"Get the dads involved"

The government wants schools to do more to support fathers.
Children's minister Beverley Hughes wants fathers to be more involved with their children's health and education, and for people working with children to think about how they can help them get involved.
The government points to evidence that children who grow up with strong father figures are less likely to get into crime, take drugs, have mental health problems or experience difficulties forming relationships.
Hughes called for a campaign to get the message across “that parental responsibilities should be shared equally among parents”.

Work keeps parents from school

Two out of three parents would like to get more involved in their children's school life but many cannot because of their work.
New research shows that only about half of parents feel very involved, but some are more likely to be involved than others. Parents of young children, Black parents, and parents of children with special educational needs are more likely than average to be involved.
The research confirms that parents' involvement in children's education from an early age has a big impact on children's achievement right into adulthood.
Family learning brings benefits to parents and children, including improvements in reading, writing and numeracy.and it gives children more confidence in helping their child at home.
The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children's Education DCSF 2008

More parents reading to children

More parents now say they are reading with their children and helping them with homework.

In a survey, nearly four out of five parents (79%) said they read with their children, compared to 70% in 2004.

More than half said they always or mostly help their children with their homework. Four out of five also said they worked with them on school projects, made things with them, and played sport with them.

The survey, paid for by the government, showed that parents prefer informal face to face contact as a way of keeping in touch with their child’s school.

Most parents were very positive about the information provided by schools. Half said they felt very involved in their child’s education – and parents with children with special educational needs were more likely to feel this.

But SEN parents were less likely than others to feel they had a say in how their school was run, and more thought there was too much jargon in schools.

Parental involvement in children’s education

Children do better at school if parents are sociable

Children whose parents are sociable do better at school, research has found.

Parents’ social lives were compared against children’s attainment at school as part of the research at the University of Sheffield.

Factors such as the number of friends parents had, how often they attended social gatherings and whether they were members of groups such sports clubs and residents’ associations were taken into account.

Children were tested in literacy, numeracy and verbal skills and it was found performed better when their parents were more sociable.

The results were found to be independent of social class.

More support for parents

Text message and social networking internet sites will be used to support and inform parents under a new scheme launched by the government.

The £34 million initiative, ‘Parent Know-How’, will be aimed at parents who may struggle to find the help they need.

Kevin Brennan, Children’s and Families Minister, said: “Parent Know-How will help with a range of issues like reducing obesity in children and supporting the victims of bullying, through to improving educational outcomes.

“It will bring together pre-existing resources, such as parenting helplines, and create new ways for parents to get help, such as text and instant messages and establishing new social networks – websites where parents can join together to swap parenting tips and help solve each others’ problems.”