Parents and Guardians

St Tiernan’s Community School welcomes and invites parents’ active partnership in the education of their children.

The family provides the most significant classrooms for all children. By the time they are 16 years of age they have spent only 15% of their working lives in school The remaining 85% is spent with family and friends and with the wider community. Estimates of the importance of the family background to educational success vary but it is almost certainly the most important factor (John Peckham OECD).

Parents and teachers of St Tiernan’s have a shared sense of purpose, that each child reaches his or her full potential in the educational system. We believe that the success of St Tiernan’s Community School depends on the combined efforts of parents, teachers and students.

Parents’ support and co-operation are very much valued by us and we look forward to working closely with you throughout your child’s school years.

Home School Community Liaison (HSCL)

 Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) is a major, mainstream, preventative strategy targeted at pupils at risk of not reaching their potential in the educational system because of background characteristics which tend to affect adversely pupil attainment and school retention. It focuses directly on the salient adults in children’s educational lives in order that they may be better able to support the children’s attendance, participation and retention in the education system.

The role of the HSCL Coordinator requires the flexibility to be available to families and students, implementing literacy/numeracy initiatives, for home visitation, Continuous Professional Development and undertaking school staff development.

Home Visitation The role of the coordinator also includes a systematic approach to home visitation. Home visitation is a purposeful outreach aspect of the HSCL Scheme for parents. It is both a symbolic and a real expression of interest in families, many of which have been alienated from the education system in the past.

During the visits, the coordinators:

• Support parents in the education of their children.
• Seek to establish a rapport with the parents.
• Offer information about the services available in the community.
• Encourage the parents to become involved with the community, to work with community needs and to harness community energy, thereby enabling the community to solve its own problems.
• Endeavour to show the welcoming, hopeful and human face of the school in the context and circumstances of daily life.
• Seek out potential parent leaders, who are willing to participate in the HSCL Scheme’s activities and to share their talents.
• Direct the parents towards relevant training.
• Aim at helping the parents to express their fears about approaching the school.
• Seek to break down negative attitudes among parents towards schools and schooling.

My name is Mary Kerwin and I work as HSCL coordinator in St Tiernan’s Community School.

I can be contacted directly on 086 794 8280 or by email at mkerwin@sttiernans.ie.