Getting involved

How is your child doing at school?

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have produced a very good booklet called How Your Child is Doing at School .

At the end of the summer term you will receive a report about your child's progress from the school. It will tell you how your child is doing in different subjects and if your child has taken any tests it will tell you the result.

Parents' evenings

All schools have parents' evenings, at least one per year. It is strongly advised that you attend the Parents' Evening when you can meet the teacher(s) and discuss your child's progress. and any concerns that you have. You will be informed by letter from your child's school (which the school can get translated) about the dates and times for parents' evenings.

However if you are concerned about your child's progress at other times or you want to find out how he/she is settling down, you can arrange an appointment with the class teacher. The school may be able to arrange an interpreter for your appointments through Hampshire EMA Service.

Many schools will arrange individual meeting with teachers if parents are unable to attend the Parents' Evening.

Maintaining your child's first language

Should I speak English at home?

If English is not your first language, talking to your child in the mother tongue will encourage your child to learn about themselves and their world. Research shows that the more confident the child is in his first language, the easier it is for him to learn another and obtain better results in English and other subjects. Therefore it is important to maintain the reading and writing skills your child has already acquired.

How can I help my child learn?

Take every opportunity to spend time with your child, sharing a book, playing a game, watching a television programme. All those activities can be carried out in first language. The use of first language will reinforce family ties, culture and identity and increase job opportunities as well as enhancing intellectual development.

Homework and homework clubs

Most children get some homework. When the child is young this will usually be reading a book to you. As your child gets older he/she will be expected to carry out work at home more often. At Key Stages 3 and 4 schools normally give their pupils a homework timetable so you will know how often your child should do homework. Homework is a very important way of letting teachers know if the pupils have understood the work learned in school.

Some schools run homework clubs, which are free to pupils attending the schools. Sometimes information sessions for parents are run alongside. You can find details of the clubs which are run by Hampshire EMA Service for ethnic minority and bilingual pupils in our Projects section.

Become a governor at your child's school

Governors are a group of people who work as a team to make sure that the school provides a good quality education for pupils. Every school has a Governing Body and it will include parents elected by other parents. Governors meet at least once every term, usually in the evening.

In September 2000, as part of research for her degree (final dissertation) Kamaljit Dulai, from Hampshire EMA Service, carried out a survey to find out why there are so few parents from ethnic minority groups on the governing bodies of schools.

The data gathered suggested that the great majority of parents knew very little about school governors. While their knowledge in this area was limited, their desire for more information wasn't. The great majority of parents were unaware of the translated recruitment leaflets available in minority languages. The data also suggested that attitude of school staff has a crucial role to play in encouraging parental participation.

The different reasons given by the parents were useful for Local Education Authorities to consider improvements. The outcome was a starting point of discussion with Hampshire Governor Services which led to formulation of an action plan to develop strategies to encourage more parents from ethnic minority communities to become school governors. Approximately five per cent of pupils in Hampshire come from ethnic minority backgrounds. Only about one per cent of governors class themselves as an ethnic minority.

If you want further information about becoming a governor you can contact Hampshire Governor Services on their website or telephone 01962 846449. Please ask for a copy of a leaflet called 'Shape our future:- become a school governor'. It is available in Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Dealing with problems

If your child experiences difficulties such as bullying, name calling or racism contact the school at once. All schools should have clear policies and procedures for dealing with these issues. Hampshire County Council has racial harassment guidelines which schools should follow.

Hampshire Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS)