Parental involvement and engagement

As a parent or carer, we will:

• support you to be involved and engaged in the school and the education of your children
• help you to set up and give advice on running Parent Councils  
• give general advice and information
• make available a complaints procedure for representations under the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement Act) 2006 

We do this by working with:

• schools – who communicate regularly with you so you know what your child is learning, how they are learning and how you can be included
• Parent Councils – who are set up by parents to represent all parents in your school
• other officers not in schools – who listen to the views of schools, parents, Parent Councils, community partners, carers and children and young people to provide support

Parental partners

There is a positive impact on children's achievements when you take a supportive role in your child's education. Our strategy sets out how we would like to work with parents and carers in our schools.

Parental Involvement and Engagement Strategy 2023 to 2026 – easy read version (PDF, 224.24KB)

Parental Involvement and Engagement Strategy 2023 to 2026 (PDF, 3.83MB)

Ask us to 'look again'

You can ask us to 'look again' if you:

• are unhappy, concerned or have questions about decisions made around your parental involvement
• would like to help us improve how we work with parents

Primary schools

Start by discussing any individual school related concerns with your school. Speak to the:

• nursery or primary class teacher if the enquiry relates to classroom practice
• headteacher if the enquiry relates to whole school matters, or you require an unresolved classroom issue to be discussed further
• Parent Council if your enquiry relates to whole school matters linked to parents as partners

Secondary schools

If your child is at secondary school, start by speaking to the:

• teacher with responsibility for personal, social and emotional supervision
• headteacher

Email us if you:

• are not happy with the response you receive
• are not happy with the decision that has been made
• would like to work with us on plans for parental involvement or engagement: 

Email: parentcarer@dumgal.gov.uk

Understanding additional support for your child

For information about how your child is supported in school go to support for pupils.

Positive behaviour and anti-bullying

For Information about how your school promotes positive behaviour and addresses anti-bullying, see the education authority schools handbook.

How we work with our police partners

For information on how schools work with the police when matters are escalated beyond the school go to anti-social behaviour.

Volunteering in schools

A great way to be involved in your child's education is to volunteer at their school. Go to volunteering in schools.

Understanding jargon in education

The more you are involved in your child's eduction, the more you may come across jargon that you do not understand. We have put together a useful guide.

Go to Connect's jargon buster – a list of terms used in Scottish education