7.2.3 Partnership with parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

7.2.3 Partnership with parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools made increasing use of digital technologies to support parents’ involvement in their child’s learning

COVID-19 brought to the fore the value of partnerships, in particular home-school links, in providing for children’s and young people’s wellbeing and learning during the period of school closures. In ELC settings and schools, the experience of the pandemic has shown the importance of digital technologies to support communication with parents and their involvement in their child’s learning. Guidance for schools from the Department emphasised the necessity for good whole-school systems to facilitate communication between home and school during the period of school closures. This guidance encouraged two-way feedback between teachers and parents/guardians, and between teachers and their pupils/students. The DCEDIY also highlighted the importance of maintaining clear two-way communication pathways for parents, staff and other stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic.125

It was clear from surveys of parents carried out by the Department in collaboration with the National Parents Council-Primary in April 2020 126 that some schools struggled to achieve good levels of communication with parents during the early part of the pandemic. Home-school communication appeared to have been better during the second period of school closures in the January to March 2021 period compared with the situation in April 2020. Most primary and post-primary parents surveyed in February 2021 confirmed that their child’s school had made them aware of their plan for remote teaching and learning. This was more positive than the responses to surveys carried out in April 2020 when, at both primary and post-primary levels, just three-quarters of parents indicated that their child’s school had made them aware of their plans for remote teaching and learning.

Opportunities for parents to contact their child’s school also improved between the first and second period of school closures during the pandemic. In the surveys conducted in February 2021, almost all parents at primary and special school levels reported that they could contact their child’s teacher to seek advice or clarifications. In April 2020, one-quarter of parents of primary pupils had indicated that they did not have appropriate opportunities for contacting their child’s school.

During the September to December 2020 period when schools had reopened, it was evident, from surveys and focus groups of parents conducted by the Inspectorate, that there was effective communication between schools and parents in relation to the COVID-19 measures that the schools had put in place to ensure the safe provision of schooling.

The improvements in communication with parents can be attributed, particularly in the case of primary schools, to the enhanced capacity of schools and teachers to use digital technologies during the course of the pandemic. The professional development support and resources provided by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) played a key role in building the capacity of schools and teachers.

Restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the ‘open door’ policies that had been in place in many early learning and care settings

While ELC settings reopened for some children from June 2020, the infection prevention and control measures in place meant that parents of young children were restricted in accessing settings. This disrupted the ‘open door’ policies observed as good practice in many ELC settings, and while alternative methods to communicate with parents were put in place, much of this communication focused on logistical and health and safety matters. The sharing of information to support children’s learning was reported by setting managers to be more challenging and less frequent. The re-establishment of these connections should be a priority for settings as infection prevention and control measures related to COVID-19 are eased.

125 Source: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Affairs Advice during COVID-19-Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare: Maintaining Relationships. Available in Tipsheet 2 Maintaining Relationships at https://first5.gov.ie/guidance/providers-and-practitioners. 126 These surveys were conducted between 03 April and 07 April 2020 when schools were closed because of COVID-19. There were 8,053 responses to the survey of parents of primary school pupils and 1,806 responses to the post-primary survey. Tables on the findings of those surveys are included in the appendices of the following published report: Department of Education (2021) Remote teaching and learning: Summary of Inspectorate research, January – February 2021. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/de987-remote-teaching-and-learning-reports.