Parent/Carers

Parent / Carer Contact Details

Parents/carers are asked to ensure that telephone contact numbers – home, work and emergency contact(s) are kept up-to-date and are numbers at which a response can be obtained in all normal circumstances.

Visits of Prospective Parents/Carers

Most of the children in this school and nursery live in the Appin area although a few others arrive here through different routes. No matter which route you take, you are welcome to visit both the school and the nursery to discuss your options. Please contact the school office (01631 730345) to arrange an appointment to discuss your child’s education with the Head Teacher.

Once your child has been allocated a place you will be invited along to meet the staff and children, to find out more about the curriculum and to share information about your child.

Please see www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/education-and-learning/placing-your-child-school for further information.

Becoming Involved in School

The school values the important part that parents/carers play in their children’s education and sees partnership with parents/carers as an effective way of enhancing children’s achievements and promoting better school ethos and communication.

Argyll & Bute’s Parental Engagement Strategy may be viewed at:

https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/sites/default/files/parental_engagement_strategy_final_feb_19.pdf

Opportunities for Parental Involvement

Examples of opportunities for parental involvement are as follows

During the school day:

  • Art/Craft activities
  • Sharing knowledge and expertise in some aspect of the curriculum (e.g. topic talk), history, science, health
  • Practical activities in science, maths, social subjects, health education (e.g. first aid) or technology
  • Reading stories to groups of children, playing reading/phonics games
  • Supervising board games
  • Teaching playground games
  • Running or assisting to run a Lunch Club
  • Supporting educational visits/trips
  • School concerts – making costumes, props, supervision of children
  • Road safety – Cycle Training

Outwith the school day:

  • Fundraising events
  • Trips, e.g. sporting events, concerts
  • Wider-curricular activities, e.g. coaching, sports/art clubs/country dancing/school grounds – maintenance of garden/allotment areas

If you wish to be a regular parent helper, PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) checks must be completed.  Please discuss this with staff.

Parent Councils

Parent Councils are now established in all Argyll & Bute primary and secondary schools.  The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 recognises the vital role that parents/carers play in supporting their children’s learning.

The basic principle underpinning the Act is the desire to have children become more ‘confident learners’ through closer working between each family and school.  It is anticipated that this can be done in three ways.  These are: –

  1. Learning at Home: direct parental involvement in the child’s learning at home and in the community.
  2. Home/School Partnership: closer working partnerships between parents/carers and the school – such partnerships being essential to ensure that the child gets maximum benefit from their school experiences.
  3. Parental Representation: Parent Councils will be parent/carer led and school supported, with all parents/carers being automatic members of the ‘Parent Forum’ and the Parent Council representing their views.

You can find out more about your Parent Council by contacting the Head Teacher and/or the Parent Council Facebook page (closed group).

Parentzone Scotland

Parentzone Scotland is a one-stop shop website for information and advice on education and learning in Scotland.  The website continues to be updated and improved and can be accessed at https://education.gov.scot/parentzone

Why not check out the website for ideas on how you can support your child’s learning.

Read, Write, Count

The Read, Write, Count programme aims to support parental engagement in literacy and numeracy.  Gift bags are distributed annually to all P2 and P3 pupils in Scotland by Scottish Book Trust.  The gift bags contain essential literacy and numeracy materials to support children’s learning, as well as advice and support to parents.

Studies show a direct link between a strong family learning environment and progress in reading, writing and counting. In addition to the parent guide included in the gift bags, the Parent Club website https://www.parentclub.scot offers a range of hints, tips and advice to help parents engage in their child’s learning.

Parents and carers’ meetings are held twice a year and there are several activities during the year when the active support of parents and carers is essential, e.g. Christmas show, sports day, etc. Open mornings/afternoons are also held over the course of the school year. With these, as with all other school functions success tends to be directly related to parental involvement. Dates of these events will be advertised well in advance.

Parents are advised regularly about the activities/ topics taking place within the school through the Seesaw app, a weekly newsletter and on the Parent Council Facebook page.

Parental Concerns

In all cases of concern, please get in touch with us. We will arrange an appointment with the teacher, or Head Teacher if appropriate, to discuss these concerns. Whether your concern is about playground behaviour, your child’s learning progress or some other matter, we can find a solution if we know about it and discuss it.