Department For Education and Skills Case Study
Challenge:
The London Challenge was launched in May 2003 with the primary aim of raising aspirations and attainment in secondary education in London. Its remit includes transforming the education of 11 to 19 year olds in five key London boroughs and narrowing achievement gaps within and across London schools.
This case study focuses on Phase 1 with results relating to work carried out between January and December 2004.
- To communicate to Londoners, primarily parents, that London schools are improving fast and that the secondary system will enable all children to fulfil their potential
- To encourage parents, particularly from groups where there is evidence of significant child underperformance, to play a more active role in their children’s education
- To get parents to think about and action particular behaviours proven to improve children’s attainment
- To provide parents with supporting information
- To raise awareness of investment and activities to improve education in London
Strategy:
- Undertake a direct- to-parents initiative, where content can be controlled, covering all London parents and use other resources to focus directly on groups where there was apparent under-performance
- Communicate to parents from under-performing groups via third parties from their own communities who have strong understanding of the culture and environment parents and children are living within
- Position all materials in keeping with the assumptions that parents want the best for the children but can only help within the constraints of available time and their own abilities
- Embed key messages, evidence and calls to action within materials of broad interest to all parents
- Stress to parents that they are the major factor in their child achieving his or her potential – and evidence that impact. The key objective was to communicate that some children are advantaged by their parents – rather than disadvantaged by poor parenting.
- Put the stress on under achievement, not low achievement, and the importance of being endowed with responsible attitudes, confidence and a work ethic rather than just examinations
- Provide schools with the means to communicate more effectively with parents from under-performing ethnic communities
Tactics:
Kinross + Render developed five London Challenge Forums covering the African Caribbean, Turkish-Kurdish & Turkish-Cypriot, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Somali communities in London. Community leaders were approached to volunteer to participate, with the Stage 1 remit of achieving consensus on issues including why more children in their communities are under-performing; how parents can help, the best means of communicating with parents, and community initiatives to improve children’s achievements
A ministerial reception was held in May attended by 45 forum members
The London Parent guide - a newspaper incorporating key messages was produced and distributed by the agency in key London boroughs direct to households and via community centres and GP surgeries
A Parent Pack was produced in Somali, Urdu, Turkish, Bengali and English for distribution via the schools, community groups and DfES publication sources. It comprises a DVD, fact sheets and a facilitator’s guide. The pack also contains blueprint letters for schools to send out to new parents and parent’s evening flyers in all the languages referenced. The DVD which can be played on DVD players such as Sony Playstations and Microsoft X Boxes, contains a film featuring teachers, community leaders and parents explaining the school system, homework, school reports, parent’s evenings, how to get involved with school life and how to deal with common problems such as peer pressure and school avoidance. The film can be played at a parent event, in any of the languages detailed, or given direct to parents to play at home
The programme was also supported by the secondment of K+R staff as a full time equivalent Press Officer in the DfES
Results:
Quantifiable:
- 89 Community Leaders participated actively and agreed to support the programme going forward – giving The London Challenge clear ‘champions’ for work going forward
- 45 Community Leaders attended The Ministerial Event
- Each Forum has produced and approved a document detailing the primary reasons for under-achievement, the key messages to go to parents and a Community Action Plan designed to achieve the key objectives
- 1 million London Parent Guides have been distributed to London households, Community Centres and GP surgeries in a three-week period in June and July 2004. The cost has been less than 7 pence a copy
- The Parent Pack, which was pre-tested with London schools, was sent to all Inner London Secondary Schools in January 2005. Only one school surveyed has said they did not require a Parent Pack, due to all of the children and parents within their school speaking English fluently and results that are excellent across the school community. DVD and Parent Pack materials will also be available for teachers to download directly from the TeacherNet website and parents will be able to view DVD factsheets on the Parent Centre website. The pack was also the subject of a press launch in March 2005.
- To date this media and public relations campaign has produced a steady flow of important coverage in both national and London centric press and broadcast media. The London Challenge keyworker scheme, the parents pack and DVD and the evidence of improvement in London’s schools have been covered in publication such as the The Evening Standard, The Guardian, BBC London News, ITV London Today, the Hackney Gazette, East End Life, Metro and Choice FM. Positive coverage has also been obtained in many of the local London weeklies. Critically, the London Challenge has also been sympathetically covered and supported by London’s ethnic community press. This success is principally due to the participation of community leaders who have by-lined articles in such publications as the Asian Times.
- Requests for the Parent Pack, based on media references have already been received direct from parents. Impact measures to be completed shortly will include school feedback, DVD requests and increases in hits to the web sites publicised in the London Parent Guide and fact sheets for parents
- As a result of participation in the Forums, a senior Imam has written a sermon for syndication around London mosques. The sermon stresses the importance of a secular education, of not taking children out of school during term time and the importance of fathers taking an interest in their children’s education
- Opinion pieces written for Forum members have also appeared in a number of ethnic publications, discussing reasons for under achievement and what parents can do to be more involved with their children’s education
Unquantifiable but Important:
- The strategy was underpinned by the belief that communications on the causes and related solutions for child underperformance would be much more effective – and less likely to cause offence – if it came from people who shared experience and culture with target audiences. The London Challenge now has a communications programme, incorporating some highly sensitive messages (such as that parents should learn English), that will be delivered in part by people from whom such messages will be more acceptable and for whom there is no obvious self interest.
- The approach taken by the consultancy and London Challenge Team has engendered significant goodwill from Community leaders, which can be measured through 100% sign up to the reports from Forum members, positive feedback to the team and Minister, and good attendance at The Ministerial Reception.
- The programme components for Stage 2 have been developed and ‘tested’ with representatives of the key audiences, making it significantly more likely that they will be effective.
