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Parental involvement can be difficult at times with parents who are very demanding of what they think their child's needs are in relation to the whole cohort or year level. For the most part parents are very supportive an grateful of opportunities provided by schools. Our local community including parents with businesses is very supportive of our students and promote our school processes in the wider community. I agree with Aly and Steve that promoting a culture beyond primary is important. We have year 5 - 12 at our school and we generally find that parents pull back from day-to day class support as the students commence year 7

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1. Working at a boarding school parent involvement is fairly limited to events however when there are discipline matters  this is  when we find parent involvement can be counter productive and disruptive. The other time that their involvement is disruptive is when students are taken home due to illness or for medical appointments and are allowed to stay home for a few extra days.
2. Having parents support to help to drive students motivation and engagement is very important.  This occurs via letters as we don't allow students to have mobile phones or access to the internet.  The value and effectiveness of a hand written letter is much greater than a text message or email.
3&4 My mind map is similar to  others in the types of involvement listed, however, what is missing is parent involvement in the curriculum  or classroom as it is not relevant in a boarding context.

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The school I selected for this is a remote school with about 200 students and 92% Indigenous enrolment.  Many of the students are living in Town Communities and there is a high social dysfunction with many children showing signs of trauma.  Attendance rates are poor for many students.  Being community-centred and relationships-based is seen as necessary for the school to improving educational outcomes and opportunity.  Rather than being about involvement in governance and academic, at this point in time the focus is on trust and engagement.  The use of the term ‘parents’ is not the most appropriate for this setting hence I have changed it to ‘family’.

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Love these mind maps. Everyone different in the way you involve parents. Great resource for research!

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1. Parents and/or community finding out more than they should regarding staffing, in-school decision making processes, delicate information, etc. Also the influence of parent groups with an agenda can impede decision making. Sometimes familiar interaction between staff and parent groups can be problematic.  Parent bias, agendas, understandings/experience and varied values may also be areas that need to be addressed by leadership.
2. Having parents as allies within and beyond the classroom can be a significant driver of a connected and cohesive school community. Parents understanding how and when they can contribute to learning, add value to school programs, share experiences and skills, mentor and support. Teacher engagement and well-being may be positively influenced by an understanding and supportive school community, allowing for the conditions that enable a safe, collaborative, innovative workplace environment. Providing a village culture where by the community is aligned under a pedagogical/philosophical stance and students are supported by a team of adults who bring varied and broad expertise to the curriculum.
3. Key themes resonate across mind-maps, broadly describing parent interactions with the school. I have tried to include parent influence beyond the school community which ultimately impact upon perceptions of the school.
4. I would agree with Aly. Creating a culture which encourages parent involvement beyond primary is important.

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1. Potential disruptions may be in the classroom if students are excited by the presence of their parent and find it difficult to focus on the task. Parent volunteers need to have a Police Check to be involved within the walls of the school. This tends to deter parents from making this effort.
2. Involvement of Old Scholars as parents and mentors is an empowering aspect for the school. Old Scholars strengthen school spirit through Old Scholars events, reunions, fundraising, mentor program, volunteers, BOSA football, BOSA soccer and Blackfriars Foundation.
3. There are similarities to other posts such as learning in the classroom; governance through P&F, School Board and surveys; participation in the tuck shop, assemblies and sports events.
4. Areas that may be missing or differ could appear when independent schools compare with government schools. Also, parent involvement is markedly stronger in the primary years compared with secondary years.

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1.     The potential disruptions could be to the students, having their parent in the classroom, which could be exciting and distracting. Another possibility could be parents not sharing or supporting the same values of the College. At our College, all parents who wish to be involved must attend a workshop with the principal before being allowed to help in any capacity. The workshop discusses confidentiality, how to be professional and reminds parents about our mission statement and goals. I also agree with @simonwilson, that it also takes time and effort to engage with parents.

2.     I agree with anonymous, that ‘it empowers schools as it creates a broader support network’. It also reinforces what teachers do in the classroom to have the same consistent expectations at home and it also contributes towards a ‘family feel’ within the College, as parents appreciate the work ‘behind the scenes’ that they may not have seen before. This in turns, enables parents to have a greater sense of pride and are more likely to be on board with the direction the school is heading.

3.     My mind map is very similar to others, showing that we all have many ways for our parents to be involved. One difference I noticed was on @Aleasa’s mind map; our College does not allow for a working bee, as our principal felt that this was an unnecessary risk. It’s nice to hear that some schools still offer this.

4.     We notice that parents are heavily involved in the Primary School years but this very much disappears as their child hits Middle School. It would be nice to see some of these elements continue beyond Year 6.

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Please see my mind map below.

1. Parent involvement can be an assest and a disruption.  Our school has a strong community of parents which offers great support to others and an amazing amount of pride in our school from parents.  There is much parent investment.  This however is also a disruption at times.  With great parent investment comes a heavy sense of entitlement.  Parents sometimes have unrealistic expectations about their child's needs and requirements.
2.We have many parents  involved in student learning in and out of the classroom.  Our parents appreciate the level of support shown for students' learning.
3. It seems that there are many similarities between mine and other schools.  Parents can be and are involved in a myriad of ways.  Like most schools, we have a far greater amount of parent involvement in the early years.  One obvious difference between some others would be parent involvement in things like chapel or church community events due to our affiliation with a church.
4. Our school would love more involvement from parents in the social events area. Although we offer a lot during school hours, there is possibly a space to offer more outside of these hours...whether it be for the families or just for the parents.

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My mind map does not have anything on it that has not already been posted. I am interested on suggestions for what more we could be doing individually as teachers and as a whole school? 

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My mind map does not have anything on it that has not already been posted. I am interested on suggestions for what more we could be doing individually as teachers and as a whole school? 

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1. I agree with Simon Wilson here that potential disruptions for teachers are that this is an extra task for them to do. This takes time away from other tasks that need to be done. We are already overloaded.

Inviting parents to communicate more openly may mean that you invite some negative comments or critiques which they otherwise would have kept to themselves?

2. Empowers schools as it creates a broader support network. If parents are onboard and positive about students’ learning you are half way there. It does create more accountability for the teacher in the sense that they are more closely in touch with another source of scrutiny on their teaching; however, this can serve as a more frequent reminder of the needs of the individual within the classroom to help motivate the teacher to continue their efforts in modifying work, creating engaging lessons etc.

Question - If we invite parents into the classroom for a literacy group or something, do they have to have a working with children's check?

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Danielle Harris
My mindmap  reflects the parental involvement at my school. We have a large amount of parental support with curriculum in particular in K-2. After those grades many parents return to work but many still remain on P&C or take on volunteer roles which is fantastic. Many of the parents in my classroom offer to help out with making resources and this takes the burden off office staff who are finding it hard also to keep up in such times of change.In the current climate potential disruptions are when parents are not supporting in the rights ways or are only in the classroom to help their own children. This can be overcome through educating parents which is an area that our school is working on so they are able to help more effectively in the classroom. Parent helpers in the classroom are able to work with groups to enable spelling/reading groups to operate more effectively. It frees up teachers to work with groups to enhance literacy. Helping with resources frees up teachers to be able to other things.Being a school setting that I have described my mind map is similar to Vanessa's in terms of high expectations the parents have in the school. This in turn leads to parents wanting to be involved in any way they can.

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Potential disruptions- parents must sign and in and out as visitors at the office which can lead to unscheduled meetings with school leadership. Being caught on the run can mean a lack of preparation time for these conversations. The presence of parents can also be disruptive for the student, for example: learned helplessness can become apparent when a parent is in the classroom.
The positives are that parents know what is happening and how it is happening in the classroom. Parents talk! And if parents are in classrooms and see the great stuff they are likely to tell others about it! This can spread positivity and interest in the everyday learning and prompt conversations about learning at home.
My mind map is a quick jot of the ways parents commonly get involved. It is probably missing details and the once off's that occur throughout the year.

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My school is very strong in it's links with students, both present and past, and the wider community. There are a lot of committees, clubs and organisations that help make up the whole community. Sometimes I think that there may be too many, and that our core business is being diluted. However, I now have a better understanding that this is not the case, and that in fact these opportunities for involvement are integral to the effective governance of an educational institution.

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Disrupters that I see across a range of schools that I work in is that it takes a great deal of extra time and effort to engage and consult with parents. Often it is the loudest that get the most pull.
Parent involvement is powerful when the parent has high expectations of their child and is supportive of school direction.  My map is different to Aleasa's in that she is drawing on her individual school and is citing specific examples. I am drawing on a generic approach in the region that I work and support schools. Also my map is very graphically poorly designed

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I am sure I have missed some. Generally speaking, parent involvement at our school is fairly high. As most of our parents are working full time, we try to ensure the involvement from families goes beyond the immediate family unit where possible and that the involvement is meaningful and purposeful. Our parent and student surveys over the past 5 years have ranked student and parent voice highly.