The term “parents” refers to anyone with parental responsibilities and others who care for or look after children or young people.

Both globally and nationally it is recognised that parents are the single most important influence on their children’s development, learning and achievement. The involvement and engagement of parents in their children’s learning is recognised as a key element in raising attainment, through support, help and encouragement given at home and whilst at school.

1     Parental Involvement and Engagement Strategy

The Parental Involvement and Engagement Strategy 2023-2026 demonstrates the commitment by Aberdeenshire Council to improve the quality and the extent of all parents’ involvement in their child’s learning and the important role they play in their child’s education.

The plan sets out a vision for parental involvement and engagement for the next three years and covers a journey that a child takes from pre-birth to age 18. It highlights the leadership of those who make the difference day in and day out.

If you would like to read the Aberdeenshire Parental Involvement and Engagement strategy it can be found on Aberdeenshire Council’s website here

Parental involvement and engagement - Aberdeenshire Council

2 Parental Engagement

Parental engagement is about parents’ and families’ interaction with their child’s learning. It can take place in the home, at school or in the community: where it takes place is not important. The important thing is the quality of the parent’s engagement with their child’s learning, the positive impact that it can have and the interaction and mutual development that can occur as a result of that interaction.

3     Communication

The school uses a range of approaches to share information about your child’s learning and progress. These include:

·       Use of Groupcall to text, email and telephone calls.

Where contact details have been provided, all contacts identified as “parent contacts” will receive the information being sent. The exception to this is the morning absence text which will only be sent to the main parent contact.

·       Use of Parentsportal.scot for notices, permission slips.

·       School Website: https://fishermoss.aberdeenshire.sch.uk//

·       Fishermoss Family Friday Updates – weekly from the Head Teacher

·       Class Newsletters – issued by class teachers at the start of each term

·       Head Teacher Newsletter – issued at the end of each term

·       Interim academic progress update (Term 3)

·       Curricular Events – P1 Curriculum Information (Term1), P7 Residential Experience Information (Term 1), Pupil ‘Show and Tell’ (Term 3)

·       Parent/Teacher Consultations (Term 1 and Term 4)

·       Primary 1 Induction (Term 4 and Term 1)

·       Individual Pupil Reports (Term 4)

·       Learning Celebration Book (Profiles)

·       Class Assemblies

·       Class Google Classroom

The school calendar highlights planned opportunities where we welcome you into school for events, and opportunities to talk about your child’s progress, wellbeing, and behaviour (see Further Information).

4     ParentsPortal.scot

In support of Aberdeenshire Council’s ambition to offer more digital services to its residents, Aberdeenshire primary and secondary schools have rolled out a national online service called parentsportal.scot.  This is designed to replace the paper ‘schoolbag run’, giving a child’s registered contacts access to a range of school-related online services, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

At the heart of the system, is a secure account through mygov.scot, which is referred to as ‘My Account’ or ‘MyAberdeenshire’ account.  ‘MyAberdeenshire’ is already used to allow parents/carers to make online payments or receive notifications if a school closes unexpectedly. Parentsportal.scot and ‘MyAberdeenshire’/mygov.scot will work together, making this a convenient one-stop-shop, to access all Aberdeenshire digital services.

Initially, parentsportal.scot will allow parents/carers to see basic information about your child(ren)’s school and twitter account as well as:-

·   make a link to your child(ren)

·   complete the annual data check process electronically (child’s main contact only)

·   update their own as well as your child(ren)’s details at any time

·   to register and access for online school meal payments using one sign in (iPayImpact)

How do I sign up? - If you already have a myAberdeenshire account to pay for school meals through iPayImpact, you can sign up using the same sign in details at https://parentsportal.scot/home/  You do not need to register or set up a new mygov.scot account.

If you do not have a myAberdeenshire/mygov.scot account or are looking for more information and videos on how to access to parentsportal.scot, please go to
https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/school-info/parents-portal/

5     Learning at Home

Learning at home is the learning which happens in the home, outdoors or in the community. Your home is a great place to support learning. Your child can try out new activities or practice familiar learning, at home and in their wider community.

At our school we provide materials for you to work with your child to develop key skills at home. For explanation of this please go to our homework policy 

https://fishermoss.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/policies/

6     Parent Forum and Parent Council 

The Parent Forum is a collective name for all parents, carers, and guardians in the school. 

The Fishermoss Parent Staff Council is a group of parents selected by the Parent Forum to represent the views of all parents, carers, and guardians in the school. The Parent Council works with the school to support learning and teaching, school improvement and parental and community engagement.

Contact the Parent Council Chairperson or Head teacher for more information about getting involved in the Parent Council or email: FishermossPSC@outlook.com

7 Parents and School Improvement

Our school has a range of priorities that we work on each year which are explained in our School Improvement Plan (SIP). Parents often have helpful and creative ideas about how to improve their child's school and what can be done to improve the quality of children's learning.  In our school we will consult with parents in a number of ways. These may include:

·   working groups/focus groups which any interested parent is invited to be part of

·   questionnaires and surveys

·   consultation with the Parent Council

8 Volunteering in school

There are many opportunities for you to support learning in school. These may include:

·   volunteering to share the skills and knowledge you have

·   supporting children and young people in the classroom

·   supporting or lead extra-curricular activities

·   directly supporting with specific skills (paired reading for example)

More detail about this can be found using the link below:

http://jobs.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/volunteer-with-us/ or contact your Head teacher.

9     Collaborating with the Community

We work with many local organisations, community groups and businesses to ensure our children and young people benefit from further resources, experiences, and opportunities. If you are interested in working with the school, please contact the Headteacher