Councillors today approved a programme to help parents and carers build confidence and skills in supporting their children’s learning.
Members of the Education and Children’s Services Committee approved the Parental Involvement and Engagement Plan (PIE) 2024-2027, which focuses on five key areas of parental engagement:
- Sharing Learning
- Supporting Parents
- Communication
- Volunteering
- Parent Voice
“Councillor Martin Greig, the Convener of Education and Children’s Services Committee, said: “The new Plan aims to develop and strengthen parental involvement with the Education Service. The aim is to widen the range of opportunities for parents and families to become involved in the child’s learning journey.
“There is a special focus on working together to develop numeracy and literacy skills as well as helping to promote the child’s health and wellbeing. Appropriate professional development is proposed as well as levels of funding to schools, to Early Learning and Childcare settings and to Parent Councils. It is vital to strengthen the partnership work between the Council and families.”
Councillor Jessica Mennie, the Vice-Convener of Education and Children’s Services Committee, said: “I would encourage every parent to get involved via their child’s school or the Parent Hub online and work in partnership with us and partner agencies to help improve outcomes for all children and young people.”
The new PIE plan is aligned with the National Improvement Framework Plan and will bring a renewed focus on working together with parents and partner organisations to improve outcomes across the four national priority areas:
- Improvement in attainment, particularly literacy and numeracy;
- Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children;
- Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing;
- Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people.
The PIE will review the content and online location of the Parent Learning Hub to ensure that the resource continues to support families. Another focus will be to improve the visibility of a range of Family Supports across the city including those helpful to families of children with additional support needs.
The Parental Involvement and Engagement Plan 2024-2027 has been developed using the views of city-wide Parents survey and Parents Forum, young people, school staff and the Council’s Education team. It outlines the Council’s commitment to build on the successes of the previous plan to continue to work in partnership, recognising parents as the primary educators.
The Council, as Corporate Parents will continue to champion improvements in the education of our care experienced children as defined by THE PROMISE. The plan is also compliant with the UNCRC requirements as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, ensuring that the Council fulfils its obligations as duty bearers to respect, protect and fulfil children's rights
It was agreed that the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning will report progress through the regular updates provided to the committee on progress towards delivery of the National Improvement Framework Plan.
The report that went before committee can be viewed here.