A workshop on the topic “Taking Your Place: the Power of Parents in Action” was offered to parents during the conference. It provided a common space to reflect on the essential role that parents play in the health and vitality of their school community.
Throughout the workshop, parents were invited to share their experiences, challenges, and successes, each offering a unique perspective that brought to light the realities of their region. This exchange of viewpoints produced an abundance of ideas, providing for rich and stimulating discussions.
In the afternoon, the participants again expressed their views during the second workshop, “Helping Our APÉs to Grow and Shine: Welcome, Involve, and Value Them.”
In a friendly atmosphere, the parents highlighted the importance of a warm welcome, inclusive involvement of parents, a genuine appreciation of their volunteer work, and communication strategies to better publicize the mandate and achievements of parents’ associations.
These frank and open discussions allowed participants to develop new ideas, as well as practical ways to strengthen parental involvement and create an environment where everyone feels called upon to act and ready to contribute according to their availability and strengths.
Listening, sharing, and collaboration are at the heart of the activities offered by the Fédération des parents during its conferences and throughout the year. In this way, it provides support for its parents’ associations to fulfill their mandates.
The Fédération’s member liaison team will continue discussions on this theme throughout the year, through workshops offered during its provincial tour to support the work of parent volunteers in the field.
Other projects to strengthen the capabilities of parents’ associations are also being carried out: in particular, being able to welcome and support immigrant parents within the school and involve them in school life.
