F A M I L Y A F T E R N O O N
'The family afternoon is an important and distinctive element of the Bethany School curriculum. It provides parents with the opportunity to be involved with the education of their own children in a regular and practical way. This valuable educational and valuable family experience is at the core of the ethos of our Christian Family School. The organised programme of activities provides a unique learning experience, which brings together family learning and learning in a wider, mixed, community context.'
...From Bethany School’s commitment form
Family Afternoon takes place every Wednesday afternoon during term time.
All families who come to Bethany School sign the commitment form, to commit to active participation in the family afternoon each week. The commitment form makes it clear how important they are to the education of our children in the school we have chosen for them. Family afternoon is planned and delivered each week by parents, it is integral to the curriculum and provides opportunity for many enrichment activities. We recognise that Family Afternoon requires a significant commitment from parents, however we want parents to feel inspired about family afternoons and their potential for enriching of our children's education as we work alongside them.
Family Afternoons have several aims and a number of learning outcomes. Looking at the main aims:
1. Family Afternoon as curriculum.
Family Afternoons are integral part of Bethany School's curriculum. They aim to support the school both generally and specifically. Generally by keeping the education of our children in a God-centred and family-centred context, and specifically by providing activities which link in to the nine topics of school curriculum as the children study them each term.
2. Family Afternoons as training
The opportunities for training during family afternoons are many. By attending the afternoons, the pre-school siiblings of pupils at the school can experience a small part of what being at our school is like. It gives them opportunities to make friends with children of all ages at school, to meet others who will be in their class when they start school and get to know parents of other children whom they may also later meet as classroom assistants. Regularly being part of the family afternoons will enable parents to give their pre-school children some training in what will be expected of them when they start school: sitting still, listening quietly to whomever is leading the activities, joining in cheerfully, etc.
Ongoing training of school age children is also part of family afternoons. Parents have the opportunity to observe their children taking part in different activities and help their children to improve their skills, not only in completing tasks successfully, but also in their relationships with others.
Parents can also benefit from the training provided by family afternoons. They can learn new skills by joining in with crafts, sports, etc or by listening to outside speakers or other parents who share their skills and knowledge with us. Opportunities to organise or lead activities are plentiful and time spent on the 'Wednesday Team' is valuable, not only in stretching you while you're on the team, but also it helps you to appreciate and support others who lead activities and to understand the breadth of material covered by the curriculum topics.
3. Family Afternoons as team building
Regular attendance on Wednesday afternoons helps parents to feel part of Bethany School. It gives opportunity to get to know staff, other parents and children at the school and increase in understanding of the school curriculum. Some afternoons may be challenging with pre-school children, but keep going. It is so much easier to help one another if we get to know each other and that needs parents to be in school regularly for family afternoons.
There are often opportunities to work in small groups during the afternoons which gives parents chance to meet those with children of different ages. New friendships can be formed and cultivated, and it is often on these afternoons that parents can make arrangements to meet up socially or find opportunities to work together on a job which needs doing in school.
4. Family Afternoon as commitment
Attending family afternoons is a demonstration of our commitment both to Bethany School and to our own children. If parents don’t personally attend the afternoons their children can occasionally be looked after by others, but, usually, the children enjoy the opportunity to share the activities with their own parents. In order for the afternoons to run as smoothly as possible it is necessary to have a good number of parents actively involved. Parents need to make a commitment not only to attend family afternoons, but also to be committed to making them work well and be a positive experience for everyone.
5. Family afternoons as service
Family afternoons provide many opportunities to serve one another. The afternoons are not run by staff, indeed staff members do not usually attend unless they are also parents of pupils in school (although they may attend whenever they wish, and do participate in all-day trips). A family afternoon team is formed by parents to organise the activities for each term. This requires quite a lot of work, and is a big opportunity to serve others. Those parents who do not feel able to lead in this way can still be of real service. Within the programme of activities there are times when parents not on the family afternoon team may be asked to plan and/or lead an activity for a small group of children or families. Parents also do playground duties on Wednesday lunchtimes, and provide refreshments and supervise breaks during the afternoon.
All parents can serve others by joining in with the activities and drawing alongside those who need help. This may be one of the children or another parent who needs an extra pair of hands as they try to help their pre-school child to participate.
6. Family afternoons as capacity building
As parents and children get involved in family afternoons, the aim is that their knowledge and skills are built up. This is achieved by giving opportunities for involvement, starting on a small scale and progressing. So a parent may be asked, for example, first to lead a craft activity which has been pre-planned, then to plan and lead an activity for a small group of infants. This may be followed by leading a small family group, then one of four teams taking part in an afternoon programme, and so on.
7. Family afternoons as spiritual activity
Families come to Bethany school from a variety of church backgrounds and some with very little or no experience of Christianity. We aim that those who attend our school may ’grow in grace, and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’ and family afternoons are a vital part of this vision. Not all of the family afternoon activities are specifically Bible focussed, but whether we are looking together at a part of the Bible, doing craft or going for a walk, there are always opportunities to build one another up.
Parents are encouraged to have lunch at school on Wednesdays which gives time for conversation, and we hope that during the afternoons Christians in the school are showing what Christianity is about, not only by what we say, but by the way we live our lives and interact with those around us.
8. Family afternoon as responsibility
The Family Afternoon is a family activity. The responsibility for the benefits that children and parents receive from an activity lies with the parents. As well as the responsibility for the care and supervision of their children, parents take responsibility for behaviour and the learning which takes place.
Family Afternoon Responsibilities
Family afternoon team
The team usually comprises about four parents who plan activities for each afternoon. The planning needs to take place in good time to allow time to book outside events and speakers, and so that the programme for each new term is ready to give to families at the end of the preceding term. It is polite and helpful to discuss the programme before publication with the head or members of staff to make sure the activities planned complement the lessons organised by the teaching staff.
If possible, during any one term, family group activities should predominate. A balanced mixture of activities needs to be prepared, comprising: outings, in-school activities, outside speakers, parent-led activities, craft, social, physical, service, teaching, problem-solving, leisure and display activities.
A member of the team should welcome, introduce and take care of and thank visitors.
Whole day visits are acceptable. These should be arranged after consultation with the teachers and should generally be topic-related. Records of activities undertaken should be kept on file.
All Parents
Parents should aim to arrive at school by 12:30 on family afternoons, to have their lunch with other parents and staff. This is a valuable part of the afternoon.
Preparing and running an activity
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Every family in Bethany School should be involved in organising and running family afternoon activities, or helping with playground duty. You will be asked by the organising team each year, how you can help.
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The Family Afternoon Schedule for each academic year will be finalised by the Family Afternoon team by the end of the summer term. Please make sure that you have noted the week of the activity you are responsible for, and the week by which you must get your initial planning into the team by.
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Please carefully consider the start and finish time of your activity, including travel time. It is important that break time ends for all children at the same time - Ideally 1pm (although this could be brought forward if required). Please organise off site activities to start at a time which allows for travel after the end of break at 1pm.
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If you need inspiration for your activity, then there is a Family Afternoon folder comprising past activities. Please make sure that a copy of the planning for your activity is in the folder and include any helpful feedback for future planning.
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In addition to a lesson plan, you will need to organise the sending out of relevant information to parents, liaising with outside speakers or offsite venues, collecting any money, organising the groupings of families, allocating children to various classrooms helping parents access lifts to activities offsite if needed, any refreshments, supervising the tidying up after each activity and organising any display of work produced.
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Please liaise with the teachers if you are using their classroom. It is helpful if they have advance notice that their classroom will be used during Family Afternoon.
Family afternoon curriculum
The family afternoon curriculum each term will include many of the activities listed below.
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Research - Topic based, family led research activity.
Aim - Developing age appropriate research skills and breadth of topic-related knowledge
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Walk - Wellbeing, social activity.
Aim - Building community relationships, and linked to topic where possible
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Healthy Living skills - Day to day skills for a healthy life drawing on expertise of school community
Aim - develop confidence and skills in activities such as gardening, orienteering, food prep, finance management, first aid/survival, mental health awareness, self-defence, singing, health and hygiene, film club
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Sports - Provide opportunities for families to engage in different sports.
Aim - health and wellbeing benefits, social activity
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Seasonal or topic based craft - working on art or crafts relating to the topic, or producing goods for the summer and Christmas fair.
Aim - Provide opportunities to learn new skills, contributing to the school community and build confidence
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British Values - Activities such as sharing cultures, visits from faith leaders, classroom based activities, visit from/to vital services, special jubilee/ commemorative events
Aim - promote awareness of fundamental British values among the whole school community.
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Engaging with the Community - Community service activities such as rescue centre/ community farm/litter picking/pen pal scheme. Participate in cultural events with wider school community through the Thanksgiving and Easter church service and charity collection, carol singing in town and for other community groups
Aim - provide opportunities to contribute to the wider community and engage with local charities and organisations
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Social and collaborative activities - School prep for summer/Christmas Fair, Christmas party and concert, summer water games, family fun activities
Aim - develop school community through social, fun and worthwhile activities