Minister welcomes parental engagement report

&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" alignright size-full wp-image-981" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schoolnewsnz&period;fastrackdev&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;08&sol;SND-Kids--Parents-200x150&lowbar;193x144&period;jpg" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"224" alt&equals;"SND-Kids--Parents-200x150 193x144" style&equals;"margin&colon; 5px&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" &sol;>A report recommending ways to encourage more parents to get involved in their children&&num;8217&semi;s education has been welcomed by Education Minister Hekia Parata&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> <&excl;--more--> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The report of the Inquiry into Engaging Parents in the Education of their Children puts forward a range of recommendations that could help boost student achievement through better engagement with parents&comma; families&comma; wh&amacr;nau and communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ms Parata says the report from Parliament&&num;8217&semi;s Education and Science Select Committee underlines the importance of parental involvement in student success&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Research consistently shows kids&&num;8217&semi; achievement improves when their parents work with teachers and others involved in their education&period; We have to make the most of that and support parents and communities as much as we can to be involved&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The Government is making significant progress supporting early childhood services and schools to get parents involved in their children&&num;8217&semi;s learning&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;re seeing benefits with existing parental engagement initiatives&comma; such as Pasifika Power-Up and Reading Together&period; The Incredible Years programme is a great example of parents working together with educators&comma; and it&&num;8217&semi;s delivering good results for families with young children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The Ministry of Education is currently developing a website for parents with advice for those who want to get more involved&comma; and it is also looking at a number of community-based initiatives&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;I consider parental interests and involvement a priority&period; We&&num;8217&semi;ve made a great start&comma; but there&&num;8217&semi;s more to do&period; We will take time to consider the report&&num;8217&semi;s findings and recommendations to look at how we can build further on that good work&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Ms Parata says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;