Home School Community Liaison Scheme

Home/School/Community Liaison Scheme

The Home/School/Community Liaison Scheme (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. The scheme is concerned with establishing partnership and collaboration between parents and teachers in the interests of children's learning. It focuses directly on the salient adults in children's educational lives and seeks indirect benefits for the children themselves.

Under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new Action Plan for
educational Inclusion, Home School Community Liaison services have been extended to all 340 urban/town primary and 203 second level schools participating in DEIS that did not have the service previously.

150,000 pupils attending 543 DEIS schools (203 post primary & 340 primary) have access to Home School Community Liaison, with approx. 50,000 of these pupil’s families being specifically targeted for the services of 402 local Home School Community Liaison Coordinators.

8,500 pupils attending 333 rural primary DEIS schools have the services of 48 Rural Coordinators, 50 percent of whose time is dedicated to HSCL services.

Aims of Home School Community Liaison

To maximise active participation of the children in the learning process in particular those who might be at risk of failure.
To promote active cooperation between home, school and relevant community agencies in promoting the educational interests of the children.
To raise awareness in parents of their own capacities to enhance their children's educational progress and to assist them in developing relevant skills.
To enhance the children's uptake from education, their retention in the educational system, their continuation to post-compulsory education and to third level and their attitudes to life-long learning.
To disseminate the positive outcomes of the scheme throughout the school system generally.

Structure of the Scheme

The basic unit of the scheme is at local school level where a full-time co-ordinator serves the liaison needs of one school or of a number of schools in no more than two catchment areas.
"Family clusters" of co-ordinators in primary and second level catchment areas serve the families which have children from pre-school years to leaving certificate level.
Co-ordinators in an area form wider clusters and meet regularly for mutual support and development.
Co-ordinators from numbers of clusters are brought together for in-career development on two occasions in each school year.

National Coordinator Service

The National Coordination Team advise on, support and monitor the development of HSCL at local and national level.

Integration of Education Services under the Remit of the National Education Welfare Board

In May 2009 plans were announced to expand the remit of the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) with effect from the 1st September 2009, to include responsibility for the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL), the School Completion Programme (SCP) and the Visiting Teacher Service for Traveller pupils (VTTS) as well as the National Educational Welfare Service.

The School Support Programme under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Action Plan includes 2 mainstream support services, namely the Home School Community Liaison Service (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP). Schools are also supported by Educational Welfare Officers of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) and the Visiting Teachers Service for Travellers (VTST). These services are all, to a greater or lesser extent, concerned with attendance, participation, engagement and early school leaving and attainment. All deploy a range of targeting strategies, aimed at identifying children at risk, and all engage with children, parents, schools/teachers/principals and external services at different levels. and this development brings together some 700 service delivery personnel under the direction of the Board.

The four individual services will be brought together under one common management team, providing for a single, more focused, strategic direction at local, regional and national levels reflecting equally the nature and strength of each of the services. The integration of these services brings together some 750 personnel employed throughout the country under the management of the new expanded NEWB strengthening the functions of the individual services while contributing significantly to the capacity of the NEWB to deliver on its statutory remit. The underlying rationale for this new single strategic approach, acknowledging and utilising the combined strengths and capacities of the four services, is to deliver better outcomes for children, families and schools.

Local HSCL Coordinators

Teachers from staff of schools in HSCL are deployed to the role of local coordinator and are allocated to schools or shared between schools. HSCL coordinator posts are provided on a full time or shared basis between schools and must be deployed to do full-time liaison duties.

To facilitate local HSCL coordinators working with the families of disadvantaged children, posts are shared across the two sectors – primary & post primary level.

The role of the local HSCL coordinator is

To develop the parent-teacher relationship in collaboration with the local community in order to enhance the nurturing of the whole child - this implies noting personal and leisure needs, the curricular and learning needs of parents so as to promote their self-worth and self-confidence.
To develop staff and teacher attitudes and behaviour so that the school becomes a place where all young people can reach potential.

Coordinator initiatives are focused on adults, on parents and teachers, not on children but the outcome should impinge over time on children's lives. The initiatives are concerned with:

Promoting parents' education, development, growth and involvement.
The participation of parents in their children's education including homework support.
Providing a parents' room and child care facilities for parents who attend programmes in the school.
Developing Principal and teacher attitudes towards partnership and a whole-school approach - parents and teachers are encouraged to collaborate in sharing their complementary skills, experiences and knowledge.

In-Career Development

A one-week induction course is provided for newly appointed co-ordinators.

A one-day information meeting is provided for principals of schools which are new to the scheme and for newly appointed principals in schools which are already in the scheme.

A two-day module is provided for 'new' principals on the introduction of the scheme into their schools and its integration into the school structure.

Two modules, each of two or three day’s duration, are organised each school year for experienced co-ordinators when their needs and the needs of the scheme are addressed.

Regional cluster meetings for school chairpersons, principals, co-ordinators and inspectors are held each Spring. A number of parents also attend.

Funding

This programme is funded by the Department of Education and Science.
Primary/Second Level
At least 10% of the annual DEIS grant to each school must be allocated for use on HSCL activities by the HSCL coordinator. If 10% is not sufficient to meet the cost, an appropriate amount of funding must be provided to operate the service. Priority should be given to funding HSCL activities from the grant.

Scheme Activities

Parents
While the primary purpose of the scheme is the promotion of partnership in the children's learning, parents frequently identify needs which are not directly concerned with their children's education. Meeting those identified needs is a critical factor in the development of parents' awareness of their capacities and in fostering their self-confidence. Scheme activities which meet parent's needs include:-

home visitation with the objective of establishing bonds of trust with parents and families and supporting parents in the identification of their developmental needs
provision of drop-in centres and parents' rooms in schools
provision of childcare facilities so that parents can attend scheme activities

Courses and Classes on:

curricular areas so that parents can assist and support their children with their school work
personal development through parenting and assertiveness training
leisure activities
aspects of educational development which range from basic literacy to certificate examination subjects and diploma courses

and

the development of parents as home visitors, facilitators and classroom aides.

Teachers

Development for teachers in the liaison scheme is in the area of developing partnership and collaboration with parents in the interests of the children's education.
This development includes:-

the promotion and establishment of a continuity in the children's transfer from home to school, and from primary to second level
an understanding of partnership in the context of the parents' role as the primary educators of their children
the development of attitudes and behaviours regarding the complementarity of parents' and teachers' skills, knowledge and experiences in the enhancement of children's' learning

and

joint policy making between parents and teachers on issues such as homework, code of positive behaviour, study skills, attendance, substance misuse and home/school/community liaison.

Further information on Home School Community Liaison may be obtained from:

Department of Education and Science
Social Inclusion Unit
Cornamaddy
Athlone
Co. Westmeath.

Telephone (090) 64 8 3897

This programme is funded by the Department of Education and Science.

List of Schools in the HSCL Scheme - updated October 2009

Primary Post-Primary

Guidelines for Home School Community Liaison Scheme

The Home, School, Community Liaison Scheme in Ireland - From Vision to Best Practice (File Format HTML)