Robin Hood Primary School
A family learning programme at Robin Hood Primary School in Nottingham has seen pupil attainment rise and boosted the school’s performance to above the national average. Participating parents report benefits including being able to help with their children’s learning, with some even going onto find employment or progression within their current job.
The school’s Community Base utilises the Pupil Premium to make family learning central to its mission, engaging pupils and parents in the learning process and ensuring that parents receive support for a range of different issues. This includes running literacy and numeracy adult learning programmes for families where literacy levels are a problem; these lead to nationally recognised qualifications and are complimented by courses on CV writing and careers advice sessions to help parents back into employment.
Community Base takes a tailored approach, thinking about parents’ reservations about learning and listening to feedback. For example as a result of an evaluation questionnaire, a crèche was set up for parents in order to help increase attendance.
The programme has seen great success so far; pupil attainment has risen rapidly over the past three years, and the school is now performing above the national average. A small sample of 20 families who took part found that 83% reported an increased ability to support their children’s learning and 96% said that their personal confidence had improved. Many parents also go on to volunteer at their child’s school, and 22% had progressed to improved or new employment. An Ofsted inspection in February 2013 found the school’s engagement with parents and carers to be ‘outstanding’.
One learner, who has gone on to full time employment, commented: “I am confident and happy, I love my job and the relationships I have built – I feel worthwhile I have a purpose. I am modelling to my children: you don’t just sit and watch TV you have to ‘graft’ to achieve”