Reflection and planning tool

Communicate effectively with families

Well-designed communications with families can be effective for improving attendance and supports positive relationships through two-way communication. School communication with parents is likely to be more effective if it is personalised, linked to learning, framed positively, and promotes parent efficacy and partnership with the school. Effective communication considers frequency, timing, audience and potential barriers such as inaccessible language and professional jargon.

1. Consider the relationships between schools and families

Schools operate within and for their communities, and the relationship between school and home is vital to how they function and support pupils to thrive. We know that levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with children’s academic outcomes. Regular attendance is linked to improved academic attainment and is an area where parental input can be particularly influential at secondary school. Well-designed school communications can be effective for generating positive engagement and having an impact on attendance and other outcomes.

Spending time considering the nature of communication with families is one low-cost way that schools can work towards stronger relationships based on clarity and partnership. Schools are often already spending time on communication, so this is an area where pre-existing activity can be reviewed and improved rather than ‘doing more’. It is important to recognise that there can be a gap between what schools intend to communicate and what is received, understood and felt by families.

Communication is key

Communicate carefully to avoid stigmatising, blaming, or discouraging parents. Focus on building parents’ efficacy – that they are equal partners and can make a difference.

Working with Parents to Support Children’s Learning

2. Critically review current practice

Our guidance report on parental engagement includes recommendations to support schools to build and maintain positive relationships with families. Most schools say that they do not have an explicit plan for how they work with parents: critically reviewing aims and current approaches may be a valuable place to start, considering the frequency, nature, tone, language and reception of school communications.

Although texting approaches are generally low cost and straightforward to introduce, careful thought needs to be given to the frequency, timing, and targeting of messages. Weekly messages over six to eight months appear to be effective, though more frequent and shorter approaches have also had positive results, particularly in the early years.

Parents are generally accepting of texting programmes, including the content, frequency, and timing of texts. However, there is such a thing as ‘too many texts’. It may help to first provide samples and gather feedback on what parents find helpful, and monitor perceptions carefully to avoid overloading or irritating parents with messages. Schools could chart how many messages are already going out to parents and ensure that additional communications do not become too frequent.

Working with Parents to Support Children’s Learning

3. Make communications personalised and positive

The evidence suggests that communications with parents are likely to be more effective if they are personalised, linked to learning (or making the link between attendance and learning explicit), and framed positively. The nature of messages that may be more effective changes with the age of learners. In early years and primary, families benefit from a focus on activities that parents and children can do together to support learning, while in secondary the evidence is strongest for providing parents with carefully pitched factual information relating to pupil progress and upcoming tasks like assessments and potential revision activities.

Small changes to the way schools communicate can make a difference to how messages are received.

Carefully designed school communications can have a positive impact on parents’ beliefs and behaviours. For example, most parents underestimate the number of days their child has been absent from school and act differently when given accurate information. In one study, 72% of parents with higher-than-average absence students did not know that their children had missed more school than their classmates. When informed of their child’s total absences, they made extra efforts to improve attendance. One way that schools can support this is with simple letters to parents with above-average absences stating the total number of days that their child has missed that year, framed in a way that encourages parents to support attendance. Overcomplicated sets of instructions or activities that require more complex effort or organisation on the parent/carers behalf are less likely to have the desired effect.

Working with parents to support children’s learning

Reflection and planning tool

Communicate effectively with families

1. Consider the relationships between schools and families

Communication is key

2. Critically review current practice

3. Make communications personalised and positive

Further reading and sharing practice

Attending to attendance: new research on changing parental attitudes to attendance in schools

Attendance: Communicating with Parents

BITUP: Updating Parents on Number of School Days Missed - trial

Listening to, and learning from, parents in the attendance crisis

EEF blog: Taking a tailored approach to improving attendance

Key guidance reports

Working with Parents to Support Children's Learning

Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools

Improve universal provision for all pupils