St Malachy's is a voluntary aided roman catholic primary school which is run by Salford Diocese, it has approx 233 children on roll aging from 3 years to 11 years. The school is based in a deprived inner city area of Manchester with over half the pupils entitled to free school meals which indicates a high need of socio‑economic challenges within the area.

It has a high proportion of pupils who are from ethnic minority backgrounds with many families having English as an additional language which creates barriers to learning and parental engagement within the school.

Building relationships: Leadership made efforts to invite parents into school through family fun events, coffee mornings, parental workshops, an updated website so parents can see what their child is learning and the school introduced an open door policy where parents can come and look around the environment.

Communication: Newsletters were simplified and translated when necessary, parents have access to a parent app which sends daily reminders to ensure parents are kept up to date, help is on hand for parents who are not tech savy and workshops are delivered to help.

Empowering staff: Staff receive training on how to communicate and work with families in order to build relationships.

Community partnership: The school partnered with the local community agencies on site to create family fun days at the allotment, a staff presence in church and donations to the lalley centre for families in need. The school also provides a uniform swap shop for parents every half term.

Home Learning: parents began to adhere to the reading policy, this was evident has reading at home and signing of reading records became more consistent. Homework was simplified and explained and was completed to a good standard with children writing their spellings in full sentences.

Positive Relationships: Teacher believed that they had built better relationships with families. parents were aware of the school policies and that staff were consistent with implementing them behaviour improved massively.

Community culture: Parents are willing to approach staff about concerns as they now see them as a familiar supportive face as staff are more visible around school and the community.

In 2023 our school received the Leading Parent Partnership Award.

Removal of Barriers

The report highlights that barriers to parental involvement no longer exist in many respects Parents now have their own space in the school (“their own room to meet in”) which helps them feel more welcome.

FAST Project (Families and Schools Together)

The school is a certified FAST school. This programme is specifically mentioned as being very effective in bringing families together from different cultural backgrounds, helping them feel part of the school community.

Communication Channels & Home‑School Partnership

The school uses multiple means to communicate with parents: text messages, phone calls, a Parent App. They aim to keep parents well informed. The Home‑School Agreement is emphasised: a shared set of responsibilities between school, pupils, and parents.

Opportunities for Learning & Engagement for Parents

They offer adult education courses (e.g. Maths, English, Computing) in partnership with Manchester Adult Education Service. Regular parent evenings, drop‑in sessions, and involvement in school life are part of the strategy.

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