Improving parental engagement can help your school stand above the rest! Investing in your environment promotes parental confidence that you are also investing in your students. This all helps to increase and maintain student numbers, essential in today’s competitive environment.
Successfully engaging parents is vital to student success. If your school building is welcoming, parents will want to return to your school. They’ll also be more likely to work with you to support their children’s learning.
Preconceived ideas
As teachers, we often observe negative impressions that parents harbour from their own school experiences. The design of your school can encourage parents to re-imagine their conceptions of what a school is like. It can also have a positive impact on their enjoyment levels whilst there. If parents feel at ease, they will view your school, and their children’s experiences with you, more positively.
Now is the ideal time to start planning how to maximise your impact on open days. Even if this year’s open day is just around the corner, you have time to identify the areas that you would like to improve.
Wall Art can help you achieve this in many different ways.
The first step to parental engagement, new or existing, is to make your school feel like a welcoming, friendly place that they want to send their children to and want to visit themselves. There are a number of ways you can do this with Wall Art.
Exterior walls, windows, fencing and doors
Consider using Wall Art on your exterior walls, fencing, doors and windows to give a glimpse of school life.
You can also showcase your unique specialities and all you have to offer your students.
Eye-catching Wall Art can demonstrate your school at its best to the outside world and draw parents in.
Is your location hidden from view? Or, do outside walls/fencing not reflect the warm and inviting atmosphere that the inside of the building holds? Ifo so, external Wall Art can help you stand out, make a better first impression and help with parental engagement. It can also help new pupils settle in and feel at home within your school space.
Vision and Values
Using Values boards communicates your core vision and demonstrates the provision you offer. They can also help set the expectations you have to your school community, whether they are with you already or hoping to join.
Values boards also provide a great daily, visual reminder to pupils of the type of citizens you want to help them to be.
Wayfinding Wall Art
You can use Wall Art to make your entrance clear and easy to find. This shows that you really want parents and visitors to be involved, feel welcome and invited in. It’s also imperative for safeguarding your pupils.
Incorporating directional information around the building and grounds has the added benefit of supporting everyone in your school or college to feel secure in their environment.
Welcome Areas
A friendly and welcoming reception area can put visitors at ease and help them to feel comfortable.
Providing a comfortable reception area that is visually appealing and provides information for parents will in turn make them keen to come back in the future.
First impressions count. And well-designed external and welcome area Wall Art can make the impression of your school that you want everyone to have when they walk through the door.
