Opening the School Gate | Planning meetings & events

Once you have sought input and decided on what your meeting is going to focus, think of the best way to communicate your message to parents in invitations, telephone conversations and during meetings. Link your ‘marketing message’ to factors that motivate parents, such as their child’s educational progress or safety.

Calling and sending out invitations in first language.

Written notices about a meeting are necessary, however the most effective strategy is to invite families by phone a week or two before you need to meet them using an interpreter or bilingual worker. A reminder call on the morning of the activity or the day before is also very useful (see Appendix 3: Model Interpreter Assisted Telephone Conversation). You can use the Telephone Interpreter Service at any time to invite parents to a meeting at no cost to the school. Phone 131 450 and quote the Department’s client code to get an interpreter on the line. The Department’s client code is available from the DoE intranet site.

Why call families?

Schools that rely on fliers only, even when translated, often find that parents don’t turn up. Oral contact in the parent’s first language is essential for a number of reasons:

• You know the parent has received the information.
• Parents may be competent speaking in their own language, but may not be literate in the same language.
• Many communities are largely oral communicators.
• The fear some parents associate with attending school meetings may be alleviated if they have spoken to someone personally, they understand what the meeting is about and can ask questions.
• Schools demonstrate that they are making an effort to cater for language needs if parents/carers are contacted in their first language.
• The personal contact creates a direct relationship with the family, which reduces anxiety.

Distributing written information

Send invitations by mail directly to parents or hand them out in person. Avoid handing notices to students, especially in secondary school. Adolescent students are less likely to hand notices to their parents and families may miss out on the information. If you have to hand out information to students, brief all staff distributing information about the purpose of the meeting. If students know the purpose of the meeting and are told that the meeting is important, they are more likely to hand the information on.

Step 1

• Use translated material to invite families to a meeting.
• While oral communication is often much more likely to lead to success in engaging migrant and refugee families, written information gives families notice of your proposed activity.
• An interactive bilingual ‘General Invitation’ note is available in 35 languages on the NSW Public Schools website. The English version appears in Resources called 'Invitation to a school function'.

Step 2

• Phone each family individually, or speak to them in person in their first or preferred language. This is critical for parental attendance.
• You may be able to rely on bilingual staff for this contact or use telephone interpreters. Some ethno-specific workers in community agencies can also assist schools in engaging parents.
• Ensure that student/parent information remains confidential and that contact details are not available to agencies for any other purpose, unless parents have given permission.