The strange case of the disappearing parents

Why do people queue up to help when their children are in primary school, but shun the secondary schools? Diana Hinds reports on attracting the adult drop-outs back into class

As the summer term winds to an end in primary schools, it is not just the children making ready to transfer to secondary schools who are saying their goodbyes. Many parents who have been closely involved with their children's primary schools will be distanced from their life in secondary school.

There are a number of reasons for this. The structure of a secondary school is very different, and with pupils moving from classroom to classroom for different subjects, there are not the same opportunities for parents to get to know teachers. Secondary school teachers, because they are much less used to relating to parents, can find it difficult, threatening even, to have other adults in school.

The children themselves, as they become teenagers, are much more easily embarrassed by their parents, and may not want them around. Parents, too, may either lack the confidence to come into school, or be turning their attention to other things and welcoming a little more independence from their children.

But a growing number of educationalists, schools and parents believe it is imperative to find ways of keeping the home-school partnership alive at secondary level. "The temptation is to think that your children can now manage on their own, and in many ways they can, but there is still a lot of support that needs to be there," says Margaret Morrissey of the National Confederation of Parent-Teacher Associations.

"Many teachers and parents fail to recognise that families have a continuing influence on their children's attitudes and achievement as they get older; it is more difficult to involve them at secondary level, but it is just as important," stresses John Bastiani, director of a two-year project, Parents in a Learning Society.

The project, funded by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA), supports a range of home-school initiatives around the country in secondary and primary schools.

At Archbishop Thurston School in Hull, where many pupils come from deprived homes, parents have been invited to help in the classrooms since 1988. Initially, only half the staff were prepared to let parents into their lessons, but now it is no longer an issue, according to Barrie Wyse, deputy head and chair of the school's Parents in Partnership group; parents use the staff- room and about half a dozen of them help out once a week in different lessons, usually giving extra attention to an individual or small group.

Mr Wyse says: "We believe that the better the relationship between home and school, the more chance there is that pupils will achieve what they are capable of." Others in education, however, remain sceptical about parents in the classroom.

"One problem is that parents in school are not accountable," says Walter Ulrich of the National Association of Governors and Managers. "There are some parents that you wouldn't want anywhere near your own children because of their attitudes. Schools really ought to be careful."

Parents can be invited to evening meetings at school - as they are on a termly basis at Ashlawn secondary school in Rugby - to discuss issues such as bullying, drugs and homework. "It gives parents a chance to talk to one another, as well as to staff," explains Margaret Blundell, in charge of home-school liaison at Ashlawn for the GCSE year groups. "It's a way of trying to create a school gate."

Helping pupils with mock interviews for jobs or universities is another useful role for parents. The school can also give guidance to parents on talking about their own careers to make sure that they pitch it right.

A properly thought-out, whole-school approach to the relationship with parents is vital, says Dr Bastiani, with preferably a designated member of staff to co-ordinate a range of ideas and initiatives.

"For secondary schools today, it is in their interests to develop their relationship with parents because that is one of the ways in which schools become more popular," he says.