1. PARENTS AS PARTNERS
-Mohua Bose
-Shilpa Solanki
THE ORCHID SCHOOL, PUNE

2. INTRODUCTION
“In this complex world, it takes more than a good school to educate children.
And it takes more than a good home. It takes these two major educational
institutions working together.”
–Dorothy Rich, author of Mega Skills.

3. Awareness of parents
 rights of a child to receive quality education
 decisions taken by the school
 from the fee structure to the appointment of teachers
 from curricula choices to extra-curricular activity choices
transparency in a relationship
Once parents are enrolled in the school philosophy, it is
easy to make them understand the choices made by the
school. It is also the only way to counteract the
skepticism with which parents generally greet any policy
changes or decisions taken by the school.

4. The Orchid Belief
informed, engaged/ enrolled, involved
 ‘informed and engaged’ parents - better home-school
cooperation and increased student success.
 ‘enrolled parents’ - conduits though which the teacher is
able to reach a child even when he/she is outside her sphere
of influence.
 when parents are ‘involved’ in their children’s education,
children do better in studies, are more interactive in class,
and are in fact, more ‘interested learners’.

5. The Orchid Model

6. Parent Teacher Association
General Body Meetings
Transport Committee
Teacher Recruitment Panel
RTE Committee
Food Committee
Admission Committee
Decision making and enhancement
programs- Leapstart, XSeed

7. Class Parent Volunteer System -
Structure
Support Set of 8-10
Parent -1 parents
Main Class Support Set of 8-10
Parent Parent - 2 parents
Support Set of 8-10
Parent - 3 parents

8. Class Parent
Substitution Volunteer School Council
for teacher System Selection Panel
Channel for Concerts,
sensitizing Cultural
parents programs, Class
Presentations
Pool of human
resource Field trips
and camps
Awareness Strategic
drives Planning
quick and efficient
system of sending Teacher
messages Evaluation

9. Other Areas Of Parental Involvement
REGULAR COMMUNICATION
• Parent Meetings
• Newsletters
• Phone calls
• Class Mail Group
• School Website
MAKING LEARNING VISIBLE (MLV)
• Presentation to parents
• Exhibitions and fairs
LIFE SKILLS ORIENTATION PROGRAM

10. Process
• introduction of School policies and
philosophy
General Orientation
• mention of Class Parent Volunteer System
• detailed explanation according to
Level wise Orientation requirements of each level- Pre Primary,
Primary and Secondary
• expectations for that particular class and
Class Orientation CPVs selection/nomination
Workshop for the teachers • Filling grids and forms
as well as the CPVs

11. Epstein's Framework of Six Types of
Involvement
1. PARENTING
2. COMMUNICATING
3. VOLUNTEERING
4. LEARNING AT HOME
5. DECISION MAKING
6. COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY

12. Using The Orchid Model
Schools need to have guidelines and a structure in which parent
volunteers and teachers can work hand in hand. So Class Teachers
are encouraged to:
• Create guidelines for parent volunteers - clear dos and don’ts
• Encourage teachers to list what parents can do at home and at
school to support their child's learning.
• Communicate what parent groups can do.
• Send out a volunteer survey, to find out what parents are interested in
doing.
• Have an orientation to train the volunteer coordinator team.

13. Using The Orchid Model
• Make sure class teachers have all the volunteer activities listed
with the time slots available and the amount of time requested.
• Create a potential pool of human resources
• Contact parents the way they want to be contacted, by phone, e-
mail, etc.
• Assign one main parent volunteer and three support volunteer
for every class – our 3 tier CPV system
• Confirm assignments with parents and thank them.
• Always stick to an agreed schedule

14. Assessment of success or failure
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
correlation between engaged parents and level of satisfaction.
“Overall satisfaction of parents who are actively engaged with the PTA is
higher than other parents.” - CSS Report
SURVEY OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS
questionnaires and open forums to discuss effectiveness of the
system for parents, students and teachers
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS REPORT-
joint endeavour by parents and school on actual student
performance record can make a difference

17. Analysis
 According to the CSS report, “Overall satisfaction of
parents who are actively engaged with the PTA is higher
than other parents.”
 when parents are ‘involved’, their choices and responses
are educated.
 comments are not on assumptions but on data gathered or
practices observed.
 whether supportive or not, their views being based on
facts, gives a true picture of the effectiveness of school
policies and programs.
 system needs periodic reviews and checks to ensure that the
goal is not tampered with.

18. The Flip Side
There are many reasons why parents may not become active in school life:
•Too little time/work schedule/single-parenthood
•Lack of resources/transportation/child care
•Language barrier/cultural isolation
•Social isolation/low educational level
•Not knowing how to contribute
•Feeling overwhelmed, intimidated or unwelcome
The responsibility for changing this state of affairs must lie
with the school.

19. What research says..
The evidence is consistent, positive, and convincing: families have a major
influence on their children’s achievement in school and through life. … The
research continues to grow and build an ever-strengthening case.When schools,
families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend
to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. (Henderson
& Mapp, 2002, p. 7)
Specific to academics, there has been a positive link made between parent
involvement/engagement and the following indicators of student achievement:
higher grades and test scores (on teacher ratings, achievement, and standardized
tests), enrolment in higher level programs and advanced classes, greater promotion
rates, higher successful completion of classes and earned credits, lower drop-out
rates, higher on-time high school graduation rates, and a greater likelihood of
movement into post secondary education (Epstein &VanVoorhis, 2001)

20. Conclusion
“I learned the hard way. I learned that if I took time at the beginning of
the school year to phone each family to introduce myself, offer a few
positive statements about their child, and let them know what was
happening in class, I had fewer problems during the year. In fact,
communicating with parents turned them into advocates for me and for my
students -- a helpful resource rather than a dreaded hindrance. In short,
we became partners.”
– a teacher.

21. Thank You
Visit The Orchid School, Pune – website – www.theorchidschool.org

22. Class Parent Volunteer Grid