New guidance to help schools engage with families and the community

The Education Minister, Huw Lewis will launch the FaCE the Challenge Together guidance at a Wales Centre for Equity in Education conference, devoted to the issue of engaging families more closely in their children’s schooling.

The Welsh Government guidance and toolkit of resources have been designed as a practical aid for schools across Wales and one that will help them ensure that family and community engagement is at the very heart of their wider approach.

Speaking at the Conference the Education Minister stressed the important role of family and community engagement in raising the educational attainment of children and young people in Wales, particularly for those from more deprived backgrounds.

The Minister said:

“My stance on this issue hasn’t changed since my days as a teacher when I saw for myself the powerful impact that family engagement can have.

“Indeed research tells us that family engagement can have over six times more influence over a child’s educational attainment than differences in the quality of the school.  This means it must be vital part of our ongoing work to drive up standards across the board.

“In developing these resources we have directly responded to the requests of schools across Wales. The new material provides practical advice and support to schools, no matter where they are in developing their family and community engagement skills. It will help them develop much closer and more productive relationships with their pupils’ families and with the community more broadly.”

The Welsh Government guidance has been informed by advice from schools and other  key partners and has been favourably reviewed by leading academics in this field.

FaCE the Challenge Together will be  available on the Welsh Government’s Learning Wales website: http://learning. gov.wales/resources/browse-all/family-and-community-engagement-toolkit/?lang=en