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The Gathered Together Toolkit

i Mar 21st No Comments by

From our work with ethnic minority parents, we know that they place a really high value on education and want their children to achieve their full potential. However they often did not have the confidence or the knowledge to be able to support their children- particularly in important areas like supporting their children’s learning, choosing subjects and knowing what options are available for young people leaving school. You can read more about our research into the experiences of EM parents here. To try and address these gaps we created a toolkit on “Understanding the Scottish education system”.

This toolkit is designed for schools and groups working with ethnic minority families to use to give the parents an understanding of how schools work in Scotland, the choices and supports open to their children and the importance of parents taking an active role in supporting their children’s journey through school. Before we launched it we wanted to make sure that it was accessible for the groups we were aiming at. Govan and Craigton Integration Network had met with us at a networking event- they run a small homework club and were really interested in getting a better view of the education system for themselves and also to help the parents they work with.

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Here’s some of the feedback we got from the event

Notwithstanding the existing knowledge I had as an aspiring primary school teacher, the training added to and deepened that knowledge. In particular, the training on the legal framework around children as well as on exams in the Scottish education system gave me new knowledge and perspectives, which I expect will be of use as a volunteer and as an aspiring teacher. In particular, the talk and discussion on the exams and the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) was very informative, clear and well delivered. Secondly, the manner through which the training was delivered was conducive to deep and rich learning on Scottish education. I enjoyed, particularly, the various interactive approaches for participants to learn about and consolidate their understanding of the system.

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Although I roughly knew how the Scottish education system works, I was very interested to learn about the new Curriculum for Excellence, about which I knew very little. The course also allowed me to pick up a few very useful ideas in order to suggest to EM parents how they can also help their children with their homework for example by reading to them or even doing maths with them in their own languages.

In looking at the impact that it made on GCIN, one member of staff said

The day was a really valuable opportunity to come together as a group and share experiences as well as build volunteers’ knowledge and capacity.  It was especially useful for people with no terms of reference (not educated in Scotland/ no kids going through school here. Following on from the training, one of our volunteers is going to deliver the toolkit to our parents and I’ll be sharing the information on GIRFEC and keeping children safe, healthy and happy with the whole team.

The Toolkit is now available on our website for anyone wanting to support ethnic minority parents to better understand the Scottish education system and develop the confidence to become partners in their children’s learning. To download the toolkit click here

Using language school teachers to “become a bridge between hard working teachers and hopeful parents”

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The Gathered Together team met Etta Leslie, an “English as an Additional Language” teacher at Oakgrove Primary school in Glasgow at a networking meeting. Etta has long been an advocate of supporting parents to get involved in their children’s learning and regularly runs workshops for parents- showing them how their children are taught and activities they can do at home to support their children’s learning. Oakgrove Primary has seen increasing numbers of children from Chinese families in recent years and Etta was concerned that she was struggling to engage with the Chinese parents. We had recently met Jessie, a teacher at the Chinese language school in Glasgow, and were able to put Etta and Jessie in touch with each other.

Chinese and English are very different languages, the sounds and speech patterns are completely different as is the written form. One Chinese parent spoke to us about the experience of coming to Scotland and suddenly becoming illiterate, unable to read even the most basic signs. To be able to access the curriculum children need to learn English, Etta had observed that many of the Chinese children she supported with were struggling and not achieving their potential in class and felt this was related to difficulties in learning English and because their parents felt unable to support them with their learning at home. Etta explains,

“I had a good resource of Arabic parents who I could rely on for translation support as I have some parents who are actively involved in school life. When I looked around it became clear that I did not have the same resource available in Oakgrove’s Mandarin/ Cantonese speakers. I then began to wonder if this was a contributing factor in the slower progress of some of the Chinese children. It noticeable that lack of access and confidence in English is a significant barrier to learning for this group. It also inhibits parents from being able to engage, support and understand the Scottish Education System and thereby support their children’s learning. As educators we value and promote opportunities to work alongside parents to ensure their child’s educational success.”

 

The Chinese parents also did not often attend the school assemblies and events and this meant they were missing out on important information about what was happening in the school and the chance to see their children perform their work. Children, at primary school if not when they are older, love to have their parents in the audience and we often see children standing on tip toe during concerts scanning the audience for their parents’ faces. Attending school events gives children confidence, helps them feel proud of what they are doing and shows them that their parent values school. Jessie said that she agreed to help Oakgrove because,

“I feel that is my responsibility to become a bridge between hard working teachers and hopeful parents and to give them a chance to express them selves, would give their  children better chances in their future.”

 

Etta and Jessie met to discuss the best way of engaging with the Chinese parents, as Jessie is a teacher at the Chinese school, she has had a lot of contact with parents from the Chinese community and was able to develop a personalised letter for each of the parents. Translated letters often translate exactly what was said in English, but Jessie was able to put the letter into appropriate language. In English we often use “soft” words like “we would like to invite you”, Jessie explained that in Chinese it was better to be more direct to show parents that they needed to attend this event. The letters were all addressed to individual parents and Etta was able to give the letters personally to each parent, avoiding the risk of them lying in a school bag for weeks and emphasising that each individual was welcomed.

At the workshop every single parent invited attended, something Etta puts down to the personalised approach. Having Jessie as an interpreter was invaluable, helping the parents feel relaxed and ask questions. Jessie was also able to help with workshops on play run by the primary one teachers- showing the parents the value of playing with their child and giving them ideas of activities they could do with their child, like jigsaws and counting games. Jessie found the experience really positive as well

“I enjoyed very much work with Etta and other teachers, I can feel the love and hope they have been given to their students, much appreciated. I only did a wee thing, but made me happy and I enjoyed it.”

 

Etta is currently off work, awaiting a knee operation, but has been thinking about other ways of engaging with the Chinese parents

“I am very aware that Jessie is a volunteer and do not wish to abuse her generosity. It has though , highlighted the great need here in Oakgrove and in many establishments of the benefits of home language support for both parents and children. I have since discussed with Marion (from Gathered Together) the idea of making contact with Glasgow University who have a significant Chinese student population, with the idea that some students may like to take the opportunity support learning in schools through working with parents and children.”

Having bilingual volunteers can make a huge difference to teachers wanting to engage with newly arrived families, at Gathered Together we are encouraging schools to look for opportunities to support partnership working, linking schools up with the supplementary language schools, foreign students looking for work experience and local community groups.

Understanding options; helping new families understand the Scottish secondary school system

i Feb 19th No Comments by

In our research into the experiences of ethnic minority parents and their children’s education, we found that parents are often feel very uninformed about how the education system in Scotland works- particularly at a secondary school level (the full report can be read here). In a questionnaire of 164 EM parents only 7% of respondents felt that they understood the secondary school system very well and 49% were not sure what exams their children would sit. While in secondary school children are less likely to need their parents help with homework, it is still vital that parents are involved and are able to support their children with their education- particularly in making subject choices and understanding their career options. When asked what information about school they would like, several parents highlighted the need to get more information about secondary and the options open to their children

I would like to know more about the exam system, which are the important years, when the big decisions are made (Mother, Greece)
 
I would like to be provided with information exploring choices of subject at secondary school level, the options they have, university entry requirements etc (Mother, Poland)
 

St Mungo’s Academy in the east end of Glasgow has seen a recent increase in the number of children who need EAL support (English as an Additional Language), many of the children are arriving in Scotland aged 14 or 15 and will only have a short time in school before moving on to the world of work or further education. St Mungo’s EAL teacher, Abdul Latif Fathi, wanted to make sure that these new Scots were able to get the best start in life and felt there was a need to empower parents to be able to support their children. As Latif said

The children (at secondary), they don’t have time. they have to work hard and then next step is life, reality, work university
 

With the support of EAL area leaders Shagufta Ahmed and Rosaline Martin, they started a group for parents in the senior phase of school (from S4-S6) to help the parents get a better understanding of the education system and what they could do to support their children. The group gave parents the chance to find out more about the education system as well as meet other school staff including careers guidance and the attendance officer. These staff found meeting the parent group really helpful as well, making them more aware of the lack of information some parents have and challenging them to think how they can better engage with these families. It also gave the young people the chance to use their language skills with some young people helping with interpreting, as well as welcoming the parents to the group, providing teas and coffees and generally being incredibly helpful. This gave the young people leadership experience to put on their CVs and applications for college and university and the school formally recognised the help they had given them in the form of awards.

Gathered Together were able to attend one of the meetings and speak to some of the parents, young people and teachers involved in the group. You can hear Latif and Shagufta sharing their experiences of running the group here and some of the parents and students talking about the impact being involved had on them here

 

Lessons from Equalities and Engagement training

On 1 February Gathered Together delivered our last “Equalities and Engagement” training at Hillpark Secondary, Glasgow. Hearing about the experiences of schools and parents is always one of the best parts of our work and in the recent training we’ve come across some fantastic examples of Parent Councils being creative and finding new ways to reach out to the families in their schools. We just wanted to share some of the brilliant ideas that have come out of our last few training sessions

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Meeting new parents Not every parent knows what a Parent Council is or does, particularly those parents who come from another culture. To address this and get their faces known right from the start, Parent Councils are getting involved in the transition time- meeting new parents when they come to visit their child’s new school. This gives parents the chance to learn what a Parent Council does and how they can get their voice heard in the school, it’s also a really useful chance for parents to ask PC members the important questions that only other parents can answer like- where is best to buy school uniform?

Focus groups Parent Councils look at a lot of different issues- including supporting the school, fundraising, communicating with parents and developing policies. It can be hard for a parent to join these meetings when there is so much being discussed. In response to this one Parent Council decided to create smaller sub groups looking at a particular issue and feeding back to the main Parent Council. These groups look at things like improving the playground, planning for events, discussing policies around homework or bullying. By having meetings that are just looking at one thing, parents who are interested can get involved and have their voice heard without having to commit to joining the Parent Council.

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Books in other languages When families come to Scotland, it’s really important that their children are supported to keep their home language (supporting the first language can make learning another language easier and means that children can still speak to their family back home). However it can be a struggle to find books in the home language. In response to this some Parent Councils are trying to create a multi-lingual school library- asking parents to donate books in their home language and, in the case of one school, getting parents from EAL (English as an Additional Language) families to vote for their favourite books and the PC bought the most popular books.

Keeping language “parent friendly” Schools send out huge amounts of information to parents. With the new Curriculum for Excellence a lot of information about the new system and how children will be taught and assessed has been sent out to parents, but this information can be hard to read with lots of confusing words, abbreviations and acronyms. One Parent Council raised this with the head teacher and the school started working with the Parent Council to make the information they sent out easier to read and avoiding education “jargon”.

 

 

Action Learning for Community Organisations Supporting Ethnic Minority Parents on School Matters

i Aug 17th No Comments by

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Are you a community organisation working with Ethnic Minority families?

Do you support them with their children’s learning and school matters?

Would your organisation like to develop greater confidence in supporting parents with these issues?

Then Gathered Together’s Action Learning Set could be for you!

For the past two years Gathered Together has been supporting parents from ethnic minorities to become more involved in their children’s learning and school communities and have been working directly with schools, Parent Councils and parents from ethnic minorities. You can read about our work with EM parents and the good practice that’s going on in schools and Parent Councils here.

We know how important it is that these parents are supported to be able to help their children’s learning and be part of the school community.  From our experience in the last two years, we are aware that EM parents often feel isolated when it comes to approaching schools for support for their children and prefer to seek help and advice from community organisations. We recognise that the Scottish education system is changing rapidly and organisations not working directly within education can struggle to know how best to support these families and where to signpost parents for help and information.

Gathered Together is offering a unique opportunity to community organisations to join an Action Learning Set to develop their skills and knowledge to better support families.The Action Learning Set will give community practitioners the opportunity to:

  • share their knowledge and experiences
  • reflect on their practice
  • enhance their listening, questioning and feedback giving skills
  • enable them to provide a better informed service for families

The Action Learning set will meet fortnightly on a Tuesday from 9.30-12.30pm (Centrum Building, 38 Queen Street, Glasgow, G1 3DX) as follows:

  • Experiences and challenges – meet and share 22 September 2015
  • The new Scottish school system 06 October 2015
  • Parental involvement 20 October 2015
  • Children’s rights in Scotland 03 November 2015

Following the Learning Set, we will provide further bespoke support for community organisations, as required.

Places are extremely limited and will be confirmed on a first come first serve basis. Therefore, if you would like to participate in this Action Learning, please respond to this invitation as soon as possible.

To book a place email gtevents@bemis.org.uk

The deadline for applications is 15 September 2015.

If  you have any questions about this invitation please email judy.wasige@bemis.org.uk or phone 0141 548 8047.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is “Action Learning”?

    Action learning is a process of collaborative learning where the participants use their skills and knowledge to identify issues that need addressed and setting out the best methods of meeting these. For more detailed information, there is a video here
  • How is it different from regular training? And what are the differences for me?

    Traditional models of training focus on delivering information, with the trainer picking what information needs delivered and how it should be delivered. This is different since the group will determine what needs to be addressed and how this will be done. It is, therefore, a far more active process for the delegates than a traditional session. For the delegates, they will need to be comfortable with this activity and will need to be able to come to all of the sessions and to have sufficient time to complete work outwith the sessions.
  • How much time will I need to give to the sessions?

    Each session is 3 hours. You will also need to be able to spend time outwith the sessions researching and preparing.
  • I am only interested in two of the sessions; is it OK to pick and choose which sessions to attend?

    For these sessions, the model used means that you need to commit to all of the sessions. The process involves forming a group that works closely together and supports each other’s learning. In addition, much of the work will cross over between sessions. Consequently, the same group needs to attend all of the sessions.
  • If the group are setting the agenda and doing the research, what are Gathered Together offering?

    The Gathered Together team will offer support and facilitation, helping to set the boundaries and move things forward. In addition, they can bring information and knowledge to the process if needed, but the group can determine how small or large their contribution is.
  • Where can I find out more about this session?

    Get in touch with Judy Wasige at Judy.Wasige@bemis.org.uk or phone 0141 548 8047. You can also download a sample agreement for participants here Action Learning Agreement
  • If this is not the right thing for me, is there anything else you are offering?

    In October- November we are running a programme of training for parents from ethnic minorities on the Scottish Education System and beyond. The training will be held in both Glasgow and Edinburgh and we will have partners from other organisations including Skills Development Scotland and Bilingualism Matters, you can find details here. Beyond this, please keep checking our website, since new things are coming up all the time.