What is Parent Engagement?
Parents and carers may come across the terms parent engagement and parent involvement. There is a difference between parent engagement and parent involvement.
Simply put, parent engagement is taking an interest in and being active in your child’s learning and development. Research has shown that students of all backgrounds achieve more if parents/carers are involved in their child’s education. All families can support learning. It can be as simple as asking your child, “What did you learn at school today?”
Parent involvement is what parents and carers do to support the school. This could be volunteering at canteen or assisting at fundraising events or attending meetings. Parent involvement is of great benefit to the school and can assist parents to deepen relationships with teachers, meet other parents and have fun. Engagement and involvement are not mutually exclusive.
More about Parent Engagement
- Gearing Up for Parent Engagement in Student Learning Toolkit has been developed by Catholic School Parents Australia to assist families and schools develop meaningful partnerships to improve learning and wellbeing of students.
- Each module contains many practical ideas you can implement at home or school. Topic areas include children’s wellbeing and learning at home, developing and maintaining relationships and school professional learning. There are modules such as When should you talk to someone at school and Developing positive relationships with teachers.
- For parents and carers of primary school children - Click here for CSPA for Parents Primary Information
- For parents and carers of secondary school children - Click here for CSPA for Parents Secondary Information
- For principals and school staff primary - Click here for CSPA for Principals and School Staff Primary Information
- For principals and school staff secondary - Click here for CSPA for Principals and School Staff Secondary Information
Parent Engagement Australia Research Alliance for Children and Youth conducted a Parent Engagement Project.
Click here to download the report
