When dads walk down the corridor of Prestonpans Infant School, teachers don’t give them a second glance. But in many other schools fathers struggle to find a way to get involved, new research shows.
Prestonpans, however, goes out of its way to make fathers feel welcome. “It’s an oldfashioned school,” says Neil Ferguson, of the charity Dads Work. “The corridor is really long, but our dads can walk along it and no one will blink an eye.
“They don’t feel out of place. That’s what we want for all dads; we want to have dads in school normalised.”
Fathers from across East Lothian meet at the school, which caters for children from nursery to P3, every Tuesday to take part in a drop-in session organised by Dads Work. The school also hosts a weekly dad and toddlers group in its nursery.
Most of the fathers who attend the drop-in are the main carers for their child, but some are just looking for a bit of support in their role, while others might be suffering problems with addiction.
The school makes the space for the group to meet, says headteacher Alison Cameron, because fathers are important.
“It’s about personalisation, it’s about communication, it’s about being inclusive and making people feel like they belong,” explains Cameron. “Dads have a massive part to play in the education of their children and it’s up to us as educators to recognise that. If we want to raise attainment we have to maximise opportunities to engage with families.”
Now Cameron and teacher Chris Wilson have created a toolkit to help teachers “dad-proof” their schools, challenging institutions to consider issues such as whether they are keeping up-to-date contact information for non-resident parents; if they have systems in place to collect the views of male carers; whether they encourage male carers to join the parent council; and if father-friendly practice is included in staff induction.
Five local primaries have signed up to test the toolkit and help hone it, and Cameron stresses it is very much a work in progress.
University of Edinburgh researchers are poised to measure the impact that it has on how the schools operate.
‘Excluded at the school gates’
Lead researcher Dr Gitit Kadar-Satat plans to present the findings at this year’s Scottish Learning Festival in Glasgow. When schools talk about parental involvement, often what they really mean is getting mums involved, she says. But early findings from the research in East Lothian show that dads are keen to engage with school life but do not always know how. One issue that has come up regularly in interviews is how excluded men feel at the school gate, Kadar-Satat says.
In East Lothian, they are trying to tackle this by organising a football tournament for the fathers from local schools so they get to know each other and form their own networks. But for the time being, dads often feel isolated, says Kadar-Satat. “Fathers come to school and see the mums talking together and feel as if they have the networks established already, so when they come into school they have someone to talk to,” she adds.
“Whereas when the men come into school, they don’t have these developed networks of dads or mums to talk to. That makes them feel a bit isolated. They want to get involved, but when you feel a bit on the outside it’s more difficult to get involved.”
It is a big issue, Ferguson agrees, and he points out that men are often found standing alone and off to one side at school pick-up and drop-off times.
Schools need to be more proactive about approaching dads and making them feel welcome, he says. “If there’s mail, it probably goes to mum; if there’s a phone call, mum probably gets it. It’s just about increasing awareness that dads want to be, and should be, involved as well,” explains Ferguson.
As well as giving dads the use of the school to hold meetings at Prestonpans, there are also special events to get fathers through the door, from “pizza massage” lessons - where pupils learn how to give their dads a back massage by pretending to make pizza - to the school’s annual “go mad with dad” event, which has featured nerf gun wars and classic cars.
