Have you ever helped out a school sausage sizzle, bought a tray of lamingtons, or attended a P&C meeting? Whatever your involvement, research shows that strong family engagement with a child’s school can actually improve educational outcomes? As our guest Barbara Barker says, “Parents and families matter.” But how do we improve and strengthen these partnerships? This episode aims to identify some of the barriers to family engagement, such as cultural and linguistic diversity or socio-economic backgrounds, and present some ways to overcome these challenges for the benefit of students and families.

In this episode we visit one school that has a unique “School as community centre” program that creates strong relationships with families well before their children start attending school. We speak to Di Giblin, the CEO of the Australian Council of State School Organisations and Barbara Barker, a researcher at ARACY into the benefits of increased family and community engagement.

Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth research on family engagement: www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/area?command=record&id=302

Australian Council of State School Organisations The parent engagement implementation guide: acsso.org.au/index.php/ourwork/cosmos-theme-57/family-engagement-school/family-engagement-reflection-and-planning-tools

publiceducationfoundation.org.au/podcast

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The Covid19 Pandemic saw the greatest disruption to traditional schooling since world war two? How has this affected childrens’ learning? What about their social development and well being? And are teachers ok? Despite our worst fears, the good news is that literacy and numeracy has largely stayed on track. Research also shows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds didn’t fall further behind academically due to extra funding support.

In this episode we meet a mother of six who juggled working from home and learning from home during lockdown. We speak to Professor Jenny Gore from the University of Newcastle about her research on the surprising academic outcomes during Covid and we talk to Malcolm Elliot from the Australian Primary Principals Association about student well-being.

Research by Jenny Gore and her team from the University of Newcastle into the impact of Covid19: newcastle.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/704924/Evaluating-the-impact-of-COVID-19-on-NSW-schools.pdf

The Australian Primary Principals Association research paper - The Impact Of Childhood Anxiety On Primary Schooling: appa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/APPA-PROJECT-FINAL-REPORT-Feb-2020.pdf

publiceducationfoundation.org.au/podcast

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Every child should have access to a high quality education but in Australia, many of our most vulnerable kids are missing out. Children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are up to three years behind the most advantaged students. So how do we close this education gap? Schools and principals are already working hard to cover up these disparities, providing extra support: uniforms, breakfast programs and extra tutoring. How could we do better? What could we learn from countries like Finland that consistently top the charts when it comes to educational outcomes?

In this episode we meet students and their principal Denise Lofts from Ullladulla, a regional south coast NSW town. Despite its low socio-economic status, the school has above average education results. We also speak to Pasi Sahlberg, a world-renowned Finnish educator with big ideas about how to overcome disadvantage in schools.

Pasi Sahlberg’s website and books: Pasisahlberg.com

Public Education Foundation research paper on disadvantage in education: publiceducationfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Issues-Paper_What-Price-The-Gap.pdf

OECD Equity in Education report: oecd.org/pisa/Equity-in-Education-country-note-Australia.pdf

New South Wales Secondary Principals Council nswspc.org.au/

publiceducationfoundation.org.au/podcast

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