All Great Learners Trust primaries achieve Parent-Friendly Schools accreditation from Parentkind

All Great Learners Trust primaries achieve Parent-Friendly Schools accreditation from Parentkind

Every school in Great Learners Trust, an all-primary multi-academy trust in Buckinghamshire, has achieved Parentkind’s Parent-Friendly Schools accreditation recognising the Trust-wide commitment to working in partnership with families.

The accreditation from Parentkind – the UK’s largest parent charity responsible for raising £120 million annually to support families – saw each of the Trust’s 11 schools' policies, procedures and practices demonstrate a good standard of parent participation following evidence-based assessment. To achieve this standard, all schools were measured against 485 different criteria under the distinctive Blueprint Framework for Parent Participation.

Five years of evidence-based research have led to the UK's most comprehensive framework for parent participation. In partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University, Parentkind developed five drivers and 25 initiatives spanning ethos and behaviours, two-way communication, home-based learning, involvement in school life, and community partnerships, around which schools are assessed.

“Our accreditation measures a school’s parent participation practice against the evidence-based, best practice of the Blueprint Framework to recognise excellence,” explained Rachael Smith, Service Lead for Parent-Friendly Schools and Parenting Language at Parentkind.

“We are excited to work alongside Great Learners Trust to evolve their partnership with parents. Every school passed the Standard accreditation, demonstrating a commitment to best policies and practices that support parents’ participation in their children's learning. More than anything, the school leaders demonstrated care for the families in their communities.

“As well as completing the accreditation process, all schools are committed to membership of our community, which supports an ongoing journey of improvement. We want to congratulate all Great Learners Trust schools on this impressive start to their collaboration with Parentkind and we can’t wait to learn more about how parents, carers and guardians and schools are working together to improve their children’s lives.”

In addition, Great Missenden Church of England School is now working towards Parentkind’s Parent-Friendly Schools Gold Award assessment. The school has already secured the Leading Parent Partnership Award, demonstrating particularly strong practice in parental engagement and communication, from Optimus Education.

Sarah Baber, CEO of Great Learners Trust, said: “Parentkind uses a rigorous, evidence‑based assessment to evaluate how well schools engage with, listen to, and collaborate with families. Each of our schools was assessed against the Blueprint for Parental Engagement and we are delighted with the outcome. We would like to thank our parents and carers for their ongoing support and invaluable contributions. We look forward to continuing to build even stronger partnerships to support every child’s learning journey.”

As first presented in the Inspiring Excellence, Empowering Futures: Great Learners Trust Strategy 2025-2030, ‘Engaged Communities’ is a key operational priority for the Trust. Sarah commented: “We are committing to fostering open, transparent, and effective communication with all stakeholders – parents, pupils, staff, and the wider community – to build trust, share our vision, and ensure everyone is informed and engaged. We will build strong, respectful partnerships with families and communities, recognising that these relationships are central to our success and the wellbeing of our pupils.”