This document is now made available online.

The Framework contains:

• a vision for improved partnerships between Australian families and schools;
• a set of principles to guide families and schools in developing partnerships;
• seven key dimensions of effective family-school partnerships;
• a set of strategies providing practical guidance to school communities and school systems in implementing and fostering family-school partnerships.

The Framework is based on existing good practice and provides an agreed national approach to guide schools and families working on these issues.

The Framework recognises that many positive developments and innovations are already occurring in schools and that a one size fits all approach to partnerships is not feasible. Partnerships need to be underpinned by broad principles and strategies but remain specific to school context, including family/community characteristics, school size, levels of schooling and student needs.

Why have a Framework?

The Framework is a resource for school communities. Its purpose is to encourage and guide schools, school systems, parent groups and families to support family-school partnerships.

Who is it for?

The Framework is intended for school systems, schools, school leaders (both staff and parents), families and other interested people working together to develop partnerships. The Framework is an opportunity to take stock and ask:

• to what extent are partnerships occurring?;
• in whose opinion are partnerships occurring?; and
• is there evidence from staff and parents on the performance of partnerships?

Who prepared it?

The Framework has been prepared by the national parent bodies in Australia – the Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO), the Australian Parents Council (APC) – the Australian Government, and other key stakeholders, including State and Territory government and non-government school authorities, and school principals’ associations.

Click here to download the Framework in PDF format.

That’s how the Bureau was officially launched at a gathering of parent organisations, officials, and a host of others on a cold but sunny Canberra day on Monday 11 August.

The launch coincided with a major meeting between the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and Australia-wide representatives of parent organisations from both the government and non-government sectors.

We were also joined by dozens of people who are keen to support and partner with the Bureau in its work.

There were people from the Salvos and the Smith Family, from the Immigration Department and from FaHCSIA, from the Christian schools and the Independent Schools Council, from Teaching Australia and from the Australian Education Union, from Principals’ Associations and the Federation of Ethnic Community Councils.

This was one well-attended and widely-representative party!

The Bureau Director, Terry Aulich, introduced the event, reminding us that the launch was a significant milestone on the road to having the importance of families’ engagement with schools recognised and supported. His remarks were endorsed by DEEWR’s Helen McDevitt, who spoke of the delight the Department took in supporting the work of the Bureau. Helen acknowledged the sustained efforts of the two peak parents’ groups – the Australian Council of State School Organisations and the Australian Parents Council – in stimulating research in, and promoting the benefits of, family-school partnerships. Helen assured those present of DEEWR’s genuine commitment to working closely with the Bureau to achieve its objectives.

ACSSO’s Jenny Branch, who co-chairs the Bureau, spoke about the core tasks that the Bureau is undertaking, and acknowledged the significant support for the Bureau given by the Australian government. A commitment of four years’ funding is a solid vote of confidence in the Bureau’s work. Jenny put everyone on notice that the Bureau is here for the long haul, and that the next four years are just the first phase of an ongoing effort.

Caz Bosch, from the APC, who co-chairs the Bureau chair with Jenny Branch, emphasised the genuine commitment that the parents’ organisations have to working with the Bureau, and to making relationships between families, schools and the community an effective, sustainable and valuable feature of every school’s profile.

The cake, which had been arranged by the DEEWR officials who work closely with the Bureau, was a magnificent piece of decadence in chocolate and cream. It was cut with due ceremony, and was followed by a period of mingling and conversation that reinforced the spirit of goodwill and commitment that had been expressed in the preceding speeches. All in all, it was a launch worth waiting for.

And now we’re official, we’ve also been able to make our website go live. So visit it at www.familyschool.org.au. I look forward to hearing from parents, principals, teachers or anyone who would like to see the engagement between schools, families and their communities blossom.

Give me a call, or email me. Talk to you soon.

The Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau was launched in Canberra today at a gathering of parent groups from across Australia.

The two peak parent bodies – the Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO) and the Australian Parents Council (APC) – have collaborated for several years on research and activities around parental and community engagement with schools. It has earned the Bureau a government funding commitment of $800,000 over four years.

“We are delighted with Minister Gillard’s strong support for the Bureau,” said Jenny Branch, ACSSO President and co-chair of the Bureau’s governing committee. “It is clear recognition both of the importance of families’ engagement with schools, and the solid work of the parent peak bodies in building the foundations for the Bureau”.

The Bureau will not only consolidate and extend action research on family-school partnerships. It will establish a 24/7 online advice and support service for parents and schools who wish to collaborate more effectively; conduct annual national parent surveys about schooling and related family issue; and assist in rolling out a National Family-Schools Partnership Framework that has been agreed to by all education ministers.

Caz Bosch, President of the non-government schools’ Australian Parents Council and co-chair of the Bureau, said that the Bureau will provide practical support and well-informed advice to schools and parents about building successful and sustainable relationships.

“The research is already affirming the value of parental engagement in promoting their children’s success at school,” Ms Bosch said. “The task is to make sure that partnership best practice is widely disseminated, and that relevant support and easily understood advice is available to schools and parents. The Bureau has the capacity and the determination to make parental engagement a normal, daily and productive feature of school life.”

The Australian Government sees the Bureau as contributing to the broader COAG participation agenda, and has committed the funding in recognition that the national parent bodies can use their unique networks and experience to help drive a major partnership push for the benefit of Australian education and young people in schools.

Media contacts:

Jenny Branch (President, ACSSO) 0417 381 721
Caz Bosch (President, APC) 0418 891 531

• Read the rest of the launch media release: click here
• Read transcript of speech by Jenny Branch, President, ACSSO: click here
• Read transcript of speech by Caz Bosch, President, APC: click here
• Read transcript of speech by Helen McDevitt, Branch Manager for Access & Equity, DEEWR: click here

The Talk Tools are designed to help facilitate the kinds of dialogue on which strong family-school partnerships are based.

The Check List is to help schools identify what they are currently doing that is considered good practice for building and maintaining family-school partnerships and – just as importantly – those practices are that need to be developed further to take their family-school partnerships to the next level.

It’s also a good list for parents to look at. It represents the kind of issues and practices that parents at a national level have decided schools need to explore.

It’s not meant to be definitive or exclusive, but offer both schools and parents a helping hand in examining their own practices. You will almost certainly find other things to include on your own family-school check list.

And so you should.

Facilities and functions to be provided include

• detailed and specific Strategies to achieve specific outcomes
• Talk Tools to instigate and facilitate the partnership process
• an Email Newsletter with news and comment on family-school partnerships
• Open and private Forums to discuss issues and share positive approaches
• Polls and Surveys on topical questions
• Downloads of documents, guidelines, templates and summaries of family-school partnership experiences
• The opportunity to provide individual, private Feedback to the Bureau
• Links to sources of relevant content on the web
• The ability to Search the site and the web

Family, school and community partnerships are about people: students, parents, teachers, principals, school support staff and members of the local community, working co-operatively together with a shared focus on young people’s effective learning and personal development.

The Family School Community Partnership Bureau is being established:

• to help seed, grow and nurture such partnerships
• to provide constructive and meaningful support to those who seek to build better relationships around education
• to inform all interested parties about best practice
• to harness the potential for community-based partnerships to lead to improved educational outcomes for our nation’s most valuable asset: our young people.

The Bureau will be officially launched on 11 August.   Also on that date, the Bureau’s website will go online, providing a suite of online tools to invite and capture the experiences and points of view of stakeholders, to assist in building and sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships between schools, families and their local communities.

Brenton Holmes is the new Research & Communications Officer, and can be contacted as follows:

Phone: 02 6282 5150

Fax: 02 6285 1351

Email: brenton.holmes@familyschool.org.au

The Minister was speaking at the National Parents Forum in Parliament House at the invitation of the Australian Council of State Schools Organisation (ACSSO) and the Australian Parents Council (APC).

As promised, the Rudd Government will provide $800,000 over four years to two key national parent bodies, the ACCSO and APC to conduct research and develop pilot programs to ensure schools are more welcoming to parents and the broader community.

The Rudd Government’s Education Revolution recognises that while formal education settings are an important part of a child’s education, parents play a key role in bridging the education experience a child receives at school and at home.

Research shows that schools that have high levels of parental and community involvement, achieve improved student learning, attendance and behaviour. Family involvement in schools is therefore central to high quality education and is part of the core business of schools.

This new Bureau will work with organisations across the country in developing and encouraging effective partnerships between schools, parents and the broader community to improve students’ learning experiences and outcomes.

The aim will be to reach the disengaged, the disempowered and those families that often are not drawn into their children’s learning.

The Rudd Government is working with schools and parents to ensure every Australian child gets access to a world class education.

Media Contact:

media@deewr.gov.au