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Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Family Engagement Set Play Helping every family feel welcome, heard and supported 2026–27 Get in touch windsoracademytrust.org.uk 1

@WinAcadTrust

Windsor Academy Trust

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Table of Contents: Foreword

How to use this Set Play

Score your whole-school practice

Choose up to two priorities for the year

1. Effective Two-Way Communication

How we share information and respond to families

Communication: case studies from our schools

2. Welcoming and Inclusive Culture Welcome: case studies from our schools 3. Supporting Learning at Home Learning at home: case studies from our schools 4. Active Involvement in School Life Involvement: case studies from our schools 5. Transitions Support Transition: case studies from our schools 6. Health and Wellbeing Partnership Support: case studies from our schools

11 12 14 15 16 17 19 20 22 23

The toolkit

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Foreword Thank you for the care, energy and commitment you bring to our students and families each day. Every welcoming conversation, thoughtful phone call and patient response helps build the trust that children need to thrive. Across our WAT Family, our moral purpose is unlocking academic and personal potential. This means listening to families, understanding the barriers they face and working together to remove them. Social justice becomes real in small moments: a parent who can finally understand a report, a student whose transition is carefully planned, or a family who receives the help they need. This set play gives us a shared starting point. Each school will begin by reviewing its practice across six areas of family engagement, using family feedback and practical evidence. From that, schools will choose up to two priorities for the year, take practical action and keep listening to families to understand what is improving. By co-creating these changes, we can use the collective power of our WAT Family to make a lasting difference. Thank you for your resilience, your kindness and your determination to help every family feel welcome, heard and supported. I have a deep sense of pride in the work we will continue to do together. Warm regards,

Dawn Haywood Chief Executive Officer

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

How to use this Set Play Start with your whole-school self-evaluation The self-evaluation covers all six pillars. Complete it with colleagues who know families well, including the SENCO or inclusion lead. Use evidence you already hold and listen to families whose experiences are less often heard.

Open the self-evaluation and action plan Make a copy for your school. Tab 1 is your self-evaluation; tab 2 is your action plan. Both stay in one place

1. Review all six pillars Use parent feedback, practical measures and professional judgement to understand your current practice.

2. Score your current position Complete the self-evaluation across all six pillars.

3. Choose up to two priorities Focus on the areas where change would make the biggest difference to families.

4. Take practical action Use the relevant pillar pages, case studies and toolkit resources.

5. Review progress each term Check whether the action happened, whether it reached the families who needed it and whether their experience improved.

What parents are telling us Parentkind’s National Parent Survey 2026 found that 59% of parents feel involved in their child’s education, compared with 80% in 2023. Only 40% say their school acts on parent feedback. This reinforces the importance of listening to families, removing barriers and showing what has changed as a result. Source: Parentkind, National Parent Survey 2026.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Score your whole-school practice Judge all six pillars Read the criteria and consider your parent feedback and measured results together. In column H, type a self-evaluation score of 1, 2 or 3 for every pillar. This is your assessment of the school’s practice; column G records the measured percentage.

1 - Needs attention

2 - Developing

3 - Secure

The criteria are often unmet, or a significant group of families is being missed.

Useful practice is in place, but parent feedback or practical delivery shows gaps.

The criteria are met consistently, supported by parent feedback and practical evidence, including families facing barriers.

National benchmarks for the 2026–27 evaluation The spreadsheet already shows both national scores. Use the figure for your school’s phase. Secondary includes sixth form.

Measure

Primary

Secondary

Communication satisfaction, Q11

65%

55%

Feeling welcome, Q21

84%

69%

Confidence supporting learning at home, Q37

81%

68%

Feedback having an impact, Q20

47%

29%

Overall parent engagement, Q53

72%

55%

These are the National Primary and National Secondary May 2026 benchmarks included in the June 2026 reports. Pillars 5 and 6 have practical measures and short local parent checks. There is no matching national benchmark in these reports. Use the criteria and local evidence to give your self-evaluation score.

Recognise progress and keep listening A strong practical result is a success to recognise. A parent score below national still needs attention. Ask who may be missing from the school’s overall picture and what would make contact, participation or support easier for them.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Choose up to two priorities for the year Two priorities for the whole academic year Choose up to two priorities from the whole-school self-evaluation. Focus on where a change would make the greatest difference to families, especially those facing the biggest barriers.

For each priority, agree: • • • • • •

What needs to improve and which families need this most. One practical action from the relevant pillar. Who will lead it and by when. Your starting result and the change you want to see. The tool or support you need. Record this in the FE Focus Action Plan tab of your school’s spreadsheet.

Review the same priorities each term In autumn, spring and summer, ask: Did we do it? Did it reach the families who needed it? Has their experience improved? Record the result, a short note on what families said and your next step. Adapt the action if needed. Do not add another priority each term. Keep successful routines going across all six pillars.

At the end of the year Review your progress and the latest parent feedback before choosing next year’s priorities. Use the same Edurio questions when the next survey is available so you can see what has changed. Example priorities. Each school chooses up to two priorities using its own self-evaluation and family feedback.

Our Annual Plan Up to two priorities, one year of progress

Priority 1

Priority 2

Make communication clearer

Autumn review 6

Show families how their feedback leads to change

Spring review

Summer review

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 1: Effective Two-Way Communication What we want families to experience I know what I need to know, who to contact and when I will hear back.

A practical starting point Agree how your school shares information and responds when families get in touch. Make clear which contact routes families should use, who checks them and who takes responsibility for replying. Explain when families should expect an acknowledgement, a fuller response or an update. Use the communication guide on the next page and the editable toolkit to record your arrangements. Share these with staff and families, including how to follow up an unanswered message.

Make it inclusive Ask families which contact route works for them. Help parents access Arbor and agree an alternative where needed. Write short, clear messages with an obvious next step and text that can be translated. In primary schools, use ClassDojo for classroom connection and Arbor for essential school information. In sixth form, involve students directly while keeping families appropriately informed.

How to check progress During the term, check whether families receive the replies and updates they were promised. Ask a small number whether they knew whom to contact and what would happen next. Include families using an alternative to Arbor. Use the agreed practical measure in the self-evaluation alongside these checks. Arbor activity alone does not show whether a family received a helpful response. Annual survey reference: Q11, satisfaction with communication.

Toolkit School communication guide and follow-up templates: An editable guide to contact routes, staff responsibilities and response times, with templates for acknowledging questions, replying and keeping families updated. Open the communication toolkit

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

How we share information and respond to families Use this guide to agree your school’s communication arrangements. Confirm the contact routes, named staff and response times, then share the completed guide with staff and families. Use the same arrangements across the school.

When a family contacts us • • • • • •

Make clear who checks each contact route and who provides cover when they are unavailable. Set realistic times for an acknowledgement and a fuller response, expressed in school working days. Give each question or concern a named person responsible for following it through, including when another colleague needs to help. If more time is needed, explain what happens next and when the family will receive an update. Tell families how to follow up if they have not heard back. Confirm the outcome and any agreed next steps.

Message or purpose

Main route

Who sends or responds

When

Essential school information and reminders

Arbor

School office or named lead

Agree a regular schedule and give families notice of deadlines.

Classroom learning and celebrations

ClassDojo in primary; the school’s agreed channel in secondary

Class teacher or year/subject team

Agree a manageable rhythm and avoid repeating the same message across channels.

Newsletter and whole-school news

One newsletter shared through Arbor; website for reference

Named editor, with staff contributions

Agree the publication day and staff deadline.

Questions about learning or pastoral support

Published school contact route, with phone or in-person options

Named teacher, year or pastoral contact

Publish the response time and tell the family when to expect an update.

Concerns and complaints

Published school concerns and complaints route

Named lead under the existing procedure

Use the timescales in the school’s procedure and keep the family updated.

Urgent or time-sensitive information

Direct contact using the school’s urgentcontact arrangements

School office or appropriate lead.

Act promptly, check the message has reached the family and follow up if needed.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Make sure every family can use it For each route, agree an accessible alternative for families who need one. Check language, literacy, disability and access to a phone or the internet. Keep essential information in text that can be translated. In sixth form, agree how students lead communication and how parents remain informed.

Check it is working Check a small sample of recent messages and parent questions. Did someone take responsibility? Did the promised reply or update happen? Did the family understand the outcome or next step? Use any gaps to improve the arrangements.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Communication: case studies from our schools SIR THOMAS BOUGHEY

Make a school phone call good news

Let parents shape the newsletter

What the school does

Rivers Primary Academy uses a positive referral scheme to recognise students’ efforts. Each week, the Headteacher contacts families to share what their child has done well, including students doing the right thing when no one is watching. The call gives families a specific example to talk about and celebrate at home. It also gives staff a reason to make contact beyond reminders or concerns.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy has streamlined its weekly newsletter using parent feedback. It also keeps news and blogs up to date on the website and uses Arbor to share information with families, including available support. The useful starting point is the parent’s experience: what they need to know, what they can find and what gets lost among other messages.

Try it in your school

1. Ask staff to nominate a specific act of effort, kindness or responsibility. 2. Make a short call explaining what happened and why it mattered. 3. Review whom you have recognised so quieter students and families who rarely hear positive news are included. Keep the routine small enough to maintain each week.

1. Ask a small mix of parents what they read, miss or struggle to find. 2. Use the answers to simplify one edition, with clear dates, actions and contact details. 3. Ask those families whether the revised version is easier to use. Include someone who needs translated information or an alternative to digital messages.

Ask the school How do staff nominate students, and how do you make sure the same families are not always chosen?

Ask the school Which changes came directly from parents, and how did you decide what to include in the newsletter and what belonged elsewhere?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 2: Welcoming and Inclusive Culture What we want families to experience I feel welcome and can contact or visit school in a way that works for me.

A practical starting point Walk the route from the school website or first phone call to reception with two or three parents or carers, including someone whose experience is less often heard. Agree one or two barriers to remove, then ask the families to check the change.

Make it inclusive Consider physical and sensory access, language, literacy, confidence and the timing of appointments. Offer a quiet appointment or another route where needed. Ask what helps rather than assuming.

How to check progress Check that the welcome or access barrier you identified has been addressed. Ask the families who helped identify it to try again and tell you whether it is easier. Use the agreed practical measure in the self-evaluation alongside this feedback. Parents’ evening contact shows who was reached, but does not by itself show whether a welcome or access barrier has been removed. Annual survey reference: Q21, feeling welcome.

Toolkit Welcome and access check.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Welcome: case studies from our schools Tenterfields Primary Academy

Make it easy to start a conversation

Open the school through a community celebration

What the school does

Tenterfields Primary Academy combines meet-and-greet opportunities with parent access through ClassDojo. Families have a way to approach staff in person and a familiar route for classroom contact. The school also offers transition events and a parent, teacher and friends association. These give families different ways to begin a conversation and become involved as their confidence grows.

Windsor Olympus Academy brings families together through community events, including Iftar during Ramadan. The academy also has a Family Hub and food provision in the academy building on Tuesdays. The Iftar offers a specific example of school life making space for a community celebration and a reason for families and staff to spend time together.

Try it in your school 1. Make the first point of contact clear at the gate, in reception and online. 2. Ask a parent new to the school to try raising a question through their preferred route. 3. Fix anything that makes it difficult to reach the right person. Include families who cannot attend at the gate or use the app.

Ask the school How do you help a new parent find the right person, and what happens when their question needs a response from someone else?

Windsor Olympus Academy

Try it in your school 1. Ask families which shared occasion they would like to help plan. 2. Agree what will happen and make the invitation clear about timing, food, access and who can attend. 3. Personally welcome families joining for the first time. Afterwards, ask what made it easy or difficult to take part before planning the next event.

Ask the school How were families involved in planning the Iftar, and what helped people feel comfortable coming for the first time?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Great Wyrley Academy

Another idea to try Make the welcome part of the daily routine. The school uses meet-and-greet opportunities, accessible senior leaders and clear welcoming arrangements for students and parents. Try it in your school: agree who will welcome families, how they will direct a question to the right colleague and who will follow up. Ask a family new to the school whether that first contact felt clear and helpful.

A welcome families can use A clear contact

An accessible route

A helpful response

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 3: Supporting Learning at Home What we want families to experience I know what my child is learning and one useful thing I can do to help.

A practical starting point Choose one year group or learning need. Send a short guide showing the learning focus, one worked example and two free ways to help. Show families where homework is and how to ask for help. Ask a small mix of families whether they could find and use the guide.

Make it inclusive Offer a paper or accessible alternative. Avoid activities requiring spending or specialist subject knowledge. Use a primary demonstration, secondary homework or revision example, or sixth-form study routine as appropriate. Offer a short demonstration only if families need it.

How to check progress Check that the guidance reached families, then ask a small number whether they understood it and could use it. Include families who may need a different format or further explanation. Use the agreed practical measure in the self-evaluation alongside these checks. Sending guidance is the starting point; finding out whether it helped is the next step. Annual survey reference: Q37, support for learning at home.

Toolkit Help at home template with phase examples.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Learning at home: case studies from our schools Colley Lane Primary Academy

Show parents the lesson What the school does Colley Lane Primary Academy invites parents into a live lesson through its Let’s Learn Together workshops. Parents work alongside their child, seeing the task and the teacher’s approach as it happens. This makes the workshop a practical introduction to classroom learning, with an opportunity to understand how to help at home. The school also invites parents to weekly celebration assemblies and has an induction programme for families starting in Early Years.

Try it in your school

Windsor High School and Sixth Form

Help Year 11 families at the right moment What the school does Windsor High School and Sixth Form holds a Year 11 parent engagement evening at the start of the year, followed by a video message when exam season begins. These give families contact at two useful points: when they are preparing for the year ahead and when students are beginning their exams. The school also uses a weekly newsletter to maintain regular contact with families.

Try it in your school

1. Choose one task that families often ask for help with. 2. Show the method and let the parent and child try it together. 3. Send home one example with a simple activity to repeat. Offer the same explanation on paper or in a short recording for families who cannot attend.

1. Choose a point when families need specific advice, such as the start of a revision period. 2. Give two practical ways to help, such as agreeing a manageable routine and knowing whom to contact if their child is struggling. 3. Share the key advice with families who miss the event and offer a way to ask questions.

Ask the school

How do you choose the lesson content, and which parts help parents feel ready to support the task at home?

What do you cover in the Year 11 evening and exam-season video, and which advice do families say they use?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 4: Active Involvement in School Life What we want families to experience I can take part, share my views and see what happens next.

A practical starting point Choose an existing event, decision or activity. Ask a small mix of families what makes participation difficult. Change one practical barrier and share a short update explaining what families said, what changed and what happens next. Offer a way to contribute without attending in person.

Make it inclusive Include families beyond the usual volunteers. Consider timing, notice, cost, transport and language. Being unable to attend does not mean a family is disengaged. Use existing volunteer arrangements where these are relevant.

How to check progress Check who took part, including families contributing in a different way. Record what families told you, what changed as a result and how you communicated the outcome. Use the agreed practical measure in the self-evaluation alongside these checks. Sending information alone does not confirm participation, and attendance alone does not show that families influenced a decision. Annual survey reference: Q20, whether feedback makes a difference.

Toolkit Participation and parent voice pack.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Involvement: case studies from our schools Manor Way Primary Academy

Offer one small way to take part

Let parents help other parents

What the school does

Manor Way Primary Academy gives families several ways to contribute and celebrate. Secret Storyteller invites parents to read stories to students. Praise assemblies recognise personal potential and achievements beyond school, with parents attending. Family events include picnics after sports day and other shared celebrations. Secret Storyteller is a useful example of a clear, limited contribution that a parent can understand before agreeing to take part.

Clayton Hall Academy uses Parent Champions and Alumni Champions, including champions with a special educational needs focus. Volunteers support induction and transition, attend parents’ evenings and school trips, and help families with access to pupil premium funding. Their role brings an experienced parent’s perspective into moments when another family may have questions or need encouragement to take part.

Try it in your school

1. Offer one specific contribution, such as reading a story, and explain the time involved. 2. Invite families personally, including those who have not volunteered before. 3. Offer support or an alternative contribution, such as suggesting a favourite story, if attending or reading aloud is difficult. Use your school’s existing visitor arrangements.

1. Choose one task where an experienced parent could help, such as welcoming a new family at an induction event. 2. Agree the role, staff contact and boundaries through existing school arrangements. 3. Check back with both parents to see whether the support was useful. Keep confidential concerns and decisions with the appropriate staff

Ask the school How do you invite Secret Storytellers, help them prepare and encourage parents who have never taken part?

Ask the school How do you recruit and support champions, match them to useful roles and make clear when a question must go to staff?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Could you share a story?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 5: Transitions Support What we want families to experience We know what happens next, who can help and how to raise a settling-in concern.

A practical starting point Use one transition checklist to agree the essential information, named contact, relevant handover and a two-way settling-in check. Include a follow-up date and check that any concern raised has been resolved.

Make it inclusive Adapt for Early Years or Reception, Year 6 to Year 7, options, post-16 and in-year moves. Include an early SENCO handover where needed. Pace information and offer extra visits, interpretation or a quieter welcome when a family needs these.

How to check progress Track whether the planned family check-ins happen by the agreed date. Ask families how supported they felt during the move and follow up any concerns. Use this local feedback alongside your practical result to judge the pillar.

Toolkit Transition and settling-in checklist.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Transition: case studies from our schools Greenways Primary Academy

ASPIRE TO EXCELLENCE

Plan the move around the student

Keep families informed before and after the move

What the school does

Greenways Primary Academy arranges extra visits to secondary schools for Year 6 students with SEND, alongside the usual transition programme. SENCOs also meet directly to share information. The additional visits give students more opportunities to become familiar with the next setting, while the handover gives staff a route to discuss the support needed. The school also supports Early Years transition and makes home visits.

Kingswinford Academy sends transition information in stages after Easter to incoming Year 6 students and their families. A Year 7 settling-in evening provides a further point of contact after students have started. This creates a sequence that schools can learn from: prepare families before the move, then return to their questions once they have experienced the new routines.

Try it in your school 1. Ask the student and family what they are worried about before the move. 2. Agree an extra visit or adjustment that addresses that concern. 3. Carry the agreed support into the handover and check after the move that it is in place. Tailor the visit to the student, rather than repeating a standard tour.

Ask the school What happens during an additional visit, and how do SENCOs turn the family’s concerns into agreed support at the receiving school?

KINGSWINFORD ACADEMY

Try it in your school 1. Sort transition information into what families need now, before starting and after arrival. 2. Give each message one clear purpose and a contact for questions. 3. Plan a two-way check-in after the move, with another option for families unable to attend an evening. Follow up the concerns raised.

Ask the school What do you send at each stage, and what do families most often ask at the settlingin evening?

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

NEWCASTLE

Another idea to try Help families get to know staff before the move. The academy is developing transition visits, emails and other communication so Year 6 families can meet staff before starting. Try it in your school: ask which introductions would make the biggest difference, then build them into a visit or conversation. This is developing practice; the academy’s evaluation is still to follow.

Meet the people

See the place

Ask questions

Check in after the move

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Pillar 6: Health and Wellbeing Partnership What we want families to experience I know where to ask for help and someone checks that the agreed support is accessible.

A practical starting point When a family asks for help, agree the next step and who will follow up. Check whether the family reached the service or support, and help resolve the access barrier where possible. Use existing school, community and health partnerships.

Make it inclusive Offer a private conversation, accessible information and help with the first contact where needed. Use respectful language. Follow existing safeguarding and referral processes. Support does not depend on attending a workshop or using a website.

How to check progress Track agreed follow-ups completed on time. Ask families whether it was easy to get the help agreed and act on any difficulties they describe. Use this local feedback alongside your practical result to judge the pillar.

Toolkit Finding help and follow-up template: a clear contact, an agreed next step and a check that the family has reached the support.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Support: case studies from our schools Goldsmith Primary Academy

Bring support somewhere families already know

Meet families beyond the formal appointment

What the school does

Goldsmith Primary Academy hosts NHS services, Food Cycle and community workshops on the school site. These place opportunities for support in a setting families already use. Staff presence at the gates and regular parent events give families several points of contact with school. The practical idea is to make an existing source of help easier to find and approach.

Cheslyn Hay Academy runs Coffee and Connect mornings both in school and in the community. Parent hubs at parents’ evenings and preloved uniform sales offer further points of contact. The school also holds half-termly parent focus groups face to face and virtually. Together, these provide different settings for families to talk with school and find support around activities they may already attend.

Try it in your school

1. Start with one need families have raised and identify an existing partner who can help. 2. Explain clearly what the support offers, how to access it and whom to ask privately. 3. Agree a follow-up to check the family reached the help. If access is difficult, work with the family and partner on the next step

1. Ask families where and when a conversation would be easiest. 2. Add a small, useful opportunity alongside an existing event or in a familiar community setting. 3. Give any concern a named staff contact and follow up the agreed next step. Offer another route for families who cannot attend.

Ask the school

Which families do you reach through community Coffee and Connect sessions, and how do you follow up what they raise?

How do families first hear about the services, and what helps someone take the first step towards using them?

Ask the school

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Milton Primary Academy: coordinating support around a family What the school does Build on the support already around a family. The school works with social workers who are already supporting families joining the school. Try it in your school: use existing processes to establish who is involved, agree the school contact and make the next step clear to the family. Coordinate the conversation so parents do not have to keep repeating information unnecessarily.

Try it in your school

Identify who already supports the family.

Agree the school contact and next step with the family.

Follow up to check the family reached the support.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

The toolkit Use the resource that supports your chosen priority. The toolkit provides editable templates and worked examples to adapt for your school. You do not need to complete every tool.

Start here: self-evaluation and action plan Review all six pillars, choose up to two priorities and plan your next steps. Make a copy for your school.

1. Communication matrix and follow-up An editable matrix showing which channel to use, who responds and when, with short message templates and an Arbor access check.

2. Welcome and access check A quick walk through the website, first contact and reception to find and remove barriers.

3. Help at home A simple parent guide with a worked example and two free ways to help, adapted for each phase.

4. Participation and parent voice An accessible invitation and a short You said / We changed / Next update template.

5. Transition and settling-in One checklist for information, handover, adjustments and a two-way family check-in.

6. Finding help and follow-up A clear contact card and simple prompts to check whether families reached the support agreed.

The wider Inclusive Communications Set Play is being developed separately. Schools are not expected to use it before it is available.

Windsor Academy Trust: Family Engagement Set Play

Helping every family take part

Review all six pillars. Choose up to two priorities for the year. Keep listening and improving.