You can help narrow the gap in science by working with parents, carers and communities. These activities can help you assess how well you do this already.
In successful schools teachers:
- welcome families
- know about family circumstances
- know which pupils may speak more than one language
- know which pupils are travellers, refugees or asylum seekers.
Senior leaders, science subject leaders and teachers can review how they work with parents against these strategies used in successful schools on the Strategies and outcomes for narrowing the gap in science table.
You can use parents to support learning in science by:
- encouraging them to support homework activities
- encouraging science learning in real contexts around the home
- involving them in research assignments
- helping them to support pupils' revision and examination preparation
- using those with a science background to:
- talk to pupils about science
- enrich the curriculum by sharing workplace experiences.
More ideas for Working with parents of SEN pupils and for parents as partners are available.
Activity
Work with a colleague to research the number and type of communications to parents/carers in a typical week from your science department.
- What is the ratio of positive to negative communications?
- How many communications come from individual teachers? The department?
- How effective are the communications in supporting pupils' learning?
- How do you communicate with parents of English as an additional language learners about their learning in science?
- How could the science department harness parents/carers/members of community to improve learning in science?
