Students with parents and caregivers that engage in their school life have a 98% average attendance rate. Alongside social and emotional development, attending school is vital for a child’s well-being and academic performance. Parents and caregivers are integral; engaging families in student support plans is vital to a child’s school career.
95% of students with guardians who engaged in their education had better mental and physical welfare
Attendance is just one factor; family engagement is vital for various reasons. Vast amounts of research have been conducted on the topic of family engagement, and numerous benefits have been identified.
One study found that 95% of students with guardians who engaged in their education had better mental and physical welfare. Another study reflected that people with optimistic guardians about their future are 81% more likely to graduate from high school.
Actively involved family members have many other positive impacts on a child’s:
- Attendance
- Stress Reduction
- Self-Esteem
- Academic Performance
- Resilience/Perseverance
- Confidence/Self-Image
- Social-Emotional Skills
- Sense of Responsibility
- Physical and Mental Welfare
- Sense of Belonging
- Understanding the Value of Education
Family engagement involves a parent, sibling, or other relative who engages in a child’s education to promote their learning and well-being. The benefits of family engagement are vast and can nourish many areas of a child’s life—both inside and outside of the school building.
This support is multifaceted and can take a variety of forms, including:
- Providing Emotional Support
- Motivating a Child to Learn
- Monitoring and Tracking Attendance
- Establishing a Consistent Routine
- Attending School Meetings and Events
- Supplying Necesarry Learning Resources
- Discussing Academics with a Child
- Celebrating Achievements
- Being a Good Role Model, i.e, Promoting Reading
In combination, the benefits of family engagement and the various forms of possible support emphasise the achievability of guardians nourishing a child’s health and education.
How ECINS Engages Families
Research highlights the importance of engaging families in student support plans, and ECINS helps caregivers with this task. The system makes a guardian’s interaction and engagement with schools as simple and efficient as possible so that a child gains the maximum benefits from their education.
- Parent Consent Forms
- ECINS makes all consent forms accessible via an app or internet browser. The system collects guardians’ responses and captures data to eliminate the need for printing, distributing, and collecting physical consent forms or letters. Treatment, learning, and attendance plans are all agreed upon through the ECINS system.
- This lightens the administrative load for staff and guardians alike, improving response times and creating a more efficient school environment where children can thrive. Parents and caregivers can engage in a child’s school life with ease.
- Parent Engagement Module
- With an awareness of the vital role that family members hold in a student’s school life, ECINS developed a system that provides wraparound support and encouragement to parents and caregivers. Schools can provide caregivers with a system that promotes engagement, guiding a child toward a more productive education.
The ECINS Parent Engagement Module (PEM) offers parents and caregivers the chance to build their own student support plans with a variety of features:
- Attendance Tracker
- Help & Advice documents
- Mood Tracker
- Calendar
- Chat Function
- Task Setting
The software is available as a phone app or an internet browser, so parents have the tool at their fingertips whenever it is most convenient for them to use it. Functions can be used at the caregiver’s leisure, reducing admin time for both families and school staff.
- Attendance Tracker
- ECINS’ attendance tracking feature encourages parents and caregivers to get their children to attend school. There is an option to scan QR codes in classrooms so that guardians can record how often the child attends. Attendance tracking through the PEM is especially effective for younger students, such as those of primary school age, and school meetings or events. Parents will gain a record of their child’s attendance and/or their own attendance of parent engagement activities at the school.
- Mood Tracker
- Family members can also engage in a young person’s education by filling out an entry in the mood tracker. The feature provides an outlet for guardians to disclose any blockers to a child’s learning, giving trusted school staff members an insight into the personal lives of young people so they can acquire help where suitable. Families and caregivers can emotionally support a child with this feature.
- Calendar
- Caregivers can access important dates and structure their weeks with their child’s education in mind. Schools can log homework deadlines, school trips, parent events, after-school activities, and other arrangements so families can stay informed and organized. A clear knowledge of when engagement is needed or encouraged helps a parent or caregiver stay involved in their child’s education.
- Help + Advice Documents
- There are also resources available on the SEM that support families. Suppose a parent or caregiver struggles to engage in their child’s learning for whatever reason. In that case, this section advises them on where to seek help to combat the issue so that the child can receive family support benefits. For example, if a guardian is struggling to support a child with homework or can’t provide learning resources, documents can be uploaded to advise, tips can be made available, and support can be made available.
- Task Setting
- If a guardian is finding it difficult to engage with their child’s school life fully, the task setter can help them to map out how they can support the student. For example, scheduling a conversation about progress in maths and when a sporting achievement will be celebrated by cooking their favourite dinner can be greatly beneficial to a child. Moreover, this feature can also be used to aid parents with reminders about packed lunches, dinner money, homework deadlines, etc..
- Chat Function
- Both guardians and trusted staff members can operate the chat. This function can prompt parents with personal messages, e.g., reminding them of the piece of homework they forgot the previous day. Families can also reach out with concerns or updates for school staff to know.
ECINS’ Parent Engagement Module is crafted to engage families in student support plans so that the best outcomes can be achieved for everybody. Parents and caregivers can gain organisational help, support, information, and insight into how they can have an active involvement in a pupil’s school life. Engaging families in student support plans ensures that adults are doing the very best for their children.
Sources
Reflection as a Tool for Growth in School Support
Importance of Checking in with Students
Empowering Frontline Workers: Mobile Accessibility with ECINS