How involved are you with your child’s school?

A survey carried out in April for the National Association of Headteachers found that 71% of parents believe that they are more involved in their child’s school than their own parents were. The survey asked over 1,000 parents across England, Wales and Northern Ireland with children between 5 and 13, and other questions asked had similarly impressive results. For example:

• 86% of parents thought that their kids could read as well as they could at 11, and 37% thought that their kids could read better.
• 93% of parents said that they were made to feel welcome at their child’s school, with 89% feeling that they were part of the school community.
• 90% were impressed by pupils’ behaviour and 52% thought that the school was good at building their child’s confidence (25% thought that the school was outstanding at this).
• 53% of parents said that the school provided good moral guidance, with 23% saying that the school was outstanding at this.
• 81% of parents questioned had read a school report, but 51% thought that these didn’t give the whole story.
• Finally, 85% of parents thought that their child’s school offered a good or outstanding quality of teaching.

I think this is a great study because it paints such a different story to a lot of negative news stories that have been published recently. We’re always being told how behaviour in schools is so bad and that standards of literacy and teaching are slipping, but this shows that parents think very differently indeed. What do you think of this survey? Do you get involved with your child’s school life or work, and in what way? Do you help with homework, encourage eduction through fun activities such as arts or crafts, or help out with bake sales or Sports Day? On the other hand, do you think that the survey doesn’t paint a complete picture and that there are real problems in some schools? Get in touch and let us know! You can leave a comment below, talk to us on Twitter or take part in our Facebook poll. The poll will be up all week, and we’d love to see what you all think of the issue.