Support Your Child

This section of the website is designed to help parents/carers in their role of helping children to achieve their best. It can be easy to assume that by the time children have reached secondary school, there isn’t much parents can do to influence their success. There is!

When pupils come to Parklands High School, parents/carers, the pupils and the school sign a Home-School Agreement. This document sets out what we expect of each other (please click here for a copy). It is a statement of our shared responsibilities. We see it as a formal agreement that we will all work together for the benefit of every pupil.

When a pupil enters Year 7 at Parklands your first concern will be for the safety and security of your child. That is also our concern.

You will already know about how much emphasis we place upon getting to know each young person individually. Parents can be reassured that pupils from a range of different schools and backgrounds bond together well in our vertical tutor groups, lessons and other groupings. New friendships are always quickly made and initial concerns usually disappear within the first few days. If you have concerns about this, however, please contact your child’s Form Tutor or their House Achievement Leader (HAL).

How Can I Support My Child at Parklands High School?

Parents can support their children by:

• Supporting our uniform expectations and making sure that your child comes to school properly dressed and fully equipped for the day ahead.
• Ensuring that your child attends regularly and keeping us informed if for any reasons s/he is absent.
• Avoiding taking family holidays during term time.
• Talking to them about their work.
• Taking an interest in their activities.
• Encouraging a healthy lifestyle (balanced diet, plenty of water and regular exercise)
• Providing your child with a quiet place in which to study and a table or desk at which to work
• Ensuring that your child develops a routine when it comes to home learning/out of hours learning. The timings do not matter; the regular routine does. It makes sense for pupils not to go out until home learning has been completed.
• Encouraging your child to go on school visits or to get involved in out-of-hours learning (eg. music, sport, art, drama, cooking, STEM or the many other clubs and societies and revision programmes)
• Checking your child is completing all home learning and referring to Google Classroom for details
• Most importantly, giving praise and positive encouragement

You should encourage:

• Your child to complete homework/out of hours learning as part of a regular routine. Encourage pupils to share the work that they are working on in Google Classroom.
• Your child to talk to you about their work. Ask them to explain their work to you. Research suggests that this is the most significant form of positive enforcement. It is the best revision exercise.
• Your child to take a proactive role with regard to careers advice and guidance. Make use of our independent careers advisor and the programmes linked to our website.

More information can be found by clicking on the following link:

BBC – Support Your Child's Learning