Publications - ParentsCentre

The following is a guide to the current brochures and leaflets from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Most leaflets and brochures are available in different languages. This page is also available in PDF format in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Please click the Other Languages link for more information.

How to get hold of publications: all leaflets and guides listed here are available free. You can order by telephone, fax or email. Tel: 0845 60 222 60, Fax: 0845 60 333 60, Minicom: 0845 60 555 60 or email: dfes@prolog.uk.com.

Every Parent Matters

Download the guide outlining the vital role of parents in shaping their child's development and the role the Government will play in supporting them.

Every Parent Matters - download (.pdf) 3.46MB (help)

Bullying

Bullying - don't suffer in silence
(Ref: DfEE 0064/2000)
An anti-bullying information pack for schools, parents and families, making clear that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and reflecting the changes in the law. You can also download this from the DfES anti-bullying site [External Site].

Childcare

Choosing childcare - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: CCL7R)
What to look for. The top ten questions to ask. Available only in English.
Also available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .

Education choices for 14 to 19 year olds

GCSEs in vocational subjects - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: DfES/0810/2003) (Revised version-Nov 2003)
An introduction for students and their parents/carers to the GCSEs in vocational subjects. The leaflets gives you information guidance and advice about vocational subjects. Available in English.

Which way now?
Information for Year 9 students: subjects, choices, guidance, advice, support and future. Also available on the internet: www.connexions-direct.com/index.cfm?pid=206 [External Site]

It's your choice
Information for Year 10 and 11 students: education, qualifications, training, careers, and employment. Also available on the web: www.connexions-direct.com/index.cfm?pid=206 [External Site]

Parents and Carers of Year 9 Students
Information to help your child make subject choices in year 9 and career and learning choices in year 11. Available in English, Arabic, Somali, Hindi, Turkish, Gujarati, Bengali, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese and Urdu. Also available on the web: www.connexions-direct.com/index.cfm?pid=206 [External Site]

Helping your child to learn

The 'Help your children to learn' series:

A guide to supporting reading for parents of primary school children - download (.pdf) (help) (HYCL/7)
The booklet offers ideas and suggestions from parents for improving a child's reading. Available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
A guide to supporting reading for parents of secondary school children - download (.pdf) (help) (HYCL/8)
The booklet offers you ideas from other parents that you can choose from, to help your child as they move into and through secondary school. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
Getting the most from school reports - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: HYCL/3)
The booklet looks at how you can help your child get more from school reports. Available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
How is your child doing at school? - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: HYCL/5)
Information about the Foundation Stage, Key Stages and the National Curriculum assessments and tests. Available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
Making the most of time with your child - download (.pdf) (help) (HYCL/4)
This booklet looks at some ideas for spending quality time with your child. Available in English. Also available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
Making the most of formal meetings with teachers - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref:HYCL/2)
Formal meetings with teachers - how to make the most of them. Available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .
Making the most of parents' evenings - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: HYCL/1)
This booklet looks at making the most of your time with teachers, setting targets and helping your child after parents evenings. Available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .

Elective Home Education - download (.doc) (help)
This leaflet spells out the rights and responsibilities of parents if they choose to educate their child at home. Available in English and can be obtained only by download - download (.doc) (help) .

Homework (Ref: HGPSS98)
A leaflet with guidelines for primary and secondary schools - setting out how much and of what sort should be set out for pupils of different ages, and what should be expected of both schools and parents in supporting pupils. Available in English.

Homework and helping your child at home.
Guidance for parents in assisting with homework. Available to download in the following languages:

The Impact of Parental Involvement in Childrens Education - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: LEA/0339/2003)
A leaflet showing research evidence which highlights the importance of the involvement of parents in their childrens education. The leaflet is only available in English. Available to download - download (.pdf) (help) .

Disability and special educational needs (SEN)

A sure start for every child - download (.pdf) (help)
Care options if you have a child aged 0-11 with a disability or special educational need. Available in English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Vietnamese, Urdu and Welsh. Also available to download - download (.pdf) (help) in English.

A sure start for every young person - download (.pdf) (help)
Care options if you have a child aged 12 plus with a disability or special educational need. Available in English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Vietnamese, Urdu and Welsh. Also available to download - download (.pdf) (help) in English.

Special Educational Needs (SEN) (Ref: DfEE 0800/2001)
This guide aims to help you understand what special educational needs are, what the local education authorities can do to help your child and what your rights and your child rights are. Available in Bengali, Chinese, English, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu.

SEN - How to Appeal - download (.pdf) (help) (Ref: TRI 022)
This booklet explains when you can appeal against an LEA decision about your child and special educational needs and what will happen if you appeal. Available in English only. Also available to download - download (.pdf) (help)

SEN and Disability - Disability discrimination in schools (HTC 001)
This booklet explains in more detail when and how you can claim for disability discrimination in schools. Available in English only.

Supporting your child's school

Help schools, help children (Ref: LEA/0356/2002)
A leaflet providing information on how to become a school governor and how governors help schools and children. Available in English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Home-school agreements - What every parent should know (Ref: PPY986)
The leaflet explains the purpose of these agreements, what they will cover and how you can get involved in decisions about the agreement introduced by your child's school. Available in English, Bengali, Braille, Chinese, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. Also available in audio cassette.

Is your child missing out? (Ref: PPY181)
School Attendance: Information for parents. This leaflet explains your responsibilities for making sure that your child attends school regularly. Available in English, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Kurdish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Serbian/Croatian, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Urdu.

A chance to watch a streamed version of a new film about helping your children in their secondary school education, starring Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt.

'Getting involved' is a short educational film produced by the Department for Education and Skills, designed to give parents an insight into how they can support their secondary school-age children. The film stars James Nesbitt, best known for his role in TV drama Cold Feet and for his appearances on the recent Yellow Pages commercials.

Nesbitt plays a secondary school teacher who outlines the kind of problems children encounter at school and gives ten tips for parents on how to help their children deal with them.

To watch a stream of the film, follow the links below. You can also download a transcript - download (.doc) (help) .

Windows Media Player files
These files are played using Windows Media Player which is available free from the Windows Media Player website [External Site].

English:

56kb [External Site]

100kb [External Site]

256kb [External Site]

400kb [External Site]