Engaging Parents Effectively.

Oxford University’s positive research findings on Engaging Parents Effectively

This report, authored by Fiona Jelley and Kathy Sylva from the University of Oxford, looks at whether engaging the parents of disadvantaged children in the early years can impact the home learning environment, parental support for learning and children’s attainment.

It highlights the findings of a small-scale randomised control trial where school staff were trained to engage parents in a Home Learning Project developed by the Parental Engagement Network (PEN) involving workshops and activities to do at home.

PEN was one of 5 organisations supported through the Parental Engagement Fund, set up by the Sutton Trust working with the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

It found that the programme positively influenced parental behaviour at home, developed the skills and confidence of staff to engage parents, and was cost-effective, easily embedded within schools and highly scalable.

The analyses showed a significant effect of the intervention on the child’s Home Learning Environment score. There was also a trend towards a difference between intervention and control groups on the Family Support subscale from the BESSI. The significant impact on Home Learning Environment scores and the near significant trend on the Family Support subscale suggest that the PEN programme positively influenced parental behaviours at home.

Experience from previous trials has shown that recruiting and retaining parents can be challenging. This intervention has been notably successful in recruiting 84 families in the intervention schools and retaining 72 throughout the project (85% families). The trial prioritised disadvantaged, mostly pupil premium eligible families that the settings had not previously successfully engaged. Schools have also reported that this initial engagement has led to continued involvement by these families in the school – one school reported that engagement in reception workshops had increased by 70%.

Almost all the staff (94%) said they had gained confidence and skills in working with parents through the training and implementing the project.

Most schools reported that they thought the intervention had impacted children’s progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)profile outcomes. At Claremont Primary School, 70% of the targeted children involved in the project made accelerated progress (3+ levels) in teacher-assessed reading compared with 45% of the whole nursery year group, and 70% of the children involved in the project made accelerated progress in speaking compared with 48% of the year group as a whole.

The sustainable nature of the intervention has already been demonstrated by the settings that have been involved in the trial deciding to continue with the project in subsequent years. Seven out of the nine intervention schools have continued to use some or all of the resources and strategies in the year following the project.

The PEN model involves training setting staff to deliver directly to parents, which enables the programme to become incorporated into the setting’s practice by the staff rather than relying on external professionals. This makes the intervention cost-effective, easily embedded within schools, and highly scalable on a practical level.

The results from this trial show some promise of an affordable and easy-to-embed training programme for teachers and school staff to boost the supportive home environment of disadvantaged families.

Sarah Rudd, Headteacher at Newall Green Primary School, said, “I have been very impressed by the project's uptake and the very positive outcomes. This is exactly what we need – practical, fun ways to engage parents in learning”.  

“Doing this work for many years –the new research published on the Sutton Trust website feels like a real breakthrough. It showed that it really is worthwhile reaching out to the parents who don’t normally get engaged and if supported and encouraged that they will do more at home, helping their children to thrive” – Emma Beresford, Director PEN. 

This approach and resources have now been incorporated into our Mouse Club Project. Click here to find out more.