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Scheme To Parents: The first letter to parents is likely to be an invitation to a meeting that will start the scheme to parents, since most schools choose to begin in this way. A big meeting like this gives everyone a sense of launching the PACT scheme to parents properly, and not just slipping into it. It suggests an effort by the whole school, saying to parents: 'We're committed: what about you?' Make sure the school is well prepared for such a meeting. You need to have discussed the ideas behind the scheme to parents thoroughly, for at least two good reasons.
Pitfield Project provided us with a matrix in which to operate in schools and to be in close touch with parents, teachers and children. We searched for farther evidence and talked with interested people, finally presenting a selected junior school with the evidence we had accumulated and with the suggestion that they themselves might organize co-operation with parents to benefit the children's reading. The school took up the idea; they worked hard and magnificently to produce a scheme to parents which had 98 per cent of parents co-operating within the first two terms of the scheme to parents's operation.
Our preparations laid down the first basic oudines of our intentions - to deal with all children and parents in die school, to involve all staff, to lay down broad areas of agreement over how die scheme to parents would function, to decide on jobs to be done and split into small groups, twos or threes, to carry out die work. We decided quickly on one large initial meeting to launch die scheme to parents, to be followed by one or two meetings each term t< maintain the reality of parents' involvement with us in thi school and provide a platform for continuing discussion am development. We distinguished all information sent fron school to parents by using one colour, and heading it distinc tively with a simple slogan 'Reading - help us to help you: child'.
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