Learning Parent Partnership Award : Our School

Our School
Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)

Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)

Nunthorpe is committed to investing in its parents for the achievement of its students. The school has successfully developed a Parent Voice Group (PVG) and a Parent Steering Group (PSG) of which you will be aware.

The PVG is a great way for parents/carers and school staff to become directly involved with the school, through volunteering time and talents. Its membership is drawn from those who are presently parents/ carers/family relations of current students at our school or have been in the past, or are staff of our school. The group has already successfully raised funds for the school through holding social events within the local community and events within the school.

The PSG is at present a small group of parents who meet once every half term in order to give Nunthorpe a steer on key issues such as assessment, reporting and homework. The group has already developed an A – Z Handbook for other parents within our school which gives explanations to all areas within school that a parent may not understand. They have implemented changes in the report writing system, ensuring all parents can easily understand it and have made decisions on the new school website. It is intended this group will grow and consider diverse issues regarding school life which have a direct impact on families.

Following this success Nunthorpe would like to gain the LPPA (Leading Parent Partnership Award). The award is DfE recognised and externally validated. It is designed to help strengthen and enhance the relationship between parents, children and their schools. The benefits of gaining the award are immense but the long term benefits of gaining the award are as follows:

Improved pupil attendance, punctuality, behaviour and progress;
Increased parental participation and involvement;
Enhanced parental support for children’s learning;
Qualitative and quantitative evidence of improvement and success;
Improved home school communications.

To gain the award Nunthorpe will work to meet 10 LPPA Objectives and will go through various stages of assessment over an 18 month period. The initial assessment due to take place on the 21 April 2010 will look at areas of good practice that already exist between school and parents but will also identify areas for development. Following this an Action Plan will be produced to support the school in developing its areas of good practice and building a portfolio of evidence. An Interim Assessment will take place shortly after this to look at the actions which are being taken and developments which have been made. Finally a date will be set for the Final Verification where the school will be awarded the Leading Parent Partnership Award. The 10 LPPA Objectives are as follows:

The school demonstrates a commitment to work towards the LPPA;
The school makes and implements effective plans to achieve and maintain the LPPA;
The school is a welcoming and friendly place for parents/carers;
The school promotes an awareness of and participation in lifelong learning opportunities available in school and the community to all groups of parents/carers;
The school holds and actively promotes enrichment opportunities or events for joint parent/child participation;
The school provides good induction for all new parents/carers;
The school provides parents/carers with relevant and user-friendly guidance and information to help them support their children’s learning;
The school produces and implements parent/ carer friendly policies to establish effective home school links and improve pupil/student attendance, punctuality, behaviour and progress and positive participation in school;
The school provides good support for transition for parents/carers when their children leave the school;
The school evaluates performance against the LPPA Objectives and Key Performance Indicators.

We are passionate about working closely with our parents and are confident this award will help us to develop further and evidence the excellent practice we already deliver.

If you require any further information about the LPPA please refer to the school website where the 10 Objectives for the award are posted and where any updates on our development will be given.

Thank you for your time and if you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me at school or via kdeen@nunthorpe.co.uk.