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xGathered Together: promoting inclusion for ethnic minority parents and carers
Date: 6th January 2014
Category:
Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities
Gathered Together is a unique partnership project between BEMIS and Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC), with the mission to promote inclusion and active citizenship for ethnic minority parents and carers, stimulating pro-active engagement in their children's education.
"Gathered Together" - Cruinn Còmhla, is funded by the Scottish Government's Third Sector Early Intervention Fund and monitored by the Big Fund. The partnership started in August 2013 and the project is working to build and sustain cooperation between parents, carers and parent councils and schools, advancing pathways for closer relationships between home and the school community.
The project started following a joint scoping exercise of parent councils. This study found 77% of the parent councils that responded did not have any members from Ethnic Minority communities. This under-representation of ethnic minorities in their school community is of particular concern because research has shown that parental involvement improves education and life outcomes for children (Joseph Rowntree Foundation April 2012). Gathered Together was created to address this lack of representation, working in six pilot local authorities.
Gathered Together has developed workshops for ethnic minority parents, exploring the barriers they face and raising awareness about their rights to participate and have their views heard. This training will feed into workshops for parent councils which give parent councils the chance to reflect on how they engage with parents, identify barriers and helping them develop practical approaches to help engage a wider cross-section of families.
- Find out more about the Gathered Together project here.
- Access Gathered Together's mission and strategy here.
- Download BEMIS & SPTC Ethnic Minority Parental Involvement Within Parent Groups report here.
If you would like more information about training events and the project please contact:
Marion Fairweather (Participation and Development worker) 0141 548 8047, marion.fairweather@bemis.org.uk
Richa Okhandiar (Participation and Development worker) 0131 474 8048, richa.okhandiar@bemis.org.uk