Learning together national action plan: update

Parental involvement and engagement

Parental involvement

Parental involvement includes parental representation in decision-making and collaboration between parents and educators. This can cover matters such as school improvement planning and communication between home and early learning and childcare settings and school. It is about the partnerships and links between home and school, and the opportunities for parents and families to get involved in activities in school or early learning and childcare settings.

Local authorities should continue to promote the involvement of parents and families in their child’s school and in the wider learning community through promoting opportunities to attend in-person and online activities and events.

Further information on parental involvement can be found in the Strategic Framework for Parental Involvement, Parental Engagement, Family Learning and Learning at Home, published by Education Scotland for educators and practitioners to review and improve their practice.

Parently engagement

It is widely documented that parental engagement leads to better educational outcomes. Since the publication of the Learning Together plan, there have been calls for more meaningful engagement with parents and families, including in the National Discussion final report. A key finding of this study recognised the importance of meaningful engagement between parents, carers, families and communities and schools.

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 identifies that there is a need to effectively involve parents and families in the life of the school. Meaningful engagement with parents and families should also be encouraged too.

Reviewing and refreshing parental involvement strategies has in some local authorities been postponed for a number of reasons, not least the Covid-19 pandemic. Guidance on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 and the checklist should be referred to when reviewing strategies. 

Further information on parental engagement can also be found in Engaging Parents and Families – a toolkit for practitioners, published by Education Scotland for education practitioners.