Conference: Building Parental Confidence and Enabling SEND Success

Birmingham City Council's SEND service will be hosting a one day conference on 29th June. Attendees can expect to :

• Hear from the leading experts in the field. 
• Discover how effective parental engagement can have a dramatic impact upon pupil attainment in a very short period of time; for all groups of pupils, including those children considered ‘hard to reach,’ SEND pupils and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 
• Find out how schools can best move forwards to build parental confidence and bring about success for all pupils, including those with SEND.  Find out more

Teaching Mathematics

A number of presentations are now available from a seminar entitled: 'Re-connecting with maths, Engaging practitioners and parents in children’s mathematical development'. Two of these, by Fliss James and Michele Barrett, look at engaging parents with maths in their child's learning. The role of the practitioner is considered in modelling and supporting children’s mathematical mark making, here. This presentation also highlights the role of the practitioner in promoting mathematical learning in the early years.

Supporting Parents

A couple of presentations to make you aware of: Jacqui Hardie, Early Years consultant, delivered a recent presentation on supporting parents. She talks about what parents should expect during the various stages in their child's learning and development.

This presentation discusses 'Early Words Together', a programme aimed at empowering parents to help them support their pre-school child's communication and language development. The National Literacy Trust provide the resources and training to the volunteers who run the 6 week programme.  There's more information about it in the video below.

Parental Engagement

 How can technology help teachers, parents and students connect and communicate? For those unaware of what’s out there, here’s a handy guide to the five best apps for engaging with parents.

Conference: 'Impact in Learning'

The fourth annual 'Impact in Learning' conference was recently held at McIntyre House. The conference, titled 'Engaging Parents to make an Outstanding Difference to Pupil Attainment', was attended by teachers, senior leaders, parent support workers and education advisers to promote the importance of getting parents involved in their children’s education. The University’s PGCE students were invited to gain an insight into current issues in the education sector. Read more about the event here.

Impact in Learning is an award-winning parental engagement strategy. It couples homework resources with workshops, to enable schools to raise attainment for pupils in a short period of time. Successful strategies include holding 'Inspire Workshops' for children and parents, where both parties gain a detailed understanding in key areas of study such as literacy, numeracy and writing skills.