they’re ‘imposing on the teacher’s time’ (11 percent) whenever they get in touch. Nineteen percent of parents are worried about bothering teachers and more than a fifth (22 percent) say they don’t want to add to the teacher’s workload - resulting in many taking a back seat in their child’s education.

According to a recent report commissioned by Becta into parent teacher relationships, forty-two percent of teaching staff said they feel these parents lack the confidence to approach them to discuss their child and forty-three percent even admit that parents might find them ‘difficult to approach sometimes’.

Becta is the government agency aiming to promote and achieve the productive and innovative use of technology throughout the teaching and learning process. The Schools & Parents: A New Partnership report is part of the ‘Next Generation Learning’ campaign, which encourages parents to contact their child’s school in order to establish how and if technology is already being used, and how it can improve communications between them and their child’s school in future.

Becta’s report also reveals that fifty-nine percent of parents admit to being in contact with their child’s school just once a term or less with more than twenty-two percent of this number saying they did not see how being in regular contact with their child’s school has any benefit for their child. A large majority (67 percent) of school staff questioned said that these parents simply do not realise how important parental support is to their child’s development. Even though it has been proved in numerous studies that parental involvement is key to a child’s educational success, it seems that many parents just aren’t aware of how important their role is.

Sixty percent of teachers questioned believe the reason some parents are not in regular contact with them is because they think their job stops at the school gates. This is backed up by some parents who say they rarely get in contact with their child’s school because they believe teachers should be in charge of their child’s education.

The comprehensive study also highlights the vast majority (54 percent) of school staff involved said they thought parents were just too busy to engage with their child’s school but only eight percent of parents say the reason they don’t get in touch regularly is because they ‘struggle to find time’, suggesting that there are other factors behind their lack of engagement.

To view the Becta Schools & Parents: A New Partnership or for more details about Becta and the ‘Next Generation Learning’ campaign visit www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Jackson 0207 025 6412 / Sophie.jackson@redconsultancy.com

Catherine Sharrott 0207 025 6589 / Catherine.Sharrott@redconsultancy.com

Kate Cox 02476 797146 / Kate.Cox@becta.org.uk



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 Becta
 Next Generation Learning
 Teaching and Learning
 Schools and Parents
 Parental Involvement


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