We believe that partnerships with parents are of the utmost importance and it is imperative that we work together to give consistent messages about learning. 

We ask for parent support in bringing their child to school every day on time and in correct uniform and ask them to support their child’s learning in the home by reading with them and helping with their homework when needed.

Pastoral Support

At Walton Oak we understand that children can only achieve their best when they feel safe, happy and secure. Consequently, we work hard to ensure our children’s pastoral needs are considered as carefully as we consider their academic needs.

Parent inclusion

Throughout the year we hold a variety of workshops to support our parents and carers in understanding what the children are learning at school as well as how they can be supported at home.

Parents are invited to their child’s annual class assembly and the school’s Harvest, Christmas and Summer celebrations and concerts.

Friends of Walton Oak

Friends of Walton Oak (FOWO) is the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and is a registered charity. A friendly, inclusive group of parents, carers and staff organise fun family events throughout the year to raise funds which provide additional resources and educational opportunities for our school. It is vital that FOWO has active support from all members of the parent community to enable the raising additional funds to benefit all children at Walton Oak.

Communications

We regularly communicate with our in a variety of ways: dedicated school text and email service weekly newsletter official school Facebook page interactive website including online forms to make it easier for parents and carers to complete school administrative tasks. All of these device responsive channels of communication ensure parents and carers are kept up to date with the latest happenings at school.

Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)

Walton Oak is proud of its working relationships with parents and carers, and we have high
aspirations for our students. However, as a school we are always keen to develop many more
aspects of our home-school partnership.

Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA) – What is it?

This award helps schools to work in partnership with all parents and carers. Increasing parental participation in school life leads to improved pupil progress, punctuality, attendance and behaviour.  The framework encourages parents to be involved in their children's learning, leading to improved outcomes in all aspects of school life.

Over the next 15 months, we shall be working towards achieving a national award called the
‘Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)’, to strengthen our partnerships with parents, improving communication and enhancing parental involvement. During this process we will focus on key areas such as improved pupil progress, punctuality, attendance and behaviour.
This award looks at how well we work with parents and carers; how welcoming the school is; and how we support parents in helping their children to learn.
We aim to improve communication with parents and the community; support families and children to extend their learning and encourage greater input and more involvement of parents in school life.
Research suggests that the benefits for children are:

• It is easier for a child to learn when they get encouragement at home.
• They will do better and achieve more when their parents or carers are involved.
• Their concerns can be sorted out more quickly when parents and carers have a positive relationship with school staff.

Being more involved shows children that their parents are interested in what the school is doing, allows them to see that their learning is valued, gives them a sense of security, and helps them to learn about good citizenship, from examples set by parents.
The benefits for parents or carers are:

• Children do better when parents are involved.
• Parents can build their own confidence and skills.
• Parents get to know the teachers and other parents.
• Parents also gain a better understanding of how the school works.

How can our families help us gain the award?

Research has identified that, at age 7, a parent’s influence on a child’s learning is six times that of their school and even at 11 years old, it is 29% greater. Increased involvement can raise achievement by at least 18%, whereas no involvement usually leads to low or no qualifications at 16.

Parents can become more involved in their child's education and help us achieve the award by:

• Reading all the information that we send out.
• Coming along to events organised by the school.
• Completing any questionnaires we send out as honestly as you can.
• Showing willingness to participate in providing suggestions/ideas to the working party.

Walton Oak will be judged against a number of objectives and have to provide evidence to
demonstrate that we are working towards achieving these. We plan to post updates with our families to share a snapshot of the type of strategies and improvements that have been put in place in response to feedback from students, parents and the community.
With the continued support of our parents and carers we hope to achieve this award.

More information about the award can be found at: click here to be taken to the Awards Place website.