4 ways to encourage parental engagement

Parental engagement plays a crucial role in the early years of a child's educational journey. Establishing a strong partnership with parents not only supports children's learning but also creates a cohesive and supportive learning environment. This article will discuss some ideas that you can use to develop your partnership with parents.

Prioritise the home learning environment for better parental engagement

An effective home learning environment can have an amazing impact of (on average) 4 months additional progress to a child’s learning! Take interest in what children are doing outside of the setting. A better understanding of their world experiences allows us to create relevant and meaningful learning opportunities in setting too. 

Share Experiences: Invite families to share their day-to-day experiences through learning journals or during information evenings. This practice enriches the home learning environment and strengthens the partnership with parents.

Casual Check-ins: Ask a simple question like, “What’s happening at the weekend?” to show genuine interest and reinforce that you value parental engagement.

Open communication with parents – ask for contributions

Often, the first time that parents and carers hear about the activities taking place in the setting is at pick up, so after they happened. Instead, send home communications about upcoming activities and invite parents to contribute based on their own experiences. This proactive approach creates a new level of consistency for the children to recognise things from home in setting, and vice versa.  

For example, if you plan a shop roleplay, ask parents to provide empty packaging of food from home. This strategy transforms the activity into a collaborative effort, reinforces parental engagement, and solidifies a partnership with parents by helping children recognise familiar items from both home and the setting.

Make visits accessible to all

Parent/carer evenings, activity sessions, and open days are key to building relationships with families. However, traditional ‘school hours’ are not always accessible to everyone.

Arrange events on multiple dates and times to accommodate all families. This approach not only increases parental engagement but also fosters a genuine partnership with parents by ensuring every family can be involved in their child’s learning journey.

Putting parental engagement strategies into action

By integrating these strategies into your early years setting, you will not only boost parental engagement but also create a dynamic, supportive partnership with parents that enriches early years learning and sets the stage for ongoing educational success. Reflect on your experiences, seek regular feedback from parents and colleagues, and refine your approach accordingly. The more that your setting prioritises partnerships with parents the greater the support for children’s learning becomes.