Learning with Parents

Who we are

Learning with Parents supports families to have positive learning interactions together. We drive inclusive parental engagement by partnering with schools and leading the sector through learning what works.

By partnering with primary schools, we support thousands of families across the UK to enjoy learning together at home. Our child-led videos and hands-on family activities replace traditional homework. Through behavioural insight research, innovative technology and teacher training we ensure that as many families as possible are supported effectively.

We are working to improve parental engagement across the sector, by producing evidence of parents’ impact and generating insights into how schools can best support them. Learnings are disseminated through the Parental Engagement Forum and amplified through the Fair Education Alliance.

Our culture and values

Our Learning with Parents values are key to how we work and inform our strategy, programme, and how we collaborate.

Ambition

We strive do more for the families, schools and organisations we work with

Collaboration

We value the voices of others and achieve more by working together

Exploration

We are curious and seek evidence to inform our work

Innovation

We test, learn, adapt and embrace failure in our pursuit of progress

Integrity

We act responsibly and honestly, and default to transparency

Supportive environment

We work to create an environment which supports growth, belonging and wellbeing for everyone

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We believe that in order for every child to fulfil their potential, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) needs to be at the heart of everything that we do and how we do it. We want to be thought leaders and do-ers in tackling inequality. 

Learning with Parents is committed to equality and diversity in all its activities to promote inclusive processes and an inclusive culture. This policy is intended to assist us to outline how we understand this and how we will put this commitment into practice.

We know that we are on a journey and that we need to continue to build on our EDI work. We will never be satisfied with the status quo and proactively seek out opportunities to learn and improve, and actively engage with other organisations operating in the sector to improve our own practice. We want this policy to be lived and breathed, not just words on a piece of paper. 

This policy is shaped by the protected characteristics outlined by the Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin,  religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation), as well as class and socio-economic background, our company values and by the theoretical framework, Intersectionality. 

At Learning with Parents, we oppose all forms of unlawful discrimination including direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination by association, and discrimination linked to a perceived characteristic, harassment, bullying, micro-aggressions and victimisation.

Policy scope

Our policy applies to all staff, consultants, volunteers and interns, and Learning with Parents takes a strict approach regarding its enforcement. Any potential breaches of this policy will be dealt with in accordance with our Disciplinary Policy. Serious cases of deliberate discrimination will likely amount to gross misconduct resulting in dismissal.

This policy applies to all on the Learning with Parents premises, online, or during any work-related social events, work events or work trips.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and our values

Ambition

We strive to do more for the families, schools and organisations we work with, focusing particularly on those families who face the greatest barriers due to poverty and intersectional barriers of discrimination.

This is reflected in our 2022-27 Key Performance Indicator of ensuring that our programmes help schools to drive inclusive parental engagement effectively.  

Collaboration

We value the voices of others and achieve more by working together. We respect the perspectives of and want to learn from those with lived experience. We will actively engage with parents, schools and other organisations operating in the sector to improve our own practice. We also aspire to ensure that we can use our position to amplify the voices of those who are frequently excluded from public discourse through our parent voice work.  

This is reflected in the ’Continuing to improve EDI within our organisation and our work’ section of this policy. 

Exploration

We are curious and seek evidence to inform our work, applying an intersectional characteristics lens to information to ensure we understand how interventions and policies impact communities differently.   

This is reflected in our 2022-27 Key Performance Indicator of ensuring that we have evidence of how best to drive inclusive parental engagement.  

Innovation

We test, learn, adapt and embrace failure in our pursuit of progress. We will not be satisfied with the status quo and will continuously seek to do better in our EDI work. 

We recognise that we are on a learning journey - we will not always get it right but we will strive to learn from our mistakes. 

This is reflected in the ’Continuing to improve EDI within our organisation and our work’ section of this policy. 

Integrity

We act responsibly and honestly, and default to transparency, in all areas of work. This is especially the case for our EDI work as we recognise the importance of role modelling the behaviour we wish to see in the sector and wider society. 

Supportive environment

We work to create an environment which supports growth, belonging and wellbeing for everyone. 

This is reflected in our 2024-25 Key Performance Indicator of ensuring that we have maintained staff satisfaction and in the ‘Creating an inclusive environment’ section of this policy. 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in our work

Role in the education system

In the UK, not all children have a fair shot at education. Our starting point is drawing on the well-evidenced link between socio-economic status and the impact this can have on attainment. We understand these issues are complex and we view our work through an intersectionality lens. Therefore we consider the interdependent impact of gender, ethnicity, English as an additional language (EAL) and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) for low-income families. 

Programmes

Accessibility and inclusion is at the heart of how we design our programme. All our content is developed with the needs of all families in mind, particularly those facing the greatest barriers engaging in their children’s learning. 

Examples of these include: 

• We will gather feedback on an ongoing basis from all those using our programmes to inform our design and ensure that we are meeting the needs of all families. 

• When creating video content and using photos, we try to ensure representation of all communities we serve.  

• All our tech enhancements consider accessibility needs, literacy levels, language barriers and digital and data poverty. 

• We support school staff to understand and value the role of parents and consider specifically the barriers faced by families in engaging in learning at home.  For example, we offer translation services to ensure that our materials are accessible to all family members. 

Research and Insights

Our data analysis will always seek to understand what is likely to have the greatest impact for those facing the greatest barriers to supporting their children’s learning. 

Examples of this include: 

• All the data we analyse and share breaks down the findings by Non-Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium eligible families, as a proxy for socio-economic status. We recognise that this is a blunt tool as families of pupils eligible for Pupil-Premium are not a homogenous group, and not all of them struggle to engage in their children’s learning. We will be careful not to stereotype on the basis of Pupil-Premium eligibility.   

• Where we have permission, we will also analyse engagement by other demographic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and SEND status to further understand how we can support all families. 

• Our parent voice work seeks to highlight the experiences of those who might not traditionally speak to their schools or respond to surveys.

Thought leadership 

We seek to influence change in schools and organisations beyond those we work directly with, with our thought leadership work. When Learning with Parents is publicly sharing our experience or insights with schools, other charities, governments or other organisations operating in the education space, we will always focus on the role of parents and the importance of supporting all of them, particularly those who face the greatest barriers. 

Key messages will include:

• The importance of considering the needs of and trying to engage with all parents, especially those who face the greatest barriers engaging in their children’s learning. These may be parents who might not typically come into schools or respond to surveys, and may need to be engaged with in a different way. 

• The need to avoid taking a deficit model when designing interventions, but rather focusing on parents’ unique understanding of their child and what motivates them.

• Ensuring that educational policies and interventions do not unintentionally widen the attainment gap.   

Fundraising and communications

In all our fundraising and communications, we will be mindful of our role in tackling educational inequality and intersectional discrimination. 

Examples of this include: 

• Using inclusive language, positive case studies and respectful imagery. We will never communicate a deficit model and will ensure that we share sensitively and respectfully the thoughts and stories entrusted to us by the communities we work with. 

• In line with our Ethics Policy, Learning with Parents will not accept donations where doing so would be contrary to our charitable objectives or have a detrimental impact on the families we serve.  

• Where appropriate, challenging the shift towards ‘by invitation only’ funding model, which creates a bias in the system and limits opportunities for smaller, often community-led, initiatives. 

• We recognise that social media enables us to have a wide and diverse reach. We will be particularly vigilant to ensure that all posts strictly adhere to our EDI policy and use respectful and inclusive language and imagery, avoid deficit models and amplify the voices and perspectives of those we seek to serve. 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and our team

We consider it a core responsibility to ensure equality and equity in how we support our team, across areas such as: in pay and benefits, terms and conditions of employment, dealing with grievances and discipline, dismissal, redundancy, leave for parents, requests for flexible working, and selection for employment, promotion, training or other developmental opportunities. 

Recruitment

When recruiting, Learning with Parents will take the following steps to try to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across our team and Board:

• All job descriptions to be checked for inclusive language and to ensure a balance between masculine words (driven, competitive) and feminine words (supportive, dependable).

• Actively seek to advertise through channels which will attract a diverse pool of candidates. 

• Include an inclusivity statement with all job adverts and salary or salary bands for transparency.

• Provide an opportunity within the application process for applicants to state whether they need any adjustments or accommodation.

• Cover travel costs to attend in-person interviews, within reason.  

• Introduce an optional Monitoring form to understand where applications are coming from, to monitor against unconscious bias and to support future growth.

• We will use positive action in line with ACAS guidance and best practice. 

• Provide an opportunity within the onboarding for staff to state their pronouns.

Contract type

We will treat all part-time and/or fixed-term staff members no less favourably when compared to any comparable full-time or permanent member of staff (on a pro-rata basis where appropriate), unless different treatment is justified. 

Supporting disabled employees and employees with health conditions 

It is at staff discretion whether they tell us about their disability or health condition, physical or mental, unless it has implications for Health and Safety regulations.  

However, if they have a disability or health issue which may impact their ability to do their role, they are encouraged to tell us about it so that we can consider what can be done to assist and support them. This will be treated as confidential and only be shared on a need-to-know basis. i.e. line manager and HR team only.

As part of supporting them, we will discuss and consider whether it is possible and appropriate to make reasonable adjustments to support them at work. What is appropriate will often be based on the particular circumstances.

With their consent, we may need to consult with their doctor (or other relevant medical professional, such as occupational health) to explore any possible reasonable adjustments further and ask for a medical opinion on how to support them. We will consider the matter carefully and try to accommodate their needs within reason. If we consider a particular adjustment would not be reasonable, we will explain our reasons and try to find an alternative solution where possible. 

Creating an inclusive environment 

We want to create an organisational culture where everyone who works with us, for us or engages with us to feel comfortable to be themselves, to feel included, listened to and like they belong. 

We recognise individuality and that people will have different needs, spoken and unspoken. We will do our best to try to meet those needs in the office environment, in our systems and platforms and in our ways of work, taking into account the organisation’s limited resources. 

We recognise the difference between the day-to-day working environment and the social environment. Attendance at social events is optional, there is no underlying obligation to attend. If a member of staff would prefer not to attend or is unable to attend social events for any reason, this will not impact how staff are engaged with in the course of their day-to-day work or progression.

We aim for staff socials to be inclusive by taking the following steps:

• Scheduling on different days of the week and on days when remote staff will be able to attend

• Keeping it low cost, or no cost when Learning with Parents is able to cover the costs

• Varying the types of activities to cater for different interests and preferences, including simply going to a drink/meal, bowling, curling, playing board games, comedy clubs or walking tours. Staff will be encouraged to share ideas of activities they would like to participate in.

Roles and responsibilities

Board of Trustees:

• Reviewing and signing off the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy on an annual basis.

• Holding the Leadership team to account for implementing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. 

• Ensuring that the strategy, its KPIs and our values align with our commitment to EDI, prior to signing them off.  

Leadership team:

• Reviewing and updating the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy on an annual basis for sign off by the Board of Trustees.

• Overseeing and implementing the actions outlined in the EDI action plan and the Equality, Diversity  and Inclusion Policy.

• Leading on EDI work and role model the behaviour which promotes an inclusive programme and supportive working environment.  

All staff:

• Taking responsibility to embed the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy in their working practice and to ensure that their own conduct conforms to these standards.

• Being observant and noticing physical, social, and organisational barriers to creating an inclusive environment and culture and letting their Line Manager or a member of SLT know.

• Reporting any concerns or training needs to their Line Manager.

EDI Champion:

• Engaging with the D&I Ops network quarterly meeting and other relevant networks to feed best practice into our EDI, recruitment and HR policies.

• Processing the recruitment monitoring form data and reporting back on trends.

• Implementing a staff and trustee survey to document current diversity indicators for the organisation and track progression, including ensuring sensitive management of data.

Continuing to improve EDI within our organisation and our work

We have an allocated “EDI Champion” whose role is to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across the charity and its practices. 

We recognise that as the organisation grows we will need to take additional steps such as introducing mandatory and ongoing EDI training. 

To this end, we will set an annual EDI action plan and budget line which will be reviewed by the COO on a quarterly basis.  

We will consult experts and those with lived experience to inform our EDI vision and action plan.