2.2.1 Parents and carers are educators

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A photo of a road sign for a school.

All parents and carers are active informal educators, whether or not they work in conjunction with a child’s professional educators, practitioners. Parents and carers support a child’s learning in all aspects of their lives, and children learn from participating in family and community life. This may include:

• observing and participating in preparing and sharing meals
• being involved in the care of other family members (siblings, grandparents)
• participating in shopping and errands
• experiencing family and community gatherings
• making journeys
• sharing books, stories, songs, videos, social media posts, films and dramas with parents, carers and siblings.

As a governor you may encounter a situation where a parent may want to take this further and extend their involvement by formally becoming ‘home educators’. This may be done because the parents or carers feel that their child is unhappy in a formal setting. They believe their child can thrive when educated at home. Those who choose to educate at home do however remain in a minority.