Supporting Your Child’s Learning

At The Farnley Academy we greatly value and recognise the importance of parental engagement as a key strategy for improving the levels of attainment and the overall progress made by all of our students. As a parent or carer, you have the greatest influence on the achievement of your child.

Engage is our exciting programme for bringing students and their parents or carers from all year groups together in school to engage in a wide range of fun and interactive activities.

Our Engage Evenings are tailored towards various areas of personal development and academic support, depending on the stage of a student’s educational journey. We offer events to support students in particular subject areas, to showcase the range of opportunities students have for personal development within school, or to offer pastoral support, where necessary.

Students and their parents and carers are invited to several Engage Evenings throughout the academic year, where two hours are dedicated to showcasing the finest work our Academy has to offer. From creative arts to health and wellbeing; from support with exam preparation to volleyball, karate and rowing; throughout the year, families will be able to witness first-hand the great variety and depth of our curriculum offer.

In previous years, feedback from parents and carers has been overwhelmingly positive. Central to this has been the notion that a greater understanding of the subjects their child is studying in school has enabled parents and carers to provide more support at home.

Prior to an Engage Evening, you will receive communication from us to advertise the event, typically two weeks before it happens. In addition, we urge you to keep an eye on our Facebook page and on our App for more information about each evening.

Engage Evenings are a big part of our commitment to working with parents and carers and we continue to adapt the content of the evening to the needs of those who attend.

Put simply, parental and family engagement means when the family of a student is involved in their school life. Engaged families will be invited to come into school, communicate with staff and have conversations with their child about their school life. It’s not only mothers and fathers who have a part to play. Carers, grandparents, older siblings – whoever is a significant adult in the lives of children can be engaged.

We believe that young people have two main educators in their lives; their parents / families and their teachers. Both school and home have crucial roles to play in the education of children with cooperation and communication between the two being the ideal position. Research has conclusively shown that parental and family engagement in a child’s education has benefits reaching far beyond the classroom. Indicators show that when parents / family are in regular communication with school, the student, teachers and parents all benefit.

Investigations conducted by the National Child Development Studies have proved that when parents and carers take an active involvement in a child’s schooling, exam results, progress in literacy and numeracy and overall enjoyment of education are all improved. An example of this is the acceleration of young people’s reading ability when the family support with and encourage reading at home. When families engage in leisure activities together, such as visiting museums, going to the theatre or trying a new type of food together, a notable improvement in academic progress and even employment opportunities in later life is made according to research conducted by the British Cohort Study.

Studies have shown that when a child’s parents are not engaged in their education, the child is at a disadvantage to their peers. Academic progress such as reading ages and test scores are often not as high as those students whose parents are engaged with school. In some severe cases where children’s parents had no engagement in school, students have been recorded to leave school with below average GCSE results and suffered difficulty in securing employment or training.

If you would like to talk about any aspects of parental engagement, please contact Mr Harding (Assistant Principal) by emailing [email protected].