When Schools and Parents Work Together…

The Ministry of Education’s Education Transformation Programme has an exciting and innovative programme which brings parents and the school community closer together in an effort to improve the quality of education.
Known as the Home School Agreement, the programme involves a formal agreement between the school administration, students and parents to collaborate in achieving specific goals.
This programme deepens the bonds between critical stakeholders, and is also intended to have a positive impact on the values, norms and behaviour of students.
The programme is, therefore, an important vehicle of character education. According to a concept paper for the Home School Agreement Programme, “there is need for greater involvement of stakeholders in developing links between home and school. The Agreement holds all parties accountable for their roles in students’ conduct and performance. When each party is committed to live up to his part of the agreement, the possibility of students’ achieving high standards is greatly enhanced”.
The Home School Agreement Programme was first introduced in technical high schools as well as at Excelsior High School; but there was no formal mechanism to monitor and evaluate its impact, and there was no national programme.
Now under the Education Transformation Project, the programme will be implemented in 120 primary and secondary schools. The Programme is being driven by the Behaviour Change and Community Workstream of the Education Transformation Project. Miss Stephney Webb, who coordinates the Home School Agreement Programme explains how the programme works.
“In the agreement, each partner commits to doing certain things. For example, the student will commit to certain things like punctuality, attend classes regularly, obey the regulations of the school, good behaviour in school etc.
“The school will commit to things such as ensuring adequate security and that learning takes place in an appropriate environment, with proper facilities.
Parents commit to enabling students to attend regularly, outfitting them for school and supporting the school in specific ways to work toward the end result of a successful tenure at school,” Miss Webb says. She notes that one of the things “we want to see is that by the end of the school year, all the stakeholders, the students, then parents and the school administration – would be recommitted to their roles and hence would heighten the prospects of the students’ success.”
Miss Webb stresses the fact that without a truly cooperative effort, student success is jeopardized. “It is very important that we work together and that we each become acutely aware of our part in the process”, she emphasizes.
Director of the Behaviour Change and Community Work Stream Programme Margaret Brissette Bolt explains that the Home School Agreement Programme is one element of the overall thrust to change values and attitudes among students and to teach character education.
The Behaviour Change Programme is addressing the vexing issue of anti-social behaviour and disciplinary problems in schools, as well as attendance and increased stakeholder participation in education.
Other important features of the Behaviour Change initiative are the Citizenship in Education, Mentoring and Peer Counselling Programmes.
All of this is driven by the recognition of the fact that education has to be integrated and holistic, and that it has to be addressing both attitudes and aptitudes. The Education Task Force Report of 2004 speaks to the issue of stakeholder cooperation as part of the effort to enhance teaching and learning.
“We are hoping that through this programme the entire school life will be improved. Once you have people carrying out their own responsibilities in a focused way and working with others to ensure that the school environment is safe, and that learning and teaching take place in a mutually uplifting environment, you are closer to the goal of a high-performing education system,” Miss Webb notes. Some of the schools which have already participated in the programme in the earlier phase have reported successes.
At the St. Elizabeth Technical High School, the school administration reports that more parents are now regularly attending parent-teachers meetings. The Principal also reports that the students are more settled. Herbert Morrison High says the response to the programme was “overwhelming” and that there was a noticeable improvement in the students’ attitudes toward school work and in their general behaviour.
Dunoon Technical reports that parents are taking a more active part in their children’s learning and are regularly enquiring about their progress.
Improvements have also been noted in terms of the discipline of the students. Excelsior has reported that the participation of parents and guardians has increased since the introduction of the programme.
“The group of students who have participated in the signing of this agreement appear to be focused and tend to exhibit fewer behavioural problems,” says a report on the programme.
The Home School Agreement Programme facilitates better home-school interaction and assists teachers and guidance counsellors to know more, for example, about the students’ home life and the challenges they face.
“So we are better able to find out about the factors which impinge on their ability to learn in the classroom,” says Miss Webb. Parents are also able to better understand the school environment and how the issues there might impact on behaviour at home. “It’s a win-win situation,” maintains Miss Webb.
The Education Transformation Programme is, indeed, tackling some of the deep-seated challenges to excellence in education, with a determination to removing all the obstacles and delivering a quality education for national development and international competitiveness.