Friendly Schools & Families Materials
Whole-School
Family Links Handbook
A key feature of the Friendly Schools & Families Program is the importance of a strong partnership between schools and families. The health and health related behaviours of young people are powerfully influenced by the attitudes, skills and behaviours of their parents. Unfortunately many children endure bullying in silence without telling an adult at school or at home. Parents are often unaware of their child’s struggles with a bullying situation until it has become quite severe and the child begins to display obvious signs of distress. The Friendly Schools & Families Program encourages the development of a strong relationship between schools and families.
When their child is bullied parents, understandably, are usually distressed and want the situation to stop. Our studies showed that although many parents are concerned about the effects of bullying on students, they are often unsure about how best to help. Schools and parents also reported that the most frequent involvement in school bullying issues tended to be following a bullying incident rather than engaging parents in activity to prevent bullying.
This aim of this resource is to combine the research information with general understandings and strategies that can be used by parents and caregivers to improve children’s understanding of bullying and develop their ability to respond appropriately in bullying situations.
What is in the Family Links Handbook?
Principles for Success in Family Links
The Principles for Success for Bullying Reduction in Schools provide a framework for developing and implementing whole-school programs to reduce bullying in schools. This handbook provides the Principles for Success that have been identified as critical to the successful development of Family Links. It also includes information, strategies and samples of from real schools to engage the school community in discussion and planning toward a whole-school response to bullying.
School Snippets
Case study examples, called ‘School Snippets’, have been included throughout the handbooks. These are designed to illustrate in a practical way the guidelines and activities suggested within each handbook. Teachers and administrators from schools involved in the Friendly Schools Research and contributed to the ‘School Snippets’ based on their experiences implementing the Whole-school Program.
This school uses many strategies to communicate with and positively engage their parents. Parent links with staff are facilitated through letters, newsletters, parent/teacher meetings, and the Parents as Partners program. This is an evening program that is run for 6-8 weeks. Parents are invited to attend. Generally the best response is from Year 8-9 students’ parents. The program teaches parents about the school, communication methods and protocols. Positive behaviour letters are sent home. The P+C have involvement in how the school is run. For example, parents influenced the need for school restructuring into a sub-school format as well as various discipline policies. The school also runs a ‘Parents on your side’ course for teachers
Check out
When samples, toolkits or extra resources are available to support the particular principle being explained there will be a ‘check out’ symbol and then references to the information.
Tool kits
Included in the Family Links tool kits:
- Parent Feedback;
- Tips for parents about family and school connections;
- Designing newsletters for families
- Family Learning Journeys
- Family Communication Sheets
- Parent workshop notes
- Activities & Games for the Family Friendship Carnival
Samples
Click each sample image below to see a larger version.
