Supporting parents!

“Workabooks have been the catalyst for involving and
supporting parents more.”
Mrs Mal Valler, Assistant Head Teacher
Wembley Primary School, Wembley, London

Wembley Primary School in London first adopted Workabooks because of the benefits they would bring to their 700 pupils. But Workabooks have also produced very positive “side-effects” for parents and carers.

“We have large numbers of pupils with English as an additional language and they particularly enjoy the Workabooks because they are so visual and attractive,” explains Mal Valler, Assistant Head Teacher at the school, “but their parents, many of whom come from cultures with no written tradition, felt frustrated that they couldn’t always give their children enough support.”

To help the children, the school set up regular after-school homework clubs. Interestingly, previous attempts at homework clubs at the school had met with poor attendance, but this time they were run by the school’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Leader and based solely on Workabooks. And this time, the response “was huge”.

The school also realised that the parents’ desire for involvement, generated by Workabooks, could be a catalyst for helping them too: “As a result, some of our mums have just completed a five-week English language course here at the school and will now go on to do a more advanced external course.” says Mal. “It’s been a great way for us to serve the needs of the wider community and create opportunities for parents.”

Back in the classroom, the children “really like their Workabooks”. Mal feels their quality and presentation give homework the “prestige” it lacked before and have helped to raise the profile of homework.“Workabooks have set up a good routine at the school; they provide a consistent format and let us do homework in a systematic, regular way. Plus they give us a channel for two-way communication between school and home.”