SCHOOLS AT THE CENTRE OF THEIR COMMUNITIES
CASE STUDY 1: LOGAN PRIMARY SCHOOL
HOW TO BUILD TRUST WITHIN YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY?
“One of the greatest challenges in building trust is to break down the barriers in the relationships with schools. These barriers have been built up within schools over decades especially in small communities where the children attend the same school as their parents and in some cases are taught by the same teachers.
If we first consider the child’s experience, teachers are possibly now the only adults referred to by their title and surname. Though the gowns and mortar boards have gone, formal dress for staff is still considered the norm across most establishments, with a huge focus still on pupil uniform as a way of ‘fostering school community’. Communication is carried out in a formal registers, days are shaped by bells and lining up is the way to move around the building. Primary schools in particular seem to have thrived with this order and much as in the armed forces, order is seen to foster discipline and maintained the respect and hierarchy.
Translating this into relationships with parents, we can see barrier in terms of the formalised processes around school access, parents’ meetings, consultation and engagement. The idealism of schools not always reflecting the lived experiences of our families particularly during the Covid-19 period and now the cost-of-living crisis in the UK. In my experience, the fear of falling short of the mark so often creates reluctance within parents to engage with the school.”
The challenge therefore becomes how to strip all of these norms and assumptions back and build more equitable relationships.
At Logan, the school has worked to break down the barriers through putting a community offer in place. By working with NHS partners, local authority community development s and the third sector we were able to offer parents and families resources in their locally previously inaccessible. By creating opportunities for family learning led by teaching staff both within and out with the school day we were able to build relationships with parents in more natural environment. The most successful of these being our community camp out. Delivered by staff and parents this weekend experience gives families a residential camping experience but also give them a time to build relationship with staff whilst ‘off duty’. The informality of this where teachers and parents work together to deliver the event away from the classroom and school conventions has had a dramatic impact on the assumptions and value judgement of staff on our families and built strong respectful relationships from both sides. (video evidence). By reaching beyond parents to the wider community including our senior citizens with lunch clubs, pop up restaurants and adult nurture we are able to build community cohesion whilst placing our school and education at the heart of the community.
Looking at the school day we have also worked to break down barriers by removing the stigma and trauma of being late. Our no bell/ no line up “soft start” not only provides a nurturing neurodiversity friendly approach throughout the day but it also removes the fear of being late or not having had a breakfast. It also removes parents from the strain of community disputes as they no longer have to be corralled into the playground at a specific time.
Through greater mutual respect and understanding, trust has been built and with this an openness in our relationships. This has allowed us as a school to better identify the challenges faced by our children and families and to work to better support them and create a learning environment and curriculum that meets their needs.