Home-school partnership aims to improve communication and language skills of Morecambe’s young children

The Early Years Home-School Partnership at Poulton-le-Sands CE Primary School has received £39,000 in funding from education charity SHINE.

Only 40 per cent of children arrive at school on track for a good level of development in communication and language and just a quarter of new starters are meeting the expected level of development in literacy skills.

This means that many children are beginning primary school with significant ground to make up on their peers.

The project aims to improve this situation by working closely with parents of early years children and giving them the knowledge and confidence to support their children’s learning at home.

A member of staff is leading the project, which is to be delivered over three years, and a key focus is the building of relationships between the school and parents.

Through a series of 'stay and play' sessions and resource packs, families will be shown how, through play and conversation, they can help bring on their child’s speech, communication and language.

Deputy head Liam Marshall said a key aspect of the project is building a strong relationship with parents and carers.

As well as offering support to parents, in a non-judgmental way, the new staff member will be able to spot at an early stage any potential support the families may require so that they can arrange bespoke provision on a family-by-family basis.

“Your first year at school is very different to anything you’ve ever done before – and that applies to both children and parents,” said Liam. “So whatever level your child is working at – whether they need some additional help or whether they require further challenge – they will still get the extra support to push them to reach their full potential, regardless of their academic attainment or personal circumstance.”

Liam said some parents may feel that the school only ever gets in touch to raise a concern or discuss a behavioural incident, but the aim of the project is to promote a much more positive relationship.

“It’s very hard for some of our families, certainly in deprived areas, because for some their own school experience could have been a negative one," he said. "Therefore, when coming into school, they may feel there is a judgement being made about them.

"We have parents, for example, who struggle with reading and writing, and they may feel they are being judged for this – which they are not.

“This person, a fully trained classroom assistant, is there as a non-judgmental figure – almost like a grandma figure really – someone to just offer advice and to listen to what our families and children have got to say.

“If we build the relationships early, and build stronger home-school partnerships, then anything that we’re doing in school can be carried on at home.”

Liam said that the project also helped identify challenges at an early stage, at a point when they were easier to resolve.

“We can make certain observations and see where there might be a need that exists," he said. "There might be a child, for example, who has got a need that can be referred to a particular agency.

"Well, we can do that before they even arrive in September. So we’re getting a head start by identifying the necessary support earlier.

“If you look at something like a food bank, or a school-based intervention, that’s like the mouth of the river, but to make a real difference we need to look further upstream at what the cause is.

"Then we can put support in place so that we don’t get to a point where we need much more additional support further down the line.

“Ultimately, we are hoping to break the cycle. We want to get to the point that where you come from does not mean that your achievements are limited.

"Just because you’re born in a deprived area, and just because you’re living in poverty, does not mean that schools can’t have productive relationships with parents or that children can’t make progress.”

Liam said that the funding was the “missing piece” in the work already being done to build relationships with parents. It allows the school to work on a “child-by-child” basis, which is usually very challenging.

“We were ecstatic when we received the funding from SHINE because we knew what a difference this project can make,” he said. “I was so excited when I heard the news that I jumped up and smacked my knees on the underside of the desk.

“But with SHINE, it’s about more than just money, it’s about the support the charity provides in monitoring, evaluating, and supporting and putting these things in place. Essentially, the grant comes with expertise as well which is great.”

The children’s progress during the project will be assessed, with the learning shared with other schools in and around Morecambe, in the hope that the new approach can be scaled up, and benefit many more young children.

Dr Helen Rafferty, interim CEO of SHINE, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Early Years Home-School Partnership at Poulton-le-Sands Primary School.

"This project is designed to help get ahead of challenges and provide early support to families to help their children thrive. We look forward to seeing the results from this project and helping to share good practice with other schools in similar circumstances.”